The Walton family, heirs to Walmart, is the richest family in America as of November 2026, with a combined fortune we estimate at about $520 billion. That is roughly as much as the next six families on this list put together. This ranking covers American family fortunes shared across generations or siblings, measured as the combined net worth of the family members who hold the money.
We count a family when the wealth comes from a single business that has been passed down or split among relatives. Founders who still hold their fortune alone, however rich, belong on a list of individuals, so they appear in special mentions instead.
| Rank | Family | Net worth (USD) | Main source of wealth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Cox family | $30 billion | Cox Enterprises (cable, Cox Automotive) |
| 9 | Adelson family | $32 billion | Las Vegas Sands casinos |
| 8 | Garcia family | $35 billion | Carvana, DriveTime |
| 7 | Cathy family | $36 billion | Chick-fil-A |
| 6 | Pritzker family | $45 billion | Hyatt hotels, Marmon Group sale, investments |
| 5 | Cargill-MacMillan family | $55 billion | Cargill |
| 4 | Johnson family (Fidelity) | $65 billion | Fidelity Investments |
| 3 | Mars family | $150 billion | Mars candy, pet food and snacks |
| 2 | Koch family | $165 billion | Koch Inc. |
| 1 | Walton family | $520 billion | Walmart |
The 10 richest families in America, ranked
10. Cox family: $30 billion
James M. Cox bought a newspaper in Dayton, Ohio, in 1898. Four generations later his descendants own Cox Enterprises, a private Atlanta company that runs cable systems, car auctions and car-shopping websites, including Manheim, Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
Siblings Jim Kennedy and Blair Parry-Okeden each hold about a quarter of the company, inherited from their mother, Barbara Cox Anthony, and the rest sits with the heirs of her sister, Anne Cox Chambers. In 2025 Cox agreed to combine its cable business with Charter Communications, a deal that would make the family a major Charter shareholder.
We value Cox Enterprises on cable and automotive peer multiples, then add up the family branches. With two siblings at about $7.3 billion each, the full family lands near $30 billion.
9. Adelson family: $32 billion
Sheldon Adelson ran a computer trade show called Comdex before he bought the Sands casino in Las Vegas in 1988. He built Las Vegas Sands into a global casino company, and the real money came from Macao and Singapore, where the Marina Bay Sands towers became a postcard image.
Today Miriam Adelson and her five children own more than half of the company. In 2023 the family bought a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban, and Sands has since sold its Las Vegas properties to focus on Asia.
The family’s majority stake in Las Vegas Sands at November 2026 prices covers almost all of this, with the Mavericks added on.
8. Garcia family: $35 billion
The newest family fortune on this list belongs to a father and son. Ernest Garcia II built DriveTime, a used-car dealer focused on buyers with poor credit. His son, Ernie Garcia III, started Carvana inside DriveTime, the online car seller known for its vending-machine towers.
Carvana went public in 2017, lost almost all of its stock market value in 2022, then staged one of the biggest stock recoveries of the decade as it turned profitable. Garcia II is now Carvana’s biggest shareholder, at about $24.1 billion, and his son holds about $11.3 billion.
Both men’s Carvana shares at current prices, plus DriveTime, which the father owns privately, add up to the figure. It is the most volatile number on this list because Carvana shares swing so hard.
7. Cathy family: $36 billion
Truett Cathy opened a diner near Atlanta in 1946 and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in a mall in 1967. He built the chain on a chicken sandwich and a rule that every store closes on Sundays, which turns out to cost very little when your restaurants sell more per location than almost any other fast-food chain.
His children Dan Cathy, Bubba Cathy and Trudy Cathy White each hold a large share, and grandson Andrew Cathy became CEO in 2021. Chick-fil-A is now the third-largest restaurant chain in America by sales, with more than $20 billion a year in system-wide revenue.
The chain stays private, so we value it on what investors pay for listed fast-food peers. With Dan Cathy at about $12 billion and his two siblings close to that, the family sits near $36 billion.
6. Pritzker family: $45 billion
The Pritzkers count 13 billionaire heirs, more than any other American family. The fortune began with a Chicago law firm in 1902 and took off when Jay Pritzker bought a hotel near Los Angeles airport in 1957, the seed of Hyatt.
The family later built Marmon Group, a sprawling industrial conglomerate, and sold it to Berkshire Hathaway in stages between 2008 and 2013. The money is now spread across Hyatt shares, private investment firms and family trusts, with Thomas Pritzker, Hyatt’s longtime chairman, by himself worth about $8 billion.
We added up the published fortunes of the family’s billionaire members, then rounded toward the conservative side because the trusts behind them are private.
5. Cargill-MacMillan family: $55 billion
Cargill is the largest private company in America by revenue, and most people have never bought anything with its name on it. The family business, started by William Wallace Cargill in 1865 with a single grain storage shed in Iowa, now trades grain, processes meat and moves food around the planet.
Around 100 descendants of the Cargill and MacMillan families own the large majority of the company, and about a dozen of them are billionaires. The family rarely gives interviews and has no public face.
