UAE royals topple the Waltons: Here is the full list of world’s richest families in 2023

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.”

See the list below:

Methodology

Net worth figures are as of November 27, 2023. The ranking excludes first-generation fortunes and those fortunes controlled by a single heir. Clans whose source of wealth is too diffuse or opaque to be valued are also excluded.