London December 13 2024: The wealthiest family in the word has made their money, ironically, selling some of the cheapest products on the market.
The Walton family, which is best known for creating the multinational Walmart chain of stores, is the richest clan on the planet, with a record net worth of $432.4 billion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Since last year, they’ve added an astounding $172.7 billion to their wealth, thanks in part to Walmart stock rising 80 percent this year. That’s allowed them to overtake Emirati royals for the top spot in Bloomberg’s annual ranking.
Walmart’s first true store opened 62 years ago, and since then it has grown into the world’s largest retailer by revenue, Bloomberg noted. Now with 10,600 locations across the globe, the chain brings in some $648 billion a year. But Walmart is responsible for just 70 percent of the Walton’s fortune today. Family members have expanded their investments into other areas of interest, such as sports, the arts, and philanthropy.
“When you empower individuals to pursue and support their own interests, the ROI is not only financial,” Nicole Clabaugh, the vice president of client operations at the financial consultant Aquilance, told Bloomberg. “It also gives them a sense of ownership in the preservation of wealth.”
Next in Bloomberg’s ranking come a couple of clans from the Middle East: The Al Nahyan family of the United Arab Emirates is second on the list, with $323.9 billion. And the Al Thani family of Qatar ranks third, with $172.9 billion. Both families control areas that are becoming more and more important on the global stage, and whose power has risen due to the oil reserves found there.
Following those is the Hermès family, which controls some $170.6 billion. Now in its sixth generation, the family is a major player in the luxury-goods industry, with its namesake brand responsible for selling purses that hammer down for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, according to Bloomberg. While much of the luxury market has faltered in recent years, Hermès is still going strong, bucking the downward trends that other groups have faced.
And rounding out the top five is the Koch family, with $148.5 billion. Their Kansas-based conglomerate, which is controlled by Charles and David Koch, has annual revenue of about $125 billion, Bloomberg wrote. And beyond industry, the Koch family has become incredibly powerful in American politics, backing super PACs and races largely in favor of Republican candidates.
There’s billionaires, and then there are these families, for which it almost seems like money really does grow on trees.
World’s Richest Families for 2024
Walton, $432.4 billion
Al Nahyan, $323.9 billion
Al Thani, $172.9 billion
Hermès, $170.6 billion
Koch, $148.5 billion
Al Saud, $140 billion
Mars, $133.8 billion
Ambani, $99.6 billion
Wertheimer, $88 billion
Thomson, $87.1 billion
Johnson (Fidelity Investments), $72.4 billion
Albrecht, $60.2 billion
Pritzker, $59.4 billion
Cargill/MacMillan, $56 billion
Offer, $55.6 billion
Hoffman/Oeri, $53.8 billion
Hartono, $47 billion
Quandt, $46 billion
Chearvanont, $44.1 billion
Duncan, $43.8 billion
Van Damme/De Spoelberch/De Mevius, $43.7 billion
Boehringer/Von Baumbach, $43 billion
Mistry, $41.4 billion
Newhouse, $38.8 billion
Ferrero, $37.4 billion
