Top 10 richest heirs in the world 2025: The only Indian on the list turned his $2.8 bn inheritance into $200 bn empire

Indian Express

09-07-2025

Top 10 richest heirs in the world 2025: For most parents, the grandest gift they might hope to give their children is a car or a college education. But among the ultra-wealthy, inheritances often take the form of billion-dollar empires.
Roughly one-third of the 3,028 billionaires on Forbes' 2024 World's Billionaires List inherited at least part of their fortune. Collectively, these 990 billionaire heirs are worth a staggering $5.3 trillion — $56 billion more than last year. While their total wealth has grown, they now make up a slightly smaller share of the list (33 per cent, down from 34 per cent) as new self-made billionaires continue to rise.
At the top are the three heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton – Rob, Jim and Alice – who inherited their stake in the retail giant and took different paths. Each of them are now worth over $100 billion. Rob and Jim served long stints on the company's board, while Alice focused on philanthropy and the arts. Together with other relatives, the Walton family controls nearly 45 per cent of Walmart.
Around 60 per cent of the heirs on this year's list are actively expanding their fortunes, either by running inherited firms or launching new ventures. India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani ($92.5 billion), is a prime example. After his father's passing in 2002, Ambani inherited a $2.8 billion stake in Reliance Industries. Today, he's grown it into a $200 billion empire spanning petrochemicals, telecom, and retail.
And the heirs are getting younger, too — every one of the world's 14 youngest billionaires inherited their wealth. The youngest – Johannes von Baumbach, 19 – is now worth $5.4 billion through his stake in German pharma giant Boehringer Ingelheim.
Dieter Schwarz, 85, is one of Germany's most private yet powerful business figures. He is the effective owner and former CEO of the Schwarz Group, the parent company behind retail giants Lidl and Kaufland. Schwarz joined the family business under his father Josef Schwarz, who had originally transformed a fruit wholesaling operation into a broader retail venture. In 1973, Dieter opened the very first Lidl store, laying the foundation for what would become one of the largest supermarket chains in Europe. Since then, the Schwarz Group has expanded aggressively. Today, it generates over $160 billion in annual revenue. Despite his immense wealth and influence in the retail world, Schwarz is known for maintaining a remarkably low public profile, rarely giving interviews or making public appearances.
John Mars and his sister Jacqueline Mars, both citizens of the United States, are heirs to Mars, Incorporated, the iconic family-owned company known for beloved brands like M&M's, Snickers, and Pedigree pet food. Each sibling holds an estimated net worth of $42.6 billion, stemming from the one-third stakes they inherited in the company founded by their grandfather, Frank Mars, in 1911. Along with their late brother Forrest Jr., John and Jacqueline helped shape Mars into a diversified global empire. John and Forrest Jr. served as co-presidents from 1975, overseeing major expansions into chewing gum and pet care. Jacqueline worked at the company for nearly 20 years before stepping down in 2001, and she remained on the board until 2016. Known for her involvement in the equestrian world, Jacqueline has also dedicated much of her wealth to philanthropy. A 1992 Washington Post article revealed that the three Mars siblings worked in the same office and even shared a secretary, despite controlling one of the largest private companies in the world.
Charles Koch, 89, inherited a modest oil refining and engineering business in Wichita, Kansas, from his father Fred Koch in 1967. Over the decades, he transformed it into Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries), one of the largest privately held companies in the United States, generating $125 billion in annual revenue. The sprawling conglomerate has diversified into everything from cloud software to fertilizer. As the heir to Koch, Inc., Charles Koch has long been a staunch advocate for free-market capitalism, using his wealth to fund numerous libertarian and conservative causes. From 2020 to 2022, he transferred $5.3 billion worth of nonvoting stock to two nonprofits that allow more political activity than typical charities, effectively shifting nearly 10 per cent of his 42 per cent stake in the company. In 2023, for the first time, he appointed a co-CEO to share leadership of the company he built.
At 62, Julia Koch is one of the wealthiest women in the world, with a net worth of $74.2 billion. She and her three children inherited a 42 per cent stake in Koch, Inc. after the death of her husband, David Koch, in 2019–brother to Charles Koch. While based in New York, Julia has remained actively involved in both business and philanthropy. In 2024, she and her children invested nearly $700 million to acquire a 15 per cent stake in BSE Global, the parent company of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and the WNBA's New York Liberty. Through her Julia Koch Family Foundation, she also donated $75 million last year to establish the Julia Koch Family Ambulatory Care Center at NYU Langone's West Palm Beach campus. Koch serves on the boards of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is a director at Koch, Inc., maintaining influence over one of the largest private companies in America.
At 71, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers stands as one of the most prominent heirs in the world, thanks to her family's significant stake in L'Oréal–the iconic French cosmetics empire founded by her grandfather, Eugène Schueller, in 1909. The Bettencourt Meyers family still owns over a third of the company. In June, she briefly made history as the first woman to surpass the $100 billion mark in net worth. Although she stepped down from L'Oréal's board in February 2025, her legacy remains firmly intertwined with the company's success. Françoise was the world's richest woman for more than two years until Walmart heiress Alice Walton overtook her in September.
At 67, Mukesh Ambani is India's richest man, with a net worth of $92.5 billion. He and his younger brother Anil inherited the sprawling Reliance empire from their father, the legendary industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, after his death in 2002. However, their inheritance soon became a source of conflict, resulting in a split of the family business. While Anil's fortune dwindled amid mounting debts and business failures, Mukesh successfully expanded Reliance Industries into a massive conglomerate spanning oil, petrochemicals, retail, and telecom–cementing his position as Asia's wealthiest individual.
The three surviving heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton – Rob, Jim, and Alice Walton – together hold around 34 per cent of the company's shares, placing them among the richest individuals globally. Rob Walton, the eldest sibling, was a key figure on Walmart's board for more than 40 years, including over two decades as chairman, before retiring in 2024. Jim Walton, the youngest, stepped down from the board in 2016 but remains active as the head of the family-run Arvest Bank Group, a prominent regional bank. In contrast, Alice Walton has focused her efforts on philanthropy and the arts, donating more than $1.7 billion to initiatives supporting education, environmental causes, and her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas–where she established the renowned Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Source: Forbes