It is said that the rich are not more than 3 generations, but some families have seized the opportunity through the earliest primitive accumulation and completed the step-by-step leapfrog development, and to this day it is still a giant-like existence.
Today we focus on families that grew up after the 20th century and whose family members still dominate their careers.
So centuries-old giants like the Rothschilds are out of the statistical ranks.
In addition, the royal family will not appear on this list.
Tenth place The Bollinger family and the von Baumbach family
The source of wealth is Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals
Total assets of $59 billion
In 1885 Boehringer founded his own chemical factory in Ingelheim, in the Rhine region of Germany.
There were only 28 workers at the time, and it was a small workshop that made a living by making edible-grade tartaric acid.
In 1893, while making citric acid, they inadvertently discovered a way to make lactic acid.
It was this serendipitous coincidence that they began industrialized biomanufacturing techniques and achieved commercial success.
Boehringer Ingelheim Experimental Building
Later, through technological innovation and the establishment of laboratories, the pharmaceutical territory was continuously expanded.
Until now, it has become the second largest pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Germany and a fortune-500 company in the world.
It has 146 subsidiaries and more than 50,000 employees worldwide.
von Baumbach
In 2015, he was CEO of von Baumbach, the great-grandson of the founder.
Throughout, this huge private business was run by family members, which also brought great benefits to the family.
Ninth place: The Thomson family
The source of wealth is Thomson Reuters
Total assets of $61 billion
Roy Tom
Roy Thomson was born in 1894 in Toronto, Canada.
His father was a telegrapher, perhaps influenced by his father's work. From an early age he was interested in things related to radio waves.
During World War I, he was rejected by the army because of his poor eyesight. After several turns, I did a job selling radios.
However, only a handful of radio stations could be received in the regions where he sold.
He came up with the idea of building a radio station, buying a radio transmitter at his own expense so that customers who bought his radio could listen to the program.
It was also the first stepping stone to his media empire.
With the accumulation of capital, he realized the importance of information to people.
So in 1934, at the age of 40, Thomson bought a local newspaper.
By 1950, he had 19 newspapers and was president of the Canadian Daily Publishers Association.
At this point, he wasn't content to just develop a business in Canada, he extended his media tentacles to Britain.
In 1959, Thomson bought Britain's largest newspaper conglomerate, and in 1966, he bought The Times.
His media empire expanded to include more than 200 newspapers in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Thomson Reuters
In 2007, Thomson & Co. and Reuters announced plans to merge and create Thomson Reuters Information Consulting.
The Thomson family owns 53% of the company's shares.
David Thomson
The company's current chairman is Roy Thomson's grandson, David Thomson.
He is ranked 33rd on the Forbes Billionaires list with a net worth of $42 billion.
Eighth place Johnson family
The source of wealth is Fidelity Investments
Total assets of $61.5 billion
During the Great Depression in the United States
Fidelity Fund was founded in 1930, during the Great Depression in the United States, and was an absolute disaster for the investment industry.
In 1943, Boston lawyer Edward Johnson II purchased the fund and became its president and director.
In 1946, Johnson founded Fidelity Management Research, the predecessor of Fidelity Investments, as an investment adviser to Fidelity Funds.
Fidelity Investments
Over the decades, Fidelity Has become one of the world's largest asset managers.
As of June 2020, it had $4.9 trillion in assets under management and $8.3 trillion in total customer assets.
Abigail Johnson
The company is now run by Johnson's granddaughter, Abigail Johnson.
She is ranked 85th on the Forbes Billionaires list with a net worth of $21 billion.
Seventh place Wertheimer family
The source of wealth is Chanel Corporation
Total assets of $62 billion
In 1910, Gabrielle Chanel, a singer and designer, founded the Chanel brand.
In the first two years of the brand, due to commercial leasing restrictions, only hats could be sold.
Two years later, she began customizing a variety of haute couture ready-to-wear for female clients, from evening dresses to sports ready-to-wear.
She always grasped the pulse of the times, and after the First World War, dresses became a fashion trend.
She designed and launched a women's suit, the Chanel suit that is still popular today.
In 1921, the No.5 perfume, originally intended to go with the suit, was wildly sought after.
The success of the perfume gave her full confidence in order to open up a wider market.
She founded chanel perfume by finding an investor, Pierre Wittheimer.
Wertheimer owns 70 percent of the shares, another investor makes up 20 percent and Chanel herself makes up the remaining 10 percent.
But then the relationship between the three deteriorated, and with the effects of World War II, the company was crumbling.
In 1954, Pierre Waitheimer acquired full ownership of Chanel's fashion and other businesses.
At that time, although Chanel was still influential, it was not as good as before.
It wasn't until 1986 that Karl Lagerfeld brought Chanel back the world's attention and increased the company's market value.
The Wettheimer brothers are the de facto owners of Chanel and regulars on the Forbes Billionaire List.
Sixth place Ambani family
The source of wealth is The Indian Reliance Group
Total assets of $94 billion
Drubai Abani founded the Reliance Commodity Trading Export Company in 1958 and became a billionaire from scratch.
As the company grew, the business began to expand into various fields.
Today, Reliance Group has become a diversified multinational group of energy, petrochemical, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media and textiles.
It is also the largest public company in India, employing more than 230,000 people worldwide.
As of October 2021, Reliance Group's market capitalization is $243 billion.
The group's current CEO is Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man.
Ranked 10th on the Forbes Billionaire List.
The former world's richest man spent $1 billion in downtown Mumbai to build the world's most expensive and tallest mansion.
The mansion has 27 floors and is 173 meters high, and it is said that the electricity bill alone is nearly 700,000 yuan per month.
However, after he lived for a few years, he felt that feng shui was not good, so he moved.
