25 massive companies that are still family owned
The world's largest family-controlled firms
When we think of family businesses, we tend to conjure up images of homely convenience stores and humble neighborhood pizza parlors, small-scale operations competing with huge faceless multinationals. Yet a surprising number of these massive global enterprises are themselves family controlled. Here are the 40 largest family-owned firms on the planet, according to the latest Global Family Business Index 2021, compiled by the Center for Family Business at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Family business definition
According to the Center for Family Business at the University of St. Gallen, a privately-held firm is considered family-owned if a family controls more than 50% of the voting rights, while a publicly-held company is defined as family-owned if a family holds at least a 32% share of the voting rights. All company revenue figures quoted in this piece have been provided by St. Galen University.
CK Hutchison Holdings (Li family)
CK Hutchison Holdings is an investment holding company with interests in areas such as ports, retail, infrastructure, and telecommunications across 50 countries. The company employs 270,000 people and brings in annual revenues of $34.4 billion (£24.9bn).
40th: CK Hutchison Holdings (Li family)
In 2018, Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing (pictured right) – currently worth $31.9 billion (£23.1bn) –announced that he was handing over the role of chairman of CK Hutchinson to his son, Victor (pictured left). Li Ka-shing still serves as a senior advisor. Ka-shing, dubbed "Superman," grew his plastic manufacturing company, Cheung Kong, from a $6,500 (£5k) loan in 1950 to a global conglomerate that merged with Hutchinson Whampoa in 2015 to form CK Hutchison Holdings.
39th: Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche-Piëch)
Porsche Automobil Holding Se is a Volkswagen Group German holding company with other major investments in the automobile sector. It is involved in the design, manufacture, and sale of vehicles. The Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) division of the company also creates smart software solutions for transportation logistics as well as traffic planning and management. The company has annual revenues of $34.6 billion (£25bn).
39th: Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche-Piëch)
The company was founded in the early 1930s by Ferdinand Porsche and his son-in-law, Anton Piech. Today, the company remains in family hands. Former executive chairman Ferdinand Piech (pictured left) and his cousin Wolfgang Porsche (pictured right), who is a shareholder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, are prominent members of the dynasty family. The Porsche and Piech families used their majority voting shares to elect Hans Dieter Potsch as the new chairman of the executive board following Ferdinand Piech's resignation in 2015.
25. China Evergrande Group (Hui family)
China Evergrande Group is a real estate behemoth and is one of the world's largest property companies, with over 800 projects in more than 280 cities. That's pretty impressive for a business that only began in 1996, when former steel factory technician, Hui Ka Yan, started the property company.
25. China Evergrande Group (Hui family)
Now 60-years-old Hui Ka Yan is the company's chairman, while his son Xu Zhijian is a vice president. In fact the family owns 77.17% of the business, which turned over $47.93 billion (£37.1bn) in 2017. The real estate giant has 140,000 employees.
24. JBS SA (Batista family)
The Brazilian animal meat processing company was founded in 1953 when José Batista Sobrinho started a small operation that processed just five cattle a day. Now the company processes beef, pork and chicken, and works not only with food, but also leather goods, biodiesel and cleaning products, turning over $49.50 billion (£38.4bn) in 2017. Today the Batista family has a 41.9% stake in the firm.
24. JBS SA (Batista family)
But there have been accusations of corruption, and JBS CEO Wesley Batista (pictured testifying in November 2017 at the National Congress in Brasilia) and his younger brother Joesley, the ex-chairman, were arrested in 2017 over corruption charges that they had bribed politicians to advance their business interests.
23. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (Arnault family)
The world's largest luxury goods company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (commonly referred to as LMVH), was formed as part of a merger between fashion house Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy in 1987, the latter the result of a previous merger between champagne Moët and cognac brand Hennessy in 1971. The creation of this luxury behemoth was the idea of Bernard Arnault who built up funds of $15 million (£11.6m) after working for his father's construction business to buy fashion house Dior in 1985.
23. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (Arnault family)
Bernard Arnault (pictured with his wife French pianist Helene Mercier-Arnault) remains CEO and chairman of over 70 brands, making him the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of $91.3 billion (£70.7bn). And it's staying in the family, as his daughter Delphine is executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, and a member of LVMH's executive committee. The Arnault family own a 46.8% stake in the company.
22. América Móvil SA de CV (Slim family)
Along with this family, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the sixth richest person in the world and former richest, has a 61.4% controlling stake in mobile telecoms corporation América Móvil, one of Mexico's leading mobile firms.
22. América Móvil SA de CV (Slim family)
Founded by Slim in 2000, América Móvil turns over $51.63 billion (£40bn) a year and has a workforce of 191,851. The corporation's Telcel subsidiary is the largest mobile operator in Mexico and has a significant market share throughout Latin America.
20. Groupe Auchan (Mulliez family)
Groupe Auchan is majority-owned by the Mulliez family. The retail business was founded in Roubaix, France in 1961 by Gérald Mulliez, who handed over the reins to Vianney Mulliez (pictured), his first cousin once removed, in 2006. Vianney Mulliez served as chairman until March 2017.
20. Groupe Auchan (Mulliez family)
One of the largest retail businesses in the world, the group now has 639 hypermarkets and 2,874 supermarkets in 12 countries, turning over tens of billions of dollars a year, and has interests in a number of companies including Decathlon sports stores.
19. Continental AG (Schaeffler family)
Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler and her son Georg Jr. own the Schaeffler Group, the German ball bearings giant that was founded as Industrie GmbH by her late husband Georg Sr. back in 1946. AG Continental is the Schaeffler's Group largest investment.
19. Continental AG (Schaeffler family)
The Schaeffler Group acquired the much larger tire and auto parts firm in 2008 for $13 billion (£9bn), and the Schaeffler family now holds 46% of the shares in the enterprise, which turns over $53.21 billion (£41.2bn) a year and has a workforce of 235,473.
18. LG Corporation (Koo and Huh families)
Electronics giant LG Corporation accounts for nearly 70% of the Koo family fortune. Founder Koo In-Hwoi (pictured) passed the company down to his son, and then to his grandchild, Koo Bon-Moo.
18. LG Corporation (Koo and Huh families)
The Huh family also own a stake in the company, but formed GS Holdings in 2005, as part of the Lucky-Goldstar umbrella. The company has annual revenues of $55.71 billion (£43.2bn).
17. Roche Holding AG [Roche Group] (Hoffmann-La Roche family)
Big pharma's most powerful family, the descendants of Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, who founded the company in 1896, have a controlling stake in Roche, the world's third largest pharmaceutical company. Scion of the family André Hoffmann (pictured) is the current vice chairman.
17. Roche Holding AG [Roche Group] (Hoffmann-La Roche family)
Roche was the first company to mass-produce Vitamin C, and the Swiss firm developed the world's first antidepressant, as well as game-changing medications including several antiretroviral HIV and chemotherapy drugs. The group has a turnover of $56.51 billion (£43.8bn) a year and a workforce of 93,734.
16. Metro AG (Haniel / Schmidt-Ruthnbeck / Beisheim families)
The German wholesale and cash and carry group, Metro AG, started in 1964. Founded by Otto Beisheim, the Haniel and Schmidt-Ruthenbeck families became Beisheim's partners three years later.
16. Metro AG (Haniel / Schmidt-Ruthnbeck / Beisheim families)
The now-global company split in two in 2016 in order to separate its cash and carry business from a new electronics arm, which was called Ceconomy following the de-merger. However, the company has suffered and its share price has dropped since the split. So much so that the largest shareholder, the Haniel family, started the process of selling off their stakes in 2018. Before that, the three families owned 53.23% of the company.
