The Ziff Family – $14.4B
The Ziff family may have closed both their London and American-based hedge funds a few years ago, but their firm, Ziff Brothers Investments, has had a significant impact on Wall Street. Despite the Ziff brothers, Dirk and Robert, having gone their separate ways and pursuing different businesses, the fortune of the family can be traced back to almost a century, back to the publishing company of William Ziff Sr., the Ziff Davis. After William Jr. took over, the company continued to grow, with Car and Driver and PC Magazine among its best-known publications. These days, investments are the main source of its wealth.
The Ziff Family – $14.4B
The Butt Family – $11B
Based in Texas, the Butt family owns H.E.B. Grocery, the well-known grocery store chain. In 1905, Florence Butt, the original founder, opened the store to offset the costs of her husband’s tuberculosis diagnosis, which means he also couldn’t work. They were surprised that the company soon took off and it expanded throughout Texas under the leadership of her son, Howard Butt. Eventually, Howard’s son Charles took over for him and has been heading this multi-billion-dollar enterprise since 1971, when he became the CEO (though he started at age 8 as a bag boy). The empire is now worth $22 billion with 54 Mexican locations and 329 Texan stores.
The Butt Family – $11B