src: Wikipedia The combined wealth of the family - its total assets and investments plus the individual wealth of its members - has never been known with any precision. In 1992, family members estimated it to be between US$5 billion to $10 billion. The records of the family archives relating to both the family and individual members' net worth is closed to researchers.[14] From the outset, and even today, the family wealth has been under the complete control of the male members of the dynasty, through the family office. Despite strong-willed wives who had influence over their husbands' decisions - such as the pivotal female figure Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife of Junior - in all cases they received allowances only and were never given even partial responsibility for the family fortune.[15] Much of the wealth has been locked up in the notable family trust of 1934 (which holds the bulk of the fortune and matures on the death of the fourth generation), and the trust of 1952, both administered by the Chase Manhattan Bank.
yeah, lol total joke. 10bln has to be the value of just one of the countless oil companies david rockefeller owns. i think the rothschilds are even richer.
To be amongst the richest would generally require ownership in publicly owned corporations would it not? The Rockefeller fortune was largely based on Standard Oil if I recall. It should be pretty easy for a dedicated researcher to follow the trail I would think. What is held in a private corporation would be more difficult to assess but it would be hard to hold a moneymaking firm that goes unnoticed in the business world. Tax takes its toll too as does changes in the business landscape. By your reasoning the Ford family may well be amongst the richest too. But I don't think anyone would believe that. When you consider that AOL a company that came out of nowhere ended up buying the media behemoth Time Warner one realizes just how fast the sands shift. Slim has arrived from out of nowhere. A decade ago the tech titans were in the ascendent. A couple decades ago the Japanese real estate moguls filled the lists. Of all the top billionaries Buffett actually has one of the most stable strategies. The difference is the value of his assets don't tend to lose money. If Slim Helu is still in the top ten in a decade I would be surprised. As for philanthropy from what I have read the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has dramatically changed the landscape. There also seems to be a rather simplistic understanding of the problems involved in getting people to be self-sufficient. Give them a job? Doing what? The business they're employed in should be profitable and self-sustaining. You think as an outsider that's easy to establish? Foreigners in China have been losing money for a long time simply to have a presence. Do you think Ted Turner trying to set up another media outlet in Africa will help the people who are going to die from malnutrition in the next month? Better that such money is channeled to infrastructure like a road or to something like a vaccine. If Stossell really ended up lecturing Turner on what he should be doing with his money then Stossell is an ignorant jerk.