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Visualized: The Richest Families in America

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Visualizing the Richest Families in America

When we think about the richest people in America, individual names often come to mind like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates. But often, it’s the richest families in America that hold a deeper legacy, and sometimes, even deeper pockets.

The country’s 50 richest families hold a collective wealth of $1.2 trillion. This ranking goes beyond nuclear family units and self-made fortunes, and it instead measures the wealth of multi-generational or extended families.

Our visualization, which leverages the latest data from Forbes, reveals the wealthiest families in America and the enterprises that helped them earn their billions.

Editor’s note on methodology: in this ranking, Forbes leaves out self-made entrepreneurs that appear with their nuclear families on the billionaires list. For example, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon and Rupert Murdoch founded News Corp, but these successes did not come from family wealth that was passed down to them.

Family Matters

Say the name Rockefeller or Vanderbilt, and everyone knows who you’re talking about—but how do these household names hold up in the modern rankings?

Below are the 50 richest families in America, based on net worth:

RankFamilyNet WorthOrigin of Wealth 
#1Walton Family$247.0BWalmart
#2Koch Family$100.0BKoch Industries 
#3Mars Family$94.0BMars Inc. 
#4Cargill-MacMillan Family$47.0BCargill Inc. 
#5Lauder Family$40.0BEstee Lauder 
#6S.C. Johnson Family$37.0BSC Johnson
#7Edward Johnson Family$36.0BFidelity
#8Cox Family$34.5BCox Enterprises
#9Pritzker Family$32.5BHyatt Hotels
#10Newhouse Family$30.0BCondé Nast
#11Duncan Family$22.0BEnterprise Products Partners L.P. 
#12Hearst Family$21.0BHearst Corporation
#13Brown Family$20.4BBrown–Forman
#14Marshall Family$18.5BKoch Industries (6% stake)
#15Butt Family$17.8BH-E-B
#16Busch Family$17.6BAnheuser-Busch
#17Du Pont Family$16.0BDuPont
#18Hunt Family$15.5BHunt Oil and Petro-Hunt
#19Dorrance Family$15.0BCampbell Soup Co. 
#20Ziff Family$15.0BZiff-Davis
#21Cathy Family$14.2BChick-fil-A
#22Stryker Family$14.0BStryker
#23Goldman Family$13.2BReal Estate
#24Rollins Family$13.1BOrkin Pest control
#25Gallo Family$12.4BE&J Gallo Winery
#26Reyes Family$12.0BReyes Holdings
#27Kohler Family$11.7BKohler Co.
#28Mellon Family$11.5BBanking
#29Smith Family$11.3BIllinois Tool Works, Northern Trust
#30Bass Family$10.8BOil 
#31Sackler Family$10.8BPurdue Pharma
#32Johnson Family$10.7BJohnson & Johnson
#33Marriott Family$10.4BMarriott International 
#34Crown Family$10.2BInvestments
#35Hughes Family$10.2B Public Storage Inc.
#36Pigott Family$10.1BPaccar
#37Shoen Family$9.0BU-Haul
#38Fisher Family$8.9BGap Inc. 
#39Jenkins Family$8.8BPublix Super Markets 
#40Chao Family$8.6BWestlake Chemical Corp.
#41(Charles & Rupert) Johnson Family$8.6BFranklin Resources Inc. 
#42Phipps Family$8.6BCarnegie Steel, Bessemer Trust
#43Rockefeller Family$8.4BStandard Oil
#44E.W. Scripps Family$8.4BScripps Network Interactive
#45Bechtel Family$8.3BBechtel
#46Gore Family$8.2BGore-Tex
#47Durst Family$8.1BReal Estate
#48Taylor Family$7.8BEnterprise Rent-A-Car
#49Simplot Family$7.7BSimplot
#50Barbey Family$7.3BVF Corp

The richest family in the U.S. is the Waltons, founders of Walmart. Their net worth adds to an approximate $247 billion, making them also the richest family in the world. Over the last year, they’ve grown their family fortune by $25 billion, equal to nearly $3 million per hour.

Interestingly, the Vanderbilts—the railroad tycoons that were once the richest family in the country in the late 19th century—have been ousted from the rankings entirely. Other notable American families, like Ford and Astor, have lost their place on the list as well.

On the other hand, the Rockefellers still hold their status today, ranked at number 43 with a net worth of $8.4 billion. John D. Rockefeller became America’s first billionaire back in 1916, despite the breaking up of Standard Oil for antitrust reasons.

Building Wealth

Over the last five years, nearly every family on this list has seen wealth increase. Many of the behemoth companies on which these families built their fortunes are staples in America, like Campbell’s Soup, Cargill, Dixie Cups, Estee Lauder, and M&Ms and Snickers.

For example, the South’s beloved fast food chain, Chick-fil-A, was founded by the Cathy family and generated $12.67 billion in sales as of the latest annual data, making it the third most popular chain restaurant in the country.

Some of the newer families to make the list also owe it to the success of their enterprises:

  • The Kohler family: Kohler Co. (manufacturers of kitchenware, plumbing products, furniture, etc.)
  • The Taylor family: Enterprise Rent-A-Car (car rental services)

However, a few families have experienced significant losses since the last Forbes ranking. Here’s a look at some notable net worth decreases:

FamilyCompanyChange in Net Worth from 2015-2020
HearstHearst Corporation$-7.0B
RockefellerStandard Oil $-2.6B
SacklerPurdu Pharma$-2.2B
FisherGap Inc.Negative growth (exact $ amount unknown)
Johnson (Charles and Rupert)Mutual FundsNegative growth (exact $ amount unknown)

Purdue Pharma recently filed for bankruptcy. The Sackler family’s plan is to reformulate the company into a new venture whose profits would go towards the opioid crisis, for which they are largely blamed. It would also cost the family around $4.3 billion directly.

Keeping it in the Family

While some families may have experienced decreases in their wealth, for many this is just a small bump in the road.

Overall, the richest families in America are the keepers of immense wealth that has accumulated over generations. For some, their names are now cultural landmarks across the U.S. and their brands have become synonymous with life in America.

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Money

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

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The Briefing

  • Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
  • After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

 

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

YearFed chair% Great deal or Fair amount
2023Jerome Powell36%
2022Jerome Powell43%
2021Jerome Powell55%
2020Jerome Powell58%
2019Jerome Powell50%
2018Jerome Powell45%
2017Janet Yellen45%
2016Janet Yellen38%
2015Janet Yellen42%
2014Janet Yellen37%
2013Ben Bernanke42%
2012Ben Bernanke39%
2011Ben Bernanke41%
2010Ben Bernanke44%
2009Ben Bernanke49%
2008Ben Bernanke47%
2007Ben Bernanke50%
2006Ben Bernanke41%
2005Alan Greenspan56%
2004Alan Greenspan61%
2003Alan Greenspan65%
2002Alan Greenspan69%
2001Alan Greenspan74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

  • Negative impact on the stock market
  • Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
  • Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.

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