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The left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies' Billionaire Bonanza report examined the growing concentration of wealth in the US by looking at 15 dynastically wealthy families from the Forbes 400 list and data from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finance.
"Each of these family's wealth comes from companies started by an earlier generation, either a parent or more distant ancestor," states the report. "Each of them also represents a wealth dynasty passing generation to generation free from interruption."
They found that the median American family owns just over $80,000 in household wealth, while the 15 family dynasties own a combined $618 billion.
Since 1982, the combined wealth of the top three families - the Waltons, the Kochs, and the Mars - increased by 5,868%, now totaling $348.7 billion.
Here's a closer look at how they and the rest of the wealthy dynastic families from the Forbes 400 built their wealth, ranked from lowest net worth to highest net worth. The estimated total wealth for each family is a sum of each individual family member's wealth listed on the Forbes 400 and does not include the wealth of any family members not on the Forbes 400.
Note that the Forbes 400 doesn't encompass all of America's wealthy dynastic families - some individual family members have less than the $2.1 billion in personal wealth needed to make the list.
His grandchildren — siblings Pat, Jon, and Ronda — all inherited a stake in the company, which generated $12 billion in sales in 2017. Ronda is the only sibling to serve on the board.
Sol Goldman began the real estate firm in the 1950s by buying foreclosed properties at bargain prices. Today, it has a 17% stake in the World Trade Center developments.
William Ziff Jr. sold the magazine publisher for $1.4 billion in 1994. His sons, Daniel, Robert, and Dirk, grow their inheritance through Ziff Brothers Investments.
They reportedly invest their billions with managers who used to work at their hedge funds, own several homes in Aspen, and have put their money toward philanthropic efforts.
SC Johnson, which produces cleaning products such as Pledge, Glade, and Windex, was founded by its namesake in 1882 and eventually taken over by son Herbert Fisk Johnson.
Herbert died in 1928 without a will, and the family reportedly feuded over the inheritance until it was eventually divided between his two children, Herbert Fisk Jr. and Henrietta Johnson Louis.
After he died in 2010, the company remained under family control and his four children inherited a $10 billion estate. The family fortune has since more than doubled.
A.N. Pritzker and sons Jay, Donald, and Robert created the family's wealth by founding the Hyatt Hotel chain and investing in holdings, such as Marmon Group.
The company spans a number of industries — cable and broadband (Cox Communications), newspapers and radio stations (Cox Media Group), and automotive — and generates about $20 billion in revenue.
Six of the family members rank among the Forbes 400. Siblings Jacqueline and John Mars have the biggest share of the fortune, with $24 billion a piece; the other four members have $6 billion a piece.
Brothers Charles and David Koch expanded their father's oil refinery firm into the conglomerate, which generates roughly $100 billion in revenue annually.
David has pledged to contribute more than $1.2 billion to cancer research, hospitals, education, and cultural institutions through the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation.