Billion-dollar bloodlines: America's richest families 2015

[Old School]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/insi...s-richest-families-2015/ar-AAcDXXo?ocid=HPDHP

 

[Old School]

[h=2]No. 16: Sackler -- $14 billion[/h]<figure><figcaption><!-- slide body text --> Brothers Arthur (d. 1987), Mortimer (d. 2010) and Raymond Sackler -- all doctors -- founded Purdue Pharma in 1952 after taking over a small, struggling New York drug manufacturer. The company sold several moderately successful products, like earwax remover and laxatives, but remained under the radar until the mid-1990s when Purdue began selling what amounted to morphine in a pill. OxyContin -- a long-lasting, narcotic pain reliever -- launched in 1995 and by 2003 Purdue was selling $1.6 billion of the product annually. But it quickly became abused by addicts who would crush the pills for a quick, intense high, sparking controversy and legal action against Purdue. The company paid more than $600 million in 2007 to settle charges with federal prosecutors that it had misbranded OxyContin as safer and less addictive than it was. Today, the company -- still 100% owned by the Sackler family -- generates more than $3 billion in sales in U.S., mostly from OxyContin. Separate Sackler-owned companies with similar products generate just as much money selling to Europe, Canada, Asia and Latin America. Purdue is once again facing a potentially enormous legal bill: a civil lawsuit by the state of Kentucky could reportedly yield damages in excess of $1 billion. Purdue denies wrongdoing in this case, noting that courts across the United States have dismissed similar cases against Purdue because evidence failed to establish the company's marketing caused the alleged harm. An estimated 20 family members share the fortune.


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[Old School]

[h=2]No. 3: Mars -- $80 billion[/h]<figure><figcaption><!-- slide body text -->Forrest Jr., Jacqueline and John own 100% of Mars, the largest candy company in the world with $33 billion in sales. The siblings, who sit on the board but have no daily role, inherited the company in 1999 when their father Forrest Sr. died. Their grandfather Frank began selling candy from his Tacoma, Washington kitchen in 1911. Their father joined the company in 1929, around the same time the company invented the malt-flavored nougat that became the basis of Milky Way and Snickers. The company later created M&Ms, over 400 million of which are produced in the U.S. each day. Mars also makes Uncle Ben's rice and owns pet food brands Pedigree and Whiskas. Jacqueline is a trustee of the U.S. Equestrian Team and sits on the board of directors of the National Sporting Library and Fine Art Museum. Forrest is interested in historical preservation and is a trustee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. John and his wife Adrienne are noted supporters of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.


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