Bloomberg recently launched the list of the world's top 25 wealthy families in 2024. Among them, the descendants of Sam Wharton, the founder of Wal Mart, enjoy wealth that can rival other countries. The Wharton family currently holds a net asset of up to $432.4 billion, surpassing the Alanahayan family, the royal family of the United Arab Emirates, and returning to the first place.
As regular customers on this list, the Waltons are getting richer for a simple reason: the stock of Wal Mart. As of December 10, Wal Mart's stock has risen by 80% this year. This growth increased the total wealth of the Walton family by $172.7 billion within 12 months - an average of $473.2 million per day, or $328577 per minute.
Like the Walton family, most of the 25 wealthy families on this list have become even richer this year due to strong stock market performance. These families have accumulated a total of $406.5 billion in wealth this year due to the stock market, many of which are familiar names: Johnson (mutual funds and retirement accounts), Thomson family (media), Mars family, and Ferrero family (candy).
Of course, the wealthy Middle Eastern royal families continue to rank among the top ten wealthy families in the world. In addition to the Al Nahyan family of the UAE royal family, there are also the Al Thani family of the Qatari royal family and the Saudi family of the Saudi Arabian royal family, whose wealth amounts to $323.9 billion, $172.9 billion, and $140 billion, respectively, ranking second, third, and sixth.
The United Arab Emirates is composed of seven emirates, among which the Emirate of Abu Dhabi holds over 90% of the UAE's oil reserves, making it a region with strong economic strength. The Abu Dhabi Sheikh Al Nahyan family has dominated the country since its establishment, and the current president, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the third son of the country's first president.
In the Al Nahyan family, the one who truly controls the family business is the 55 year old UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of the current president. He is also the head of the largest Abu Dhabi bank and sovereign investment institution in the country, Abu Dhabi Holding Company (ADQ), and United Arab Emirates International Holdings Group (IHC).
The Al Thani family, the royal family of Qatar, has ruled Qatar since the mid-19th century. With the discovery of abundant oil and gas resources, the country has become a wealthy nation worldwide, and the Al Thani family has become one of the most successful and wealthy royal families in the world. Their investments are spread all over the world, including the Shard Tower in London, the Olympic Village, Harrods Department Store, Canary Wharf, Chelsea Barracks, and the Empire State Building in New York.
The wealth of the Saudi family mainly comes from oil resources, and many members of the royal family obtain their wealth by matching government contracts and land transactions, as well as providing services to state-owned enterprises such as Saudi Aramco.
Other wealthy families ranked in the top ten globally include the Herm è s family, ranked fourth ($1706 billion), the Koch Industries family, ranked fifth ($148.5 billion), the Mars family, ranked seventh ($133.8 billion), the Ambani family of India's Reliance Industries, ranked eighth ($99.6 billion), the Wittheimer family, a major shareholder of Chanel in France, ranked ninth ($88 billion), and the Thomson family of Canada, ranked tenth ($87.1 billion).