KARACHI: For the first time, the House of Nahyan has joined Bloomberg’s annual ranking of family fortunes and done so at the very top.
With a $305 billion fortune, the Al Nahyans of Abu Dhabi topped the Waltons of Walmart Inc. by a cool $45 billion. Another new entrant, the Al Thanis, the royal family of Qatar, at No 5.
The petro-fortunes are reshaping global business as never before. Their flexing of personal — as well as sovereign — financial firepower adds multibillion-dollar exclamation points to the region’s growing influence. All three Gulf families on the ranking are likely far richer than these conservative estimates.
As a group, the world’s richest families have gotten $1.5 trillion wealthier since the last ranking, and the new tallies from the Middle East weren’t the only noteworthy shifts. Among the biggest gainers was a different kind of royal house: the sixth-generation dynasty behind luxury brand Hermès, who added $56 billion to become the world’s third-richest by eschewing fads and cultivating loyalty.
In a world in which faddish fortunes are regularly made and lost in cryptofied seconds, the world’s richest clans have prospered largely by sticking together, united by a shared sense of duty and the belief that they’ll be richer for it.
That’s helped dynasties endure despite wars, downturns, taxes, blood feuds and errant in-laws. Buoyant markets help too, but the most successful families are fixated on generational, not quarterly, milestones, said Bob Gould, a partner at Creaghan McConnell Group, which advises business families. “They play a much longer game.”
Quoting Bloomberg, Business Insider stated the world’s 25 wealthiest families have had a stellar 2023. Ultra-rich dynasties have added another $1.5 trillion to their personal fortunes this year, the outlet reported. Strong economic growth, cooling inflation, and resilient consumer spending have all helped to support their businesses over the past 12 months.
The Al Nahyans, who preside over the oil-rich Middle-Eastern emirate and own UK soccer club Manchester City, blew past the US’s Walton clan to become the world’s richest family, according to the publication. It’s the first time in five years that a family other than the Walmart heirs has been the world’s richest.
Meanwhile, the family that controls Hermès – including the brand’s artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas and executive chairman Axel Dumas – added $56 billion worth of wealth in 2023 to place third on Bloomberg’s list.
The Waltons, chocolate tycoons the Mars family, and oil billionaires the Kochs are the US’s three representatives in the outlet’s top 10.
The ultra-rich getting richer has been a consistent theme in 2023, with stock prices rebounding and the world economy tending to hold up better than gloomy forecasters had expected at the start of the year.
The world’s two richest men – Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – have added over $150 billion worth of wealth alone, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
