When Anton Rupert started a cigarette company from his Stellenbosch garage in 1941, he did so with around £10 (R14,000 in today's currency). By the time he died in 2006, Rupert was worth well over $1 billion - the result of his empire that started with the Rembrandt Group. It would evolve into Remgro, a major investment corporation, and Richemont, a luxury goods company that owns brands such as Dunhill, Cartier, and Monte Blanc. His son, Johann, is South Africa's second-richest person and apart from inheriting the Rupert fortune, expanded it by founding Rand Merchant Bank. The Ruperts also own the Mediclinic private hospital chain and have a big stake in the local wine industry (including a partnership with the Rothschild family). It is said that one out of every six locally-produced bottles of wine come from a farm linked to the Ruperts and the family is responsible for 80 percent of local brandy. Until his accidental death in 2001, Johann's younger brother Anthonij oversaw those businesses. Johann also founded the Laureus Sports for Good foundation, while his father was a noted critic of Apartheid.
In Fiddler on the Roof, the poor farmer sings 'If I Were a Rich Man'. The original Yiddish phrase actually goes: 'If I were a Rothschild', a word synonymous with being extremely wealthy. The family's fortunes started in the 18th century when Mayer Amschel Rothschild entered the banking business. Today, the Rothschild dynasty is a force to reckon with in the banking industry through its own companies (such as RIT Capital Partners) and shares in others - it holds a big chunk of the massive Glenncore and use to own mining giant Rio Tinto. Once the richest family in the world, several branches have been elevated to Austrian and British nobility. It's the least these countries could do - the Rothschilds practically bankrolled Britain's war against Napoleon. While the family has lessened its involvement with global banking, the gold price is still determined every day in the premises of a Rothschild-owned company in London.
There is no one in the Philippines who do not know about the López family of Iliolo. Apart from owning the biggest media conglomerate in the world's 12th most-populated country, their empire also include power companies, real estate and manufacturing. The López have founded several institutions, including one university, and hold a lot of sway in both business and politics. One of the members, Fernando López, even spent three terms as vice president of the Philippines. The López clan are also known as kingmakers, since politicians they back often win their way into office. This includes the previous Philippine president, Gloria Arroyo.
Organised crime in New York is dominated by five families, but only one is called the 'Rolls Royce' of the mob world. The Genovese family was founded by Lucky Luciano in the early 20th century - it has grown to become the most powerful in the country, controlling large parts of New York, New Jersey, and Chicago. It was the Genovese that gave the nod for Busgy Malone to open the first casino in Las Vegas and rumour has it that the Corleone family from The Godfather were inspired by this mob dynasty. Currently, the Genovese are thought to be a bit leaderless with the passing of its last patriarch, but you can't underestimate a family that has ruled the mob world for the last century.
Fans of professional wrestling will be familiar with Mr McMahon, the ruthless boss of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and his power-mad daughter Stephanie. While those are characters in the ongoing opera of sports entertainment, McMahon and his family control the WWE, a corporation that is home to the wrestling empire previously known as the WWF and several other entertainment enterprises. Over the last decade, it has absorbed leagues such as the WCW and ECW, making the WWE the largest professional wrestling company in the world, generating billions in revenue. Vince McMahon's grandfather started the business, which his father continued. But it was McMahon, his wife (until recently the long-time CEO of WWE) and their children that made it a huge enterprise. While his son Shane has left the business for other pursuits and his wife is working in politics, McMahon's daughter Stephanie - as well as her husband Paul Levesque (better known as the wrestler Triple H) - still control all that happens in the WWE
This list may contain powerful families, but few can lay claim to having serious influence on both sides of the Atlantic ocean. Even fewer can claim to have worked their way back from the New World to the old. The Astors set the standard for this: they made their initial fortune in 18th century New York as traders in goods such as furs, but soon put their money to savvy use in buying real estate. This would eventually lead to the nickname 'Landlords of Manhattan'. Apart from building several hotels and residential blocks, the Astors were also responsible for civic buildings such as the New York Public Library. In modern New York, their presence is obvious in the number of buildings, roads and suburbs named after them. The Astors expanded their influence to the UK, where Nancy Astor became the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. They have also been elevated to British royalty. Today the Astors have sold much of their property in New York, but they remain a dominant and powerful American dynasty.
It is interesting that the Ackerman family has nothing to do with the clothing retailer Ackerman's. But they are a powerful force in retail through the Pikwik group, more commonly known as Pick 'n Pay Holdings. Raymond Ackerman started the Pick 'n Pay empire when he bought four stores in the Cape and expanded them into one of South Africa's largest food retailers. His son, Gareth, is the current leader at the helm of this food giant, which has expanded into other retail areas as well. In tune with keeping it in the family, his siblings Jonathan and Suzanne are also deeply embedded with the daily business of running Pick 'n Pay.
