Who are the Bezos, Gates and Ambani heirs set to inherit billions?
Bill and Melinda Gates – and Warren Buffett – drove the Giving Pledge campaign to encourage the world’s richest people to contribute most of their wealth to philanthropic causes
From preschool toddlers to high-ranking executives, the heirs of some of the wealthiest are poised to inherit massive fortunes.
Many of the young heirs of famous billionaires, including the children of the richest people in tech and the richest people in business, will receive large inheritances, if they haven’t already. Meanwhile, other billionaires have promised to give some, most, or, in Warren Buffett’s case, all, of their wealth away.
We looked at the 35 richest people and families using real-time data from Forbes’ billionaire index. We listed those who have children under the age of 40 and ordered the list of heirs by their parents’ wealth, beginning with Jeff Bezos – the richest person alive.
For the purposes of this list, we looked only at the billionaires’ direct descendants and excluded grandchildren. Notably, this methodology means that some high-profile billionaires’ grandchildren – including François Pinault’s grandson of the same name, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers’ grandson who was called “The Prince of L’Oréal”, and the Walton grandchildren – are not in the round-up.
Keep reading for a look at some of the wealthiest heirs.
Wang Jianlin, one of the richest men in China, has a son in his early 30s.
Jianlin’s son, Wang Sicong, is the only heir to his US$22.6 billion fortune. Previous reporting from the South China Morning Post said that while he has already inherited some of his family’s wealth and works as an investor, he is not interested in leading his father’s company.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the richest person, has four children with his former wife, MacKenzie Bezos.
