Ranking the richest families in the world

Bloomberg has announced the richest families in the world in its annual ranking. Among them are the owners of Walmart, Mars, Koch Industries and Hermes.

The Walton family, which owns Walmart, the world's largest wholesale and retail chain, topped Bloomberg's list of the world's richest families for the fourth consecutive year. The agency estimated the family's fortune at $224.5 billion.

It said the world's 25 richest families have a combined wealth of $1.5 trillion, down $143 billion from last year.

The top 10 richest families include:
- The Mars family, owners of confectionery company Mars and the maker of long-life products-160 billion dollars (+18 billion dollars over the year);
- The Koch family, owners of US petrochemicals corporation Koch Industries-$124.4 billion (+$4.4 billion);
- Saudi royal family Al Saud - $105 billion (+$5 billion);
- Hermès family, owners of the French fashion house Hermès - $94.6 billion (-$17 billion);
- The Ambani family, owners of the Indian oil production and refining holding company Reliance Industries - $84.6 billion (-$9.1 billion);
- The Wertheimer family, owners of French fashion house Chanel - $79 billion (+$17.2 billion);
- The Cargill family, owners of the agricultural company Cargill, $65.2 billion;
- The Thompson family, majority owners of Reuters news agency, $61.2 billion;
- The Hoffman family, minority owners of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding - $45.1 billion.