List of wealthiest families
Various compilations of the wealthiest families worldwide (excluding royal families or autocratic ruling houses) are released by Forbes and other financial periodicals.
A clear distinction exists between wealth attributed to individual billionaires or a "nuclear family" unit, and the more extensive notion of an extended family or historic "dynasty," where fortunes from a family enterprise are shared among numerous heirs over multiple generations. As reported by Bloomberg, the top 25 richest families globally possess assets exceeding $1.4 trillion in total.[1]
Current rankings
Note: The following list features families whose combined net worth is at least $5 billion.
Historical
Excluding aristocratic and royal lineages, some of the most affluent families since the emergence of banking and early capitalism during the Italian Renaissance are:
- The Rothschild family of bankers, regarded as the wealthiest family in the mid-1800s. Their combined capital grew from £1.8 million in 1818 to £9.5 million by 1852, outpacing major institutions like Baring Brothers and Banque de France. By 1899, their capital had climbed to £41 million, surpassing the aggregate of Germany’s five largest joint-stock banks. Over time, their fortune has been divided among many descendants; only Benjamin de Rothschild was recognized as a billionaire. Unverified claims of trillion-dollar wealth persist.
- The Bardi family from Florence during the 14th century.
- The Medici family, proprietors of the Medici Bank and Europe's wealthiest family in the 15th century.
- The Gondi family of Florence, who partnered financially with the Medici in the 15th century.
- The Fugger family, prominent mercantile bankers and venture capitalists, noted as the richest family in the 16th century.
- The Welser family, alongside the Fuggers, influential merchant bankers throughout 16th-century Europe.
- The Baring family, owners of a leading London merchant bank spanning the 18th and 19th centuries.
- The Schröder family, a dominant Hanseatic banking dynasty based in Hamburg during the 18th to 19th centuries.
- The Goldman–Sachs family, founders and owners of Goldman Sachs investment bank from its inception in 1869 until 1912; the firm admitted its first partner outside the family that year.
- Venetian noble lineages—including Contarini, Cornaro, Dandolo, Riario, Giustinian, Loredan, Mocenigo, and Morosini—who controlled trade monopolies while governing the Venetian Republic as a mercantile oligarchy.
External links
- Gauri Bhatia, How India's Most Affluent Families Are Working to Preserve Their Wealth, CNBC, 18 October 2017
- Simone Foxman, Leading Global Wealthiest Families Aim to Increase Direct Deal-Making, Bloomberg, 9 November
- The T&C 50: The Most Influential Families You Haven't Heard Of, Town & Country, 17 October 2017
- Kerry A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll, "Dynasties of Billionaires", Forbes, 21 June 2001
- Devon Pendleton, Bloomberg, Europe's Wealthiest Royal Increases Fortune as Family Bank Attracts Affluent Clients, The Register Citizen, 28 October 2017
- Tom Metcalf and Jack Witzig, Global Elite's Wealth Climbs by $1 Trillion in 2017 Amid Market Optimism, Bloomberg News, 27 December 2017
- Kimberley Richards, Report Shows Canada's Top 87 Families Possess Wealth 4,000 Times That of Average Household, Independent, 1 August 2018
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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