Trust Fund Fortunes: The World's Richest Heirs 2025

Forbes

04-04-2025

For the average parent, the most extravagant gift they could imagine making to their children would be a car or college tuition. The world's richest people, however, often pass on something much bigger: billion-dollar empires.
Fast-tracked to extreme wealth, about one-third of the record 3,028 billionaires on Forbes' annual World's Billionaires list inherited at least a significant part of their fortune.
Many have chosen to take the helm of their inherited companies, at times even expanding them well beyond their founders' imaginations. Others have used their riches to forge their own path in business, to become major philanthropists–or simply to enjoy a private life of luxury. Altogether, these 990 billionaire heirs are worth $5.3 trillion. There are 56 more of them than last year, although they now make up a slightly smaller percentage of the overall list (33% vs. 34%) as more self-made billionaires are minted every day.
The three richest heirs on our list all share a last name, as well as a family business: superstore chain Walmart. Rob Walton ($110 billion), Jim Walton ($109 billion) and Alice Walton ($101 billion), the surviving children of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992), are richer than ever. They're now all members of The $100 Billion Club, the elite group of people worth a dozen digits. The three Waltons, plus their two cousins and their sister-in-law Christy Walton and nephew Lukas Walton, collectively control an approximately 45% stake in the retailing giant. Though born into the same staggering fortune, the siblings have chosen different life paths. While Rob and Jim both served long tenures on Walmart's board, Alice has mostly focused her energy on pursuits such as art curation, horse breeding and philanthropy.
About 60% of the billionaire heirs who made our list this year have actively worked to grow their riches as executives at their inherited companies or as entrepreneurs running new ventures. India's richest person, Mukesh Ambani ($92.5 billion), expanded the Reliance Industries conglomerate founded by his father into a $200 billion (market cap) business, which has investments in areas including petrochemicals, telecom and retail. Less than a year after the death of Ambani's father in 2002, Forbes estimated the value of the 34% joint stake in Reliance Industries inherited by Ambani and his brother at just $2.8 billion.
The richest citizen of Australia, Gina Rinehart, turned her father's struggling mining company into a gold rush after his death in 1992. Now worth $29.3 billion, Rinehart remains executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, which has expanded into the agricultural sector.
The richest new heir this year is Marilyn Simons, the widow of hedge fund mogul Jim Simons. She is now credited with an estimated $31 billion fortune, following the May 2024 death of the founder of quant fund Renaissance Technologies.
The 14 youngest billionaires in the world all inherited their wealth. That includes the youngest billionaire of all, 19-year-old Johannes von Baumbach, who is worth an estimated $5.4 billion after inheriting a stake in German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim.
Simons is the widow of Jim Simons (d. May 2024), who made his billions as the founder of quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, famous for its flagship Medallion Fund. She chairs the $4.6 billion (assets) Simons Foundation, which focuses on mathematical and scientific research.
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Adelson and her family became the majority owners of casino and resort operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. in 2021 after the death of her husband Sheldon Adelson, who had founded and chaired the publicly traded company. Born in Israel and a physician by training, Adelson has followed in her late husband's footsteps as one of the GOP's biggest donors. In 2024, she gave more than $100 million to a super PAC supporting Donald Trump.
Johnson is chairman and CEO of asset management giant Fidelity Investments, which her grandfather Edward Johnson II (d. 1984) founded in 1946. Johnson owns an estimated 28.5% of the private company, which manages nearly $6 trillion of discretionary assets. Her father Edward 'Ned' Johnson III (d. 2022) preceded her as chairman and CEO.
Jindal and her children control the Indian industrial conglomerate Jindal Group, which they inherited in 2005 after Jindal's husband, Jindal Group founder Om Prakash Jindal, died in a helicopter crash. Jindal has served as chairwoman of the group for two decades, while her four sons each run different divisions of the company, which has interests in steel, energy, cement and infrastructure.
Brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer own luxury fashion house Chanel, which was cofounded by their grandfather Pierre Wertheimer (who partnered with Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel herself) in the 1920s. Alain chairs the company, while Gerard heads up its watch division. The brothers own vineyards in France and Napa Valley, as well as a thoroughbred horse racing and breeding business.
A grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992), Lukas Walton inherited his stake in the superstore empire as a teenager after his father John Walton died in a 2005 plane crash. Walton owns an estimated 4% of Walmart but has kept the family business at arm's length. He is not involved with the company, and his focus is on running Builders Vision, the impact-investing outfit that he established in 2021.
Ferrero's grandfather Pietro Ferrero (d. 1949) developed the famous hazelnut spread now known as Nutella in a small pastry shop in Alba, Italy. The third-generation leader of his family's namesake confections business, Ferrero is executive chairman of The Ferrero Group, which generated nearly $20 billion of revenue in fiscal 2024 from the sale of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Kinder Surprise eggs, Tic Tac mints and more. Ferrero inherited an estimated 75% stake in the company after the death of his father, Michele Ferrero, in 2015.
Kuehne owns a majority stake in logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel International AG, which was cofounded by his grandfather August Kuehne (d. 1932). He began working at the company in 1958 and is now honorary chairman. Kuehne is an only child and has no children. His charitable foundation will manage his wealth after he passes away.
Mateschitz inherited a 49% stake in energy drink giant Red Bull in 2022 after the death of his father Dietrich Mateschitz, who cofounded the company. That same year, he left his position as the company's head of organics, saying he wanted to focus on his role as a shareholder.
Schwarz is the effective owner and former CEO of the Schwarz Group, which controls the Lidl and Kaufland discount supermarket brands. While working under his father Josef Schwarz (d. 1977), who built the company out of a fruit wholesaler, Dieter Schwarz opened the first Lidl store in 1973. Today, the Schwarz Group generates more than $160 billion of revenue annually.
Siblings John, Jacqueline and Forrest Jr. (d. 2016) Mars each inherited an estimated one-third stake in the candy company Mars, Incorporated, which was founded by their grandfather Frank Mars (d. 1934) in 1911. John and Forrest Jr. served as co-presidents of Mars starting in 1975, overseeing its expansion into a diversified global empire spanning sweets, pet food and chewing gum. Jacqueline, who is prominent in the equestrian world, also worked at Mars for nearly 20 years until 2001 and then served on the board until 2016. A 1992 Washington Post article described how the three Mars siblings all worked in the same room and shared a secretary.
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Koch has been chairman and CEO of the Wichita, Kansas-based conglomerate Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries) since his father Fred Koch died in 1967. (He brought on a co-CEO for the first time in 2023.) Fred Koch left behind a small oil refining, engineering and ranching business, and Charles Koch built it into America's second largest private company, with $125 billion of annual revenue and interests ranging from cloud software to fertilizer. The free market crusader transferred $5.3 billion of Koch, Inc.'s nonvoting stock to a pair of nonprofits with fewer restrictions on lobbying and politics than traditional charities from 2020 to 2022. Forbes estimates those shares accounted for nearly a tenth of the 42% stake he previously held in Koch, Inc.
The widow of Charles Koch's brother, she and her three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch, Inc. after the death of David Koch in 2019. Based in New York, Koch and her kids paid nearly $700 million for 15% of BSE Global, which owns the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and WNBA's New York Liberty, in 2024. Through her Julia Koch Family Foundation, she also gifted $75 million to fund the Julia Koch Family Ambulatory Care Center at NYU Langone's West Palm Beach location last year. Koch serves on the boards of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and is also a director of Koch, Inc.
Bettencourt Meyers—who briefly became the first woman worth $100 billion in June— and her family own more than a third of French cosmetics giant L'Oréal, which was founded by her grandfather Eugène Schueller (d. 1957). Bettencourt Meyers, who announced her retirement from L'Oréal's board in February, was the richest woman in the world for about two and a half years before Walmart heiress Alice Walton surpassed her in September.
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Ambani and his brother Anil inherited India's biggest fortune from their father Dhirubhai (d. 2002), but the sibling relationship soon fractured, leading them to split up the family empire. While Anil dropped from the billionaire rankings after many of his companies fell into bankruptcy, Mukesh, whose Reliance Industries empire spans petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail, is now the richest person in Asia.
The three living children of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992) split an estimated 34% of the retail giant. Rob retired from Walmart's board in June after more than 40 years as a director, including more than 20 years as chairman. Jim left the board in 2016, but still chairs the family's Arvest Bank Group. Alice has dedicated much of her life to philanthropy, doling out an estimated $1.7 billion to nonprofits focused on art, education, the environment and her family's hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.