15. Dell Inc (Dell family)
Dell was established in 1984 by Michael Dell (pictured) from his dorm room at the University of Texas. In 2016 the company merged with computer storage giant EMC, in a deal that was worth an estimated $60 billion (£46.5bn).
15. Dell Inc (Dell family)
The Dell family own a huge 75% stake in the company, which has annual revenues of $61.64 billion (£47.8bn).
14. Gunvor SA (Tornqvist family)
One of the largest commodities conglomerates in the world, Gunvor was founded by Torbjorn Tornqvist and Gennady Timchenko. Founded in 2000, it is now one of the largest crude oil traders in the world, turning over $64 billion (£49.6bn).
14. Gunvor SA (Tornqvist family)
In 2014, Timchenko sold his stake to Tornqvist due to US sanctions being put in place. Tornqvist now owns 63% of the company, with the rest now owned by company employees.
13. ArcelorMittal (Mittal family)
Founded by Mohan Lal Mittal, the company that would later become ArcelorMittal has its origins in 1950s Rajasthan. Mohan Lal Mittal's son Lakshmi (pictured) is the current chairman and CEO and, together with his family, he owns a 37.4% controlling stake.
13. ArcelorMittal (Mittal family)
The world's largest steel producer with just under 200,000 employees, ArcelorMittal churns out a staggering 98.1 million tons of steel a year and has annual revenues of $68.68 billion (£53.2bn).
12. Comcast Corp (Roberts family)
The world's largest broadcasting and cable TV company, Comcast was founded by the late Ralph J. Roberts in 1963 and his family still owns a 33.32% controlling stake. Ralph J. Roberts' son Brian (pictured with his wife Aileen) is the firm's current chairman and CEO, and several members of the Roberts family work at the company.
12. Comcast Corp (Roberts family)
A media and entertainment colossus, Comcast is America's largest home internet service provider and operates TV channels from NBC and MSNBC to E!, as well as Universal Pictures movie studios and theme parks. The company turns over $84.3 billion (£65.3bn) a year and has 164,000 employees.
11. ALDI Group (Albrecht family)
ALDI started as a corner grocery store in Essen (pictured), which was opened in 1913 by Theo Albrecht. After his death in 2010, his sons Theo Jr. and Berthold inherited the estimated $20.6 billion (£16bn) fortune.
11. ALDI Group (Albrecht family)
After splitting the business into two parts, Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord, the brothers stepped down as CEOs in 1993, handing the companies over to private family foundations, the Siepmann Foundation and the Markus Foundation, meaning that the Albrecht family still own 100% of the business.
10. Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosh Family)
Founded in 1886 as the “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering” in Stuttgart by Robert Bosch (pictured), the company had a rocky start, but really got into its stride in the 1890s when Bosch created a reliable magneto ignition. But it was later when one of his engineers developed an ignition with a spark plug that the company really started to flourish.
10. Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosh Family)
A major crisis in the German automotive industry led Bosch to rethink its product lines, and from around 1926 the company moved into other items such as power tools, and later household products such as washing machines. Bosch is now a global force, and depsite Robert Bosch's death in 1945 it remains in family hands, with his children Robert Bosch Jr and Eva Madelung holding a 8% stake up until Bosch Jr's death in 2004. Today, Madelung, along with eight members of the third generation, now share this family stake, while the remaining 92% is held by a charitable foundation as per Robert Bosch's wishes.
9. Schwarz Gruppe (Schwarz family)
Staying with retailers, the Schwarz Gruppe owns and operates the Lidl and Laufland chains. The German retailing giant was founded as the Schwarz & Lidl discount chain in 1930 by Josef Schwarz and his son Dieter (pictured) is currently at the helm of the firm.
9. Schwarz Gruppe (Schwarz family)
The group, which turns over $109.65 billion (£85bn) a year, operates thousands of stores in 26 countries, and has ambitious plans to expand into new markets, including the US and Russia. The family has total ownership of the private company.
