The rich became even richer in the coronavirus era and the same goes for families that control giants.
According to Bloomberg, the richest dynasties on the planet hold 1,4 trillion. dollars in total, an unbelievable amount that comes from various industries.
As the rest of the world struggles to manage the economic impact of the global health crisis, dynasties become even richer.
Walton (Walmart) is, say, richer than ever, making $ 3 million an hour for a whole year. Thus adding to their wealth over 25 billion.
As Bloomberg typically estimates, you can stack $ 1 million in each of the 19.368 seats at the Bud Walton Arena and have enough left to give each of the 2,2 million employees a $ 90.000 bonus.
The Waltons are terribly rich, over $ 100 billion richer than the second family on the list.
Every year he publishes his relevant ranking Bloomberg, the post is causing a stir, making even more people demand higher taxes and a fairer distribution of wealth.
Only if that happens, capital always has its way of escaping. And we know it from Sam Walton himself, the patriarch of the dynasty. In 1953, almost a decade before his first Walmart opened, the ever-demon Sam divided his fortune into five, giving a share of his four children and keeping one for himself and his wife.
"The best way to reduce the state taxes you pay is to get rid of your assets before they become too much," he explains in his autobiography.
The Bloomberg list was based on available statistics for July 2020 and did not take into account assets from one-generation families or trusts managed by an heir…
Walmart remains the world's largest retail chain based on turnover, with sales of 524 billion from more than 11.000 stores worldwide.
In its third generation today, the American Dynasty from Arkansas continues to own half of them, a number capable of sending it to the top of the richest families.
Sam Walton opened his first store in 1945 and he and Bud's brother founded it Walmart in 1962. When he died in 1992, he was succeeded in his empire by his eldest son Rob. In 2016 we had another succession, when Steuart Walton replaced Jim's father at the helm of the group.
The family estate is divided into three generations, including Sam Walton's three children, Rob, Jim and Alice. At $ 56,8 billion, she remains one of the richest women in the world.
Frank Mars learned about chocolate as a child and even the company he eventually founded in Virginia is now better known for its Mars, M & Ms and Milky Way. Although the pet products they own are also not doing badly at all, accounting for almost half of the group's $ 38 billion annual turnover.
Mars Inc. is still in the hands of the family, in her fifth generation now, as Frank was born in 1883. When Forrest E. Mars Jr. retired from active duty in 1999, Jacqueline and John's children inherited their share. Jacqueline's son, Stephen Badger, was for years the president of the family business.
It was in 1940 when Patriarch Fred Koch founded the Wood River Oil & Refining in Kansas and in 1961 he was inherited by his 4 sons, Frederick, Charles, David and William. The great family feuds of the 1980s forced Frederick and William to leave the group, which remained in the hands of Charles and David.
The giant was once renamed Koch Industries and now has $ 115 billion in annual revenue. In its third generation today, the family continues to own a large percentage of all of them. So much so that when David Koch died in August 2019, he left his wife Julia Flesher Koch an amount of about $ 53 billion.
Julia is now the fourth richest woman in the world, behind only L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt, the MacKenzie Bezos (Scott After Divorce) and Alice Walton of Walmart.
The 85-year-old monarch of Saudi Arabia, Salman al Saud, has the endless oil fields of his country (after all, it took its name from his house) to constantly feed his property. Bloomberg notes here that only estimates can be made of the fortune of the seventh king of Saudi Arabia, from the total funds that members of the royal family have raised from the state's bank for the past 50 years.
The wealth of al-Saud and the 15.000 members of the extended family is probably much greater, according to Bloomberg. Most of them make money by mediating in government contracts and land concessions, when they do not set up companies that serve the public sector.
In their second generation today, suffice it to say that the personal property of the successor prince (from 2017) Mohammed bin Salman estimated at more than $ 1 billion. Which has the most expensive painting ever sold, a work by Leonardo da Vinci, on his superyacht.
As for Aramco, it was revealed in 2019 that it is the most profitable company in the world.
It was Dhirubhai Ambani, the father of Mukesh and Anil, who began building his predecessor Reliance Industries in 1957, returning from Yemen. When he passed away in 2002, he had left no will, causing the family to quarrel. The widow eventually found herself with her two sons, but seized a large part of the untold fortune.
Mukesh is currently at the helm of her giant Mumbai, which among other things controls the largest refineries on the planet. His 27-storey (and 37.000-square-foot) home in Mumbai is considered the most expensive private home in the world.
In its third generation today the family, brothers Isha and Akash now have positions on the boards of the retail and Contact number of the group, respectively.
Although it was Thierry Hermes who started making horse saddles for nobles in 1837, it was actually Jean-Louis Dumas (died in 2010) who converted the Parisian Hermes to a world leader of the luxury market since 1978.
Hermes, and the family and the fashion house, have a long history. In 1880 it moved to its historic headquarters in Paris and its development began in 1902, when grandchildren Emile-Maurice and Adolphe Hermes took over the presidency.
Its expansion dates back to the 1950s, when Emile's son-in-law, Robert Dumas, took an active role in diversifying the house.
However, it became truly global from 1978 onwards, when Jean-Louis Dumas opened a number of overseas stores. Today, in the sixth generation of the family, the company is controlled by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, as its artistic director, and Axel Dumas, as president of the group.
Another luxury house climbed to the top of the richest families. Brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer are reaping the rewards of their grandfather Pierre's matte drive today to fund some… Coco Chanel in Paris in 1924.
Chanel had revenue of $ 12,3 billion in 2019, although until then the Wertheimers owned huge vineyards in France and California and racehorses.
The house's great growth began in 1965, when Pierre's son Jacques, whom Chanel called "small", took over the reins of the firm. Characteristic of the secrecy of the family, in its third generation now, but also of the company in general, is the fact that it published its first financial data only in 2018!
The mutual fund founded in Boston by Edward C. Johnson II in 1946 (Fidelity Management & Research) was to become a proper empire. In 1977 he was succeeded by his son, Ned Johnson, as CEO, a position held since 2014 by the founder's granddaughter, Abigail Johnson.
In the third generation and this family, the huge fortune is shared among the members. And as much as it is currently being shaken by pressure to cut its supplies, Fidelity Investments is growing bigger year by year…
German pharmacy Boehringer Ingelheim was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer. And today, 135 years later, he remains a colossus, sharing a vast fortune between 4 generations of Boehringer and Von Baumbach.
Albert Boehringer died in 1939 and the estate passed to his children. Erich von Baumbach, son-in-law of Albert Boehringer Jr., became president in 1992 and celebrated the group's 2010th anniversary in 125.
Today the president is Hubertus von Baumbach, who shares the untold amount with the wider members of the two families.
It was 1913 when Theo Albrecht opened a grocery store in Essen, Germany. Returning from World War II, the shop was taken over by his children, Theo and Karl, who turned it (1946) into a cheap supermarket chain in Germany.
In the 1960s they divorced the company, giving birth to it Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud. Both departments together now have over 10.000 stores in 20 countries. In fact, in 1971, Theo was held hostage in a closet for 17 full days and paid $ 2 million in ransom to return home.
Karl Albrecht died in 2014. In their third generation today, Albrecht has owned since 1979 the American "green" product chain Trader Joe's, which has over 350 stores…