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According to estimates, approximately a third of the participants included in the Forbes USA 2024 ranking inherited all or most of their wealth, Forbes writes.

In total, the wealth of 934 heirs (33.6% of the list) is $5 trillion. Every year the number of heirs in the ranking increases—last year there were 827 representatives of the family heritage (31.3% of the list) with a total fortune of $4.1 trillion.

Most of the world's richest people worked to build their wealth themselves, without relying on family inheritance. Yet seven of the world's 25 richest people started out with inheritances of roughly $1billion, and in some cases—much more. These include the world's richest woman, Francoise Bettencourt-Myers (net worth $99.5 billion), who inherited shares of the cosmetics giant L'Oréal, founded by her grandfather, as well as Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani (net worth $116 billion), who inherited part of the textile empire founded by his father.

Other participants in the rating inherited an already built empire, but they decided not to participate in its further development personally and gave the reins to third parties, such as Mark Mateschitz, who at the age of 30 became the richest man in Austria after the death of his father, Dietrich Mateschitz (died in 2022 ), co-founder of Red Bull.

No. 1 Mukesh Ambani

 Age: 66

 Country: India

 Source of wealth: Investments

 Net worth: $116 billion

Mukesh and his brother Anil are heirs to the largest fortune in India, which they inherited from their father Dhirubhai Ambani, who died in 2002. The fierce struggle for control of the company caused a rift in the relationship between the brothers. Anil dropped out of the ranking of the world's richest people after many of his companies went bankrupt. Mukesh, whose empire spans petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail, has become the richest man in Asia.

No. 2 Francoise Bettencourt-Myers and family

Age: 70

Country: France

Source of wealth: L'Oréal

Net worth: $99.5 billion

Bettencourt-Myers is crowned the world's richest woman for the fourth year in a row thanks to her 33% stake in L'Oréal, the cosmetics giant founded by her grandfather, chemist Eugene Paul Louis Schuller, in 1909. The billionaire heiress is deputy chairman of the board of directors of L'Oréal and chairman of the family investment company Téthys Invest. In 2018, she first appeared in the ranking of the world's richest people according to Forbes USA - a year after the death of her mother Liliana Betancourt.

No. 3  Jim Walton and family

Age: 75

Country: USA

Source of wealth: Walmart

Net worth: $78.4 billion

Sam Walton's youngest son owns about 12% of Walmart, which was founded by his father in 1962. Over the past year, he and his siblings, Rob and Alice, who own the same stake in the company, added $58 billion to their wealth as Walmart shares jumped nearly 20%. Jim served on Walmart's board of directors for more than 10 years, but in 2016 he passed on his seat to his son Stuart. Today, Walton focuses on running the family bank, Arvest.

No. 4  Rob Walton and family

Age: 79

Country: USA

Source of wealth: Walmart

Net worth: $77.4 billion

Sam Walton's eldest son still serves on the company's board of directors. He is also the largest single owner of the NFL's Denver Broncos, which was acquired by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group in June 2022 for a record $4.7 billion. The club is currently valued at $5.1 billion.

No. 5 Alice Walton and family

Age: 74

Country: USA

Source of wealth: Walmart

Net worth: $72.3 billion

The only daughter of the Walmart founder, whom Forbes USA called the “black sheep” among the other heirs in 2013, has largely avoided the family business. Instead, she devoted her time to her hobbies, such as horse breeding and art collecting. In 2011, she founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.

No. 6 David Thomson

Age: 66

Country: Canada

Source of wealth: Media

Net worth: $67.8 billion

After his father's death in 2006, Thomson took over the Canadian media group Thomson Corporation (Thomson), founded by his grandfather, Roy Thomson. In 2008, he spearheaded Thomson's landmark merger with news agency Reuters. Since then, the family's fortune has grown from $22 billion to more than $66 billion.

No. 7 Julia Koch

Age: 61

Country: USA

Source of wealth: Koch Industries

Net worth: $64.3 billion

The wife of the late David Koch, who died in 2019, became one of the world's richest people when she and her three children—David Koch Jr., Mary Julia, and John—inherited 42% of the company's shares. Julia serves on the board of directors of Koch Industries and is president of the David Koch Charitable Foundation. According to some reports, she is in talks to buy a 10% stake in the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.

No. 8 Giovanni Ferrero

Age: 59

Country: Italy

Source of wealth: Nutella, confectionery

Net worth: $43.8 billion

Ferrero inherited approximately 75% of the family's confectionery business after the death of his father, Michele Ferrero, in 2015. The largest Italian confectionery manufacturer Ferrero was founded in 1946 after Pietro Ferrero invented nut butter, which later received the world famous name Nutella. Giovanni became CEO of the company at the age of 32 along with his late brother Pietro, who died in 2011, and led it for 20 years. He left his post in 2017, but remains chief executive of the Ferrero Group.

No. 9 Mark Mateschitz

Age: 31

Country: Austria

Source of wealth: Red Bull

Net worth: $39.6 billion

The only son of the Red Bull co-founder became a billionaire, inheriting 49% of the energy drink business after his father's death in October 2022. Also, he inherited some of the family's financial assets, real estate, and a stake in the Red Bull Formula 1 racing team. Over the past year, Red Bull's dividends brought Mateschitz $630 million—before taxes.

No. 10 John Mars

Age: 88

Country: USA

Source of wealth: Confectionery, pet food

Net worth: $38.5 billion

John leads the same modest lifestyle as his sister Jacqueline. However, he also has been engaged in the family business for many years. He and his late brother, Forrest Mars Jr., have served as co-chairmen of Mars since 1975. They built the company into a diversified global confectionery and pet food empire. A 1992 story in the Washington Post revealed that all of Forrest Mars Sr.'s children shared an office with one assistant.

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