America's richest families 2026: Waltons top $520 billion
Forbes' America's richest families 2026 ranking finds a record 54 multi-generational U.S. clans worth at least $10 billion, with a combined $1.9 trillion. The Walton family still leads at $520 billion after a $253 billion two-year surge, as Walmart stock soared 117%. That jump shows how public-market gains are widening the gap at the top of American family wealth.
The Forbes ranking, published June 29, 2026 by Matt Durot and Andrea Murphy, is the magazine's second list of Decabillionaire Families. Combined net worth is nearly $600 billion higher than in 2024, when 45 clans made the cut.
Key Takeaways
- A record 54 U.S. families are worth $10 billion or more, up from 45 in 2024.
- The Waltons remain No. 1 at $520 billion, followed by the Koch family at $157 billion and Mars at $129 billion.
- Ten families debuted, including Medline's Mills clan at $29.6 billion after 2025's largest IPO.
- Only the Chao family dropped off the list, as their fortune fell to an estimated $9.3 billion.
- Forbes used June 22, 2026 stock prices and excluded individual billionaires already on its World's Billionaires list.
Who are America's richest families in 2026?
No other American family has a 12-figure fortune besides the Waltons, Kochs, and Mars heirs. The Kochs, led by 90-year-old chairman and co-CEO Charles Koch, gained $41 billion over two years and moved from No. 3 to No. 2. The Mars candy, snack, and pet-food heirs rose $12 billion to $129 billion but lost the No. 2 ranking they held in 2024.
All but five of the 54 clans are already in at least their fourth generation. The Du Ponts, the oldest family on the list, are in their ninth generation and worth an estimated $22 billion after founding their chemical company in 1802. The Rockefellers are in their seventh generation and tied for 45th at $12.5 billion.
These families are behind brands from M&M's and Chick-fil-A to Windex and Orkin, plus the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They hail from 25 states, with seven clans in New York City and four each in Atlanta and Chicago. See more net worth and wealth coverage in our category hub.
Why did the Walton fortune jump so far?
Descendants of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992) and his brother Bud (d. 1995) added an estimated $253 billion in two years as the Bentonville, Arkansas retailer's stock climbed 117%. Forbes has ranked the Waltons as America's richest family since it began tracking family fortunes in 2014. If Sam Walton were still alive, Forbes said he would likely control the second-largest fortune on Earth after Elon Musk.
Forbes first ranked the country's wealthiest clans in 2014 with a $1 billion cutoff, then raised it to $10 billion in 2024. The 2026 list arrives as America's 250th anniversary approaches.
Who debuted and who dropped off the 2026 list?
Ten newcomers made the ranking. They include Southwire's Richards family of Carrollton, Georgia ($13.1 billion); heirs of the late IT pioneer and two-time independent presidential candidate Ross Perot Sr. ($12.8 billion); and the Lockton family ($10 billion) of the Kansas City, Missouri insurance brokerage. Also new is Medline's founding Mills family, at $29.6 billion after 2025's biggest IPO.
Only Houston-based Westlake Corporation's Chao clan fell off, as their mostly publicly traded fortune dropped $4.9 billion to $9.3 billion. Seven other families from the 2024 list got poorer. The steepest decline among those still listed was the Brown family of Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey, down $5.8 billion to $10.7 billion. The Dolans, owners of the New York Knicks, also missed the cutoff.
How did Forbes measure these family fortunes?
Forbes excluded individual billionaires credited with an entire family fortune who already appear on the World's Billionaires list. Generations were counted from each family's patriarch to the youngest descendants, including children under 18. Estimated fortunes used stock prices from June 22, 2026. That approach keeps this ranking distinct from lists of self-made individuals, such as Forbes' 2026 ranking of America's richest self-made women.