8. Cargill, Incorporated (Cargill MacMillan family)
Agribusiness firm Cargill, Incorporated is America's largest privately owned company. The enterprise was established in 1865 by William W. Cargill (pictured) and his descendants have 100% voting rights and full control, making them very rich indeed.
8. Cargill, Incorporated (Cargill MacMillan family)
In fact, there are more billionaires in the Cargill MacMillan family than any other, an impressive 14 in total. The company, which is involved in agricultural commodities trading, livestock raising, food production and financial services, generates a turnover of $109.7 billion (£85bn) a year.
7. Koch Industries Inc (Koch family)
Fred C. Koch founded the oil refining company that became Koch Industries in 1940 and passed it on to his four sons upon his death in 1967. Charles (pictured) and David successfully sued their brothers William and Frederick for control of the firm during the 1980s and 1990s.
7. Koch Industries Inc (Koch family)
Together, Charles and David own 84% of the private company, which turns over $110 billion (£85.2bn) a year. The corporation has its fingers in many pies, including manufacturing, petroleum refining, commodities trading and ranching.
6. BMW AG (Quandt family)
Industrialist Günther Quandt established the firm that would become the BMW Group in the 1910s, and despite a shameful past – BMW used Nazi slave labor during World War II – the Brandt family has managed to hold on to a 46.8% controlling stake. Günther Quandt's billionaire grandson Stefan (pictured), for instance, owns a 17.4% share.
6. BMW AG (Quandt family)
The iconic German auto firm generates an annual revenue of $118.8 billion (£92.1bn). As well as making BMW vehicles, BMW AG is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and owns the Mini brand.
5. Ford Motor Company (Ford family)
Henry Ford's descendants own 40% of voting rights of the motor company he founded in 1903, and the family are still involved in the running of the auto firm, including Henry Ford's great-grandson William Clay Ford Jr. (pictured), the company's executive chairman, and great-great-grandson Henry Ford III, who is global marketing manager for Ford Performance.
5. Ford Motor Company (Ford family)
The venerable and super-successful motor company, which has annual revenues of $156.78 billion (£121.5bn) and produces millions of vehicles a year worldwide, is the second largest US automaker and the fifth largest on the planet.
4. EXOR SpA (Agnelli family)
Dubbed 'the Kennedys of Italy', the Agnelli family has a 53% controlling stake in Italian investment company EXOR. The current company chairman John Elkann (pictured) is the great-great-grandson son of Giovanni Agnelli, who co-founded Fiat in 1899.
4. EXOR SpA (Agnelli family)
Assets of the company include Fiat, Ferrari, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, soccer club Juventus and the Economist Group. All in all, EXOR SpA has an annual turnover of $170.82 billion (£123.4bn) and a workforce of 307,637.
3. Berkshire Hathaway (Buffett family)
Pictured here with his eldest son Peter and daughter Susan, genius investor Warren Buffett has transformed his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway into the world's fourth largest public company, boasting annual revenues of $242.14 billion (£187.6bn).
3. Berkshire Hathaway (Buffett family)
The conglomerate wholly owns a number of firms, including GEICO and Dairy Queen, and has significant minority holdings in major companies such as Coca-Cola, Apple and American Express. Warren Buffett has voting control of the company and, upon his death, the bulk of the shares he owns will pass to a family foundation.
1. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (Walton family)
The living heirs of co-founders Sam and James Walton, who established the family firm back in 1962, share the majority stake in the company, including S. Robson Walton, who served as Wal-Mart chairman from 1992 to 2015. There are a total of seven multi-billionaires in the family.
1. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (Walton family)
The Walton family controls just under 51% of supermarket behemoth Wal-Mart, America's largest business in terms of revenue and the world's largest retailer, with an annual turnover of $485.7 billion (£338.1bn) and a total of 2.3 million employees.
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