Our estimate values Cargill against listed agribusiness peers and applies the family’s ownership share. Last published estimates were in the mid-$50 billion range.
4. Johnson family (Fidelity): $65 billion
Edward C. Johnson II founded Fidelity in Boston in 1946. His son Ned built it into a mutual fund giant, and granddaughter Abigail Johnson has run it as CEO since 2014. Fidelity now looks after trillions of dollars for retirement savers.
Abigail owns about 29% of the company and is worth about $41.6 billion by herself. Her siblings and other family members own another large chunk, which puts the family’s total stake close to half of Fidelity.
Abigail’s published fortune is the starting point. We scaled it up to the family’s total stake, then shaved the result because Fidelity’s private valuation is hard to pin down.
3. Mars family: $150 billion
Frank Mars started making candy in Tacoma, Washington, in 1911. His son Forrest invented M&M’s, and the family turned Mars into the maker of Snickers, Twix, Pedigree and Whiskas, plus a large chain of veterinary hospitals.
In December 2025 Mars completed its $35.9 billion purchase of Kellanova, the maker of Pringles and Cheez-It, one of the biggest food deals ever. Siblings Jacqueline and John Mars each own about a third of the company, and the four daughters of their late brother Forrest Jr. own the rest.
The math is simple here: Jacqueline and John are each worth about $50.3 billion, and the next generation’s third is worth about the same.
2. Koch family: $165 billion
Fred Koch founded the business in 1940. His son Charles took over in 1967 and turned a mid-sized oil refiner into Koch Inc., the second-largest private company in America, with about $125 billion in revenue from pipelines, chemicals, paper towels, Dixie cups and auto parts.
Charles Koch and his family hold about 42% of the company, worth about $76.9 billion. Julia Koch, the widow of his brother David, and her three children hold another 42%, worth about $84.6 billion. That branch has gone into sports, buying 15% of the company that owns the Brooklyn Nets in 2024 and 10% of the New York Giants in 2025.
The two main branches’ stakes, valued on industrial peers, account for nearly all of the total. The rest is spread among smaller holders.
1. Walton family: $520 billion
Sam Walton opened his first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Today the family holds about 45% of the world’s largest retailer, and Walmart’s rise in the stock market over the past few years has pushed the Waltons further ahead of every other family on earth.
Rob Walton and family are worth about $148 billion, Jim Walton and family about $145 billion and Alice Walton about $134 billion. Grandson Lukas Walton adds about $50 billion and Christy Walton about $25 billion, before counting smaller holders such as Ann Walton Kroenke and Nancy Walton Laurie. Rob also led the 2022 purchase of the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion.
We added the family members’ Walmart stakes at November 2026 share prices, plus the Broncos and other holdings. It is the best-documented number on this list, because almost all of it trades on the stock market every day.
Special mentions
- The Ellisons: Larry Ellison and his son David, who runs Paramount Skydance, are often listed as a family worth well over $150 billion, but nearly all of it is Larry’s own Oracle stake, which makes it a founder’s fortune rather than a family one.
- The Lauder family: heirs to Estée Lauder are worth an estimated $25 billion to $30 billion, just outside the top 10.
- The du Ponts, Rockefellers and Busches: some of America’s oldest fortunes are now split among hundreds of heirs, so no reliable combined figure exists for them.
What America’s richest families have in common
- Most of them still own one company. Walmart, Mars, Koch, Cargill, Fidelity and Chick-fil-A have each stayed under family control for decades. The fortunes that survived were the ones that did not sell.
- Private beats public. Six of the ten families own businesses that are not listed on any stock market. Staying private lets them think in generations, not quarters, and keeps outsiders from buying in.
- The boring industries win. Groceries, candy, grain, chemicals and chicken sandwiches. Only the Garcias made their money from anything that looks like technology, and even they sell used cars.
- Splitting the pie is the real risk. The Pritzkers and Cargill-MacMillans are spread over dozens of heirs, while the Waltons and Marses kept ownership concentrated. The families that kept fewer, larger stakes have pulled furthest ahead.
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Who is the richest family in America?
The Walton family, heirs to Walmart, is the richest family in America with a combined fortune of about $520 billion as of November 2026.
How much is the Koch family worth?
We estimate the Koch family at about $165 billion, split mainly between Charles Koch’s branch and the branch of his late brother David’s widow, Julia Koch, and her children.
Which family on the list is the newest?
The Garcia family. Most of its wealth was created after Carvana went public in 2017, and much of it after the stock’s recovery from 2023 onward.
How much does a family need to make the top 10?
About $30 billion. That is our estimate for the Cox family, which holds the 10th spot.
Which American family has the most billionaires?
The Pritzker family, with 13 billionaire members, has more billionaires than any other family on this list.
Why are the Ellisons not on the list?
Almost all of the Ellison money belongs to Larry Ellison himself, so we treat it as an individual fortune rather than a family one.
How we estimate net worth
Our estimates are based on public reporting, company valuations, and deal and earnings figures all compiled in an internal valuation model. They are approximate, and figures change over time as new information emerges.
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Last updated: November 2026.