India is known for its dynastic politics, in which families stay in charge of parties. The most potent example is the Nehru-Gandhi clan, which through its Indian National Congress Party has had a hand in the country's workings ever since it became independent. Jawaharlal Gandhi was independent India's first prime minister in 1947 and his lineage has controlled the INCP for five generations, leading to three more prime ministers, including India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi. Today, Sonia Gandhi runs the INCP, which is back in charge of a parliamentary majority, but she has delegated the role of prime minister to someone else. Her son is also involved and recently became the youngest person to win a seat in India's parliament. This clan is often thought to be related to the famous Indian liberator, Mahatma Gandhi, but he was only an exceptionally close family friend. Not that all is rosy - the INCP's popularity is sliding, something analysts blame on the heavy reliance of a familial leadership.
If you know nothing about royals, these guys might have escaped your attention. But blue blood watchers will immediately recognise the name of the largest and oldest European royal house. Its list of luminaries boasts three Latin emperors, nine Portuguese kings, and nearly 40 French rulers, including the modern heir to the French throne (earning it the name 'House Of France'). Today, the Capetians are not much for being kings and mainly hold onto other titles, but both the rulers of Spain and Luxembourg, King Juan Carlos and Grand Duke Henri, belong to this bloodline.
This is not a joke. You might not think it, but take the Wayans clan (Marlon, Damon, Keenan Ivory and co.) at the sum of its parts and you have the most successful family in modern show business. There are ten Wayans siblings, nine of which are actors, directors, producers, or screenwriters. Of these, several have children also aiming their sights on the entertainment world. The Wayans have, through their movies, generated more than $1 billion (R7.5 billion) in domestic box-office takings - that excludes international tickets and DVD sales. All of this adds up, even on mediocre movies. For example, while panned by critics, White Chicks made over $70 million (R531 million) in the US alone (off a budget of $37 million/R280 million) and additionally sold four million DVD copies. The same goes for their other dubious comedies, all cheap and highly profitable. Consider this: the Wayans' produced Scary Movie actually outgrossed Scream, the horror it parodied, by $50 million. On top of this, the Wayans have several successful TV series, such as In Living Colour and My Wife & Children, which remain strong in syndication. No other family in show business comes close.
Yes, this is the same family that extends from Ferdinand Porsche, the prolific designer of both the car that bears his name and the Volkswagen Beetle. There is a lot of history binding this family's beginnings with industrial Germany, specifically Volkswagen, the world's second-largest car manufacturer. Today, the Porsche family, which includes the Piech bloodline, pretty much controls Volkswagen, having both a majority of the voting shares and several family members on the company's board. Ferdinand Piech, grandson of the man who made Porsche, is chairman (and former CEO), while his wife Ursula is set to become Volkswagen's next CEO. It creates a fairly rare occurrence in business: a public, multinational company controlled almost exclusively by a single family.
Google this family's name and you will be overrun with conspiracy theory sites claiming they run the world. Considering the Rockefeller's reach, it's not a surprising conclusion: if anyone ran things, it would be these guys. It all started with brothers William and John D. Rockefeller, who made a fortune from oil in the 19th century. They put the cash to good use, expanding influence into banking. Today, the Rockefellers are highly-connected with the world of finance, most notably through the bank JP Morgan Chase. They have built a fantastic number of civic buildings in the US and have immense political influence. One of the Rockefeller clan, Nelson, was US vice president under Gerald Ford in the mid-seventies. Other political ties include the mysterious Bilderberg group, the World Economic Forum, and the United Nations. The Rockefellers are also prolific philanthropists, having donated billions to charities and maintaining ongoing historical collections
If anyone ever asks who the richest person in Africa is, point to Nicky Oppenheimer, the current head of this wealthy bloodline. He represents the third generation in a family as synonymous with the mining industry as the East Rand. It was Nicky's grandfather, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, who both founded Anglo American and took over control of Cecil John Rhodes' imperial diamond company De Beers. Ernest started his career in a London diamond company, but started his empire when he arrived in Kimberley: today De Beers and Anglo American control vast portions of the world's mineral wealth through commodities such as gold, diamonds and platinum. The Oppenheimers recently sold majority parts of their stakes in De Beers and Nicky is spending much of his clout and focus in growing investment opportunities for locals in South Africa.
You might know this family for their cars. In reality, that is a small part of the Tata clan's power and wealth. In fact, one could argue that a modern India would not exist were it not for them. It started with Jamsetji Tata, who, in the 19th century, took his family's import business and made something much bigger. Soon he had a few cotton mills, later steel and iron works. Tata also built some of India's first hydro-electric power plants and Tata Airways would later split to become Air India and Indian Airlines. The modern Tata empire includes real estate, construction, manufacturing (including the cars), textiles, and more: it is the largest private employer in a country with a population of over 1 billion people.
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