[imagesource: Reuters / Rick Wilking]

Some billionaires have bravely forged their own paths, like 26-year-old Austin Russell.

He’s the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, and also the kind of person who makes you think back on your 26-year-old self and shudder.

You may recall that at one stage, Kylie Jenner held that title, but then her “web of lies” came crashing down and Forbes revoked her billionaire status.

Tough times, and #thoughtsandprayers for Kylie.

Of course, sometimes you’re just born into being filthy, stinkin’ rich, and that’s the case with some of America’s wealthiest families.

Forbes’ latest list calculates that the richest 50 clans are worth a collective $1,2 trillion, which is up about 30% from $916 billion in 2015.

Before we dive in, here’s a little on the methodology, and why you won’t see a Bezos, Musk, or Gates on this list:

Unlike our flagship Forbes 400 list of America’s richest people and our World’s Billionaires ranks, which focus on individual or nuclear-family wealth, America’s Richest Families includes multigenerational families of all sizes…

We left out self-made entrepreneurs who founded their companies and already appear with their nuclear family on our Billionaires list.

As proof that money cannot buy happiness, it’s worth noting that six of the 50 families on the list “have gone through very bitter—and very public—family feuds, including legal battles over trust funds, sham adoptions and even murder accusations.”

You can delve deeper into some of those feuds here.

Alright, America’s fifth-richest family to start.

5. Lauder Family – worth $40 billion

Queens-native Estée Lauder [below left] founded a cosmetics firm with her husband in 1946, after developing skin creams from her kitchen.

Image: Bill Sauro / Wikipedia

Today six billionaire members of the Lauder family own stakes in the publicly traded company, which has 29 brands including MAC, Origins and Clinique.

4. Cargill-MacMillan Family – worth $47 billion

The Cargill-MacMillan family owns Cargill, one of America’s largest private companies with revenues of $114.6 billion.

The company was founded in 1865 when W.W. Cargill started a grain storage business in Conover, Iowa.

Today the company sells and markets food, trades commodities and provides financial risk management.

Altogether, there are around 90 family members that own 88% of the company, with eight of those family members being billionaires.

3. Mars Family – worth $94 billion

The Mars family own Mars Inc., one of the world’s largest candy and pet food companies, with sales of $40 billion…

Mars was founded in 1911 when Frank Mars started selling candy out of his kitchen in Tacoma, Washington.

Some family members work at the company and serve on the board of directors.

Fun fact – Mars Inc. produces around 400 million M&Ms every day.

2. Koch Family – worth $100 billion

Fred C. Koch [below] started America’s largest private company, Koch Industries, when he cofounded the Wood River Oil and Refining Company in 1940.

His son Charles took over as chairman and CEO after he died in 1967; three other sons, Frederick, David and William (Bill), also inherited stakes.

A power struggle among the brothers led to the ouster of Frederick and Bill, whose shares were reportedly bought out for nearly $800 million in 1983.

Charles Kock featured on Rolling Stones’ 2020 list of powerful people killing the planet, having funded climate change denial as far back as 1991, with his political influence slowing government responses to the crisis.

So, your richest American family is…

1. Walton Family – worth $247 billion

The Waltons are the richest family in America thanks to their stake in Walmart, the world’s largest retailer by sales.

About half of Walmart’s stock is held by seven heirs of founders Sam Walton (d. 1992) and his brother James “Bud” (d. 1995).

Heirs include Sam’s three living children–Rob, Jim and Alice–his daughter-in-law Christy and her son Lukas, plus Bud’s two daughters, Ann and Nancy.

There are worse families to be born into.

Forbes’ real-time tracker puts Alice, Jim, and Rob (pictured right up the top of the page) in 15th, 16th, and 17th on the list of the world’s richest people:

Image: Forbes

Each up a good $170 million or so over the past 24 hours.

Thanks, Sam and Bud.

You can see the full Forbes list of richest American families here.

[source:forbes]