Fifth place Hermès family
The source of wealth is Hermès
Total assets of $112 billion
In 1837, at the age of 36, Thierry Hermès founded the Hermès Company in Paris.
Originally the company was just a handmade harness manufacturer specializing in the manufacture of high-quality forged harnesses and reins.
Since horseback riding was an aristocratic sport, his clients were either local tycoons or celebrities.
They are willing to pay a high price in exchange for high-quality saddlery handmade by Hermès.
In this demand, Hermès' company began to transform, gradually moving towards the production of suitcases and handbags.
After the retirement of the elder Hermès, his son took over the mantle, in addition to continuing to develop the company's original business, he added accessories and clothing lines.
Hermès productions have gradually become synonymous with exquisite elegance and luxury, and are sought after by the rich and aristocratic.
Today,com; hermès has 14 divisions, which are never licensed.
And relying on its traditional business model, it rejects mass production, assembly lines and mechanization.
Almost all of Hermès' merchandise is handmade in France.
As a top luxury brand, Hermès continues to create a steady stream of wealth for the Hermès family.
Fourth place Koch family
Source of wealth Koch Industries
Total assets of $124 billion
Koch Industries is currently the largest privately held company in the United States, employing more than 120,000 people.
In 1940, Fred Koch and his partners founded the predecessor of the Koch Industrial Group.
They started by refining oil, but now they are in addition to energy businesses such as oil and gas.
They have also carried out a variety of businesses such as finance, animal husbandry, commodity trading, etc., and have become a veritable group company.
Charles Koch
Yet such a behemoth is determined not to go public, with group heir Charles Koch once saying that if the company goes public, it must first step on his body.
The company is not short of money, with revenue exceeding $110 billion in 2014.
Some experts said that if Koch Industries is listed, the top ten positions in the world's richest list will definitely have the Koch brothers.
The Koch family currently owns 84 percent of the company, and Charles Koch's net worth is estimated at $46 billion, ranking 27th on the Forbes billionaire list.
Third place: The Mar family
Mars Corporation, a source of wealth
Total assets of $142 billion
You may not have heard of this company, but you must have eaten this company's candy.
Snickers, Dove and M&M'S Chocolate Beans are all brands under its company.
Founder Frank Mars was born in Minnesota in 1883 and was taught how to make chocolate candy by his mother from an early age.
At the age of 19, he began selling sugar chips to earn money to support his family.
Out of enthusiasm for candy, the 28-year-old Mars founded mars candy factory, but because of the fierce competition, it quickly lost.
In 1920, Mars built a factory again, this time quickly occupying the market with the unique taste of candy.
In 1930 he developed a new Snickers stand. In 1934 Frank handed over the company to his son Forrest. Forrest lived up to expectations, being bolder and more innovative than his father.
In 1941, Mars funded and assistant Murrie developed a chocolate that was not easy to melt, M&M'S chocolate beans.
The meaning of this name is the name of two people.
In 2007, Mars began to make efforts in the direction of pet food.
Today, Mars has grown to become a $40 billion-a-year multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food and other food products.
The Ma family enjoys a sweet life with the wealth brought by candy.
Second place Arnault family
The source of wealth is Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Group
Total assets of $182 billion
Bernard Arnault, 72, runs the Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Group (LVMH) with about 56,000 employees.
With more than 70 brands, it is the largest luxury group in the world today.
He also made a lot of money by controlling 41 percent of the group.
Arnault briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest man in December 2019.
At the age of 22, he persuaded his father to sell the company's construction business to transition to real estate, and then expanded the business to the United States.
In 1984, at the age of 35, Arnault turned to the clothing industry.
He first acquired a textile group and then the Dior Group, which was twice the size of the family business.
At that time, the Dior Group was long gone.
After Arnault took over, he began a drastic reform, and in just 2 years, he pushed Dior back to the stage of world luxury.
On Black Monday in October 1987, global stock markets plummeted.
Arnault took advantage of the acquisition of the Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Group, and in 1989 Arno was elected chairman of the group.
Became the helmsman of the world's largest luxury brand.
Bernard Arnault was also well paid, occupying the throne of the world's richest man in the top three all year round.
It was he who led the Arno family to occupy a place in the list of rich families.
1st place The Walton family
The source of wealth is Walmart Corporation
Total assets of $238 billion
As of January 31, 2022, Walmart has 10,593 supermarkets and community stores in 24 countries.
In the 2020 Fortune Global 500 list, Walmart ranked first with annual revenue of $548.7 billion.
It is also the world's largest private employer, employing more than two million people.
Walmart is a family-owned business owned by the Walton family, which owns more than 50% of Walmart.
Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1964 with the intention of creating a modern wholesale store at the best price.
This model was quickly successful. After more than 20 years of development, in 1989, Wal-Mart became the largest merchandise retailer in the United States, and in 2005 it entered the world's top 500 for the first time.
Since then, in addition to continuing to expand its business in the supermarket, Wal-Mart has also pushed this behemoth to the world's number one throne through acquisitions and restructuring.
The Walton family also relied on Walmart's super ability to make money, leaving the names of several Walton family members in the billionaire list.
According to a study by a family business academy in the United States, about 70% of family businesses have not passed on to the next generation, 88% have not passed on to the third generation, and only 3% of family businesses are still operating in the fourth generation and beyond.
The above-mentioned large-scale family enterprises, on the basis of the older generation, the new generation can continue to promote the vigorous development of the family industry.
Without major strategic decision-making mistakes or unpredictable natural and man-made disasters, the pace of these companies may continue to move forward.
If Iron Man Elon Musk can maintain the current momentum, perhaps the next richest family will be his.
After all, he is now worth more than $233 billion.