Economy
Ranked: The 15 Richest Multi-Generational Families in Asia
The 15 Richest Multi-Generational Families in Asia
Today, Asia’s 15 richest families control over $400 billion in wealth.
Many family dynasties have shaped Asia’s economy—from energy conglomerates to banking empires. In many ways, this was supported by social capital and long-term planning often built into family business structures.
The above graphic uses data from Bloomberg to show the wealthiest families in Asia from a multi-generational perspective. Data is based on combined family wealth and does not include first generation founders, or single family heirs.
Ranking the Wealthiest Families
Here are the region’s richest dynasties as of March 14, 2023.
| Rank | Family | Location | Generations | Company | Wealth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambani | 🇮🇳 India | 3 | Reliance Industries | $79.3B |
| 2 | Hartono | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 3 | Djarum, Bank Central Asia | $38.8B |
| 3 | Kwok | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 3 | Sun Hung Kai Properties | $34.8B |
| 4 | Mistry | 🇮🇳 India | 5 | Shapoorji Pallonji Group | $28.4B |
| 5 | Chearavanont | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 4 | Charoen Pokphand Group | $28.2B |
| 6 | Yoovidhya | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 2 | TCP Group | $27.4B |
| 7 | Cheng | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 4 | New World Development, Chow Tai Fook | $25.9B |
| 8 | Pao/Woo | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 3 | BW Group, Wheelock | $22.6B |
| 9 | Tsai | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 3 | Cathay Financial, Fubon Financial | $21.4B |
| 10 | Lee | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 3 | Samsung | $18.5B |
| 11 | Lee | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 5 | Lee Kum Kee | $17.9B |
| 12 | Ng | 🇸🇬 Singapore | 3 | Far East Organization | $16.5B |
| 13 | Kwek/Quek | 🇸🇬 Singapore, 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 3 | Hong Leong Group | $15.8B |
| 14 | Sy | 🇵🇭 Philippines | 3 | SM Investments | $15.7B |
| 15 | Birla | 🇮🇳 India | 7 | Aditya Birla Group | $15.5B |
Note: Values are subject to change with market fluctuations.
As seen in the table above, the Ambani family controls a $79 billion empire, the largest in Asia. At the helm is Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest person, who lives with his family in a 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai.
For three generations, the Ambanis have run a vast network of energy, retail, and telecom firms in India under Reliance Industries, the largest company in India.
Indonesia’s Hartono family is second on the list with a $39 billion fortune. After inheriting the Djarum cigarette company from their father, brothers Budi and Michael Hartono invested in Bank Central Asia. It is Indonesia’s largest private bank with over $6 billion in revenue in 2022.
The Kwok family, ranked third at $35 billion, control one of Hong Kong’s largest property development companies, covering mainly commercial and residential real estate. They are one of four families in the top 15 from Hong Kong, the largest of any one country or territory.
Driving Higher Returns
Family-run businesses play a major role in Asia beyond establishing family dynasties.
Across a global dataset of 1,000 family-run publicly listed companies from Credit Suisse, 517 were from the Asia-Pacific region in 2022. Overall, family-run companies were shown to have higher innovative output due to longer tenures generating stronger social capital, combined with more efficient operating models.
Misc
Visualizing the Most Common Pets in the U.S.
Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!—these animals do not feature on this list of popular American household pets.
Visualizing The Most Common Pets in the U.S.
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
In this graphic, we visualized the most common American household pets, based on 2023-2024 data from the American Pet Products Association (accessed via Forbes Advisor).
Figures represent the number of households that own each pet type, rather than the actual number of each animal. The “small animal” category includes hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, mice, rats, and ferrets.
What is the Most Popular American Household Pet?
Based on this data, dogs—one of the first domesticated animals—are the most common pets in the United States. In fact, around 65 million households own a dog, and spend an average of $900 a year on their care.
| Rank | Species | Households |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🐶 Dog | 65M |
| 2 | 🐱 Cat | 47M |
| 3 | 🐟 Freshwater Fish | 11M |
| 4 | 🐰 Small Animals | 7M |
| 5 | 🐦 Bird | 6M |
| 6 | 🦎 Reptile | 6M |
| 7 | 🐴 Horse | 2M |
| 8 | 🐠 Saltwater Fish | 2M |
Note: Households can own multiple pets, and are counted for all relevant categories.
Cats rank second, at 47 million households, and these smaller felines are a little less expensive to own at $700/year according to Forbes estimates.
But aside from these two juggernauts, there are plenty of other common pet types found in households across the country.
Freshwater fish can be found in 11 million households, along with small animals—rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs—in 7 million. Meanwhile, nearly 6 million homes have birds or reptiles.
Pet Ownership is on the Rise in America
Forbes found that 66% of all American households (numbering 87 million) own at least one pet, up from 56% in 1988. One third of these (29 million) own multiple pets.
A combination of factors is driving this increase: rising incomes, delayed childbirth, and of course the impact of the pandemic which nearly cleared out animal shelters across the globe.
America’s loneliness epidemic may also be a factor. Fledgling research has shown that single-individual households with pets recorded lower rates of loneliness during the pandemic than those without a pet.
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