Five out of 20 billionaire American dynasties are Jewish.
The website explains that America’s wealthiest families continue to maintain their respective fortunes and that they are also able to grow even wealthier. Even long after the founding patriarch of the dynasty is forgotten, his legacy of immense wealth is carried down from generation to generation.
The wealthiest family in America is the Walton family, founders of the Walmart stores, whose fortune is a combined $247 billion.
Other families on the list include the Cargill-MacMillan family with $47 billion, Cox Family with $34 billion, Busch Family with 17.5 billion, Du Pont Family with 16 billion, Hunt Family with 15.5 billion. Dorrance Family with 15 billion, Mellon Family with 11.5 billion, Johnson Family with $10.7 billion, and Rockefeller Family with $8.4 billion.
Lauder Family
This Jewish family has an estimated net worth of $40 billion.
Estée Lauder founded the cosmetic and makeup company with her husband, Joseph, in 1946, after creating skin treatments in her home.
She was the only woman in Time magazine’s 1998 list of the 20 most geniuses of the 20th century.
The company owns 30 brands including Clinique MAC and Origins.
Despite the fact that the company is publicly traded, the Lauder family keeps 87 percent of the voting power held by six family members.
Estée Lauder’s son Leonard joined the company in 1958 and has spent more than three decades helping it grow into a $14.3 billion in 2020 sales.
Ronald Lauder, is a former US ambassador to Austria. His son Gary Lauder (worth $1 billion) is a Silicon Valley tech investment firm.
Aerin Lauder, Ronald’s eldest daughter, is the style and image director at Estée Lauder. Clinique is managed by his youngest daughter Jane.
Leonard’s son, William Lauder, is currently the company’s chairman, while his brother, Ronald, is the Clinique division’s chairman.
In 2013, Leonard Lauder donated his huge Cubist art collection, valued at more than $1 billion, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
