In a world where the rich and famous dominate headlines, there’s a unique group of individuals who didn’t exactly have to climb the corporate ladder—they were born on top of it.
These nine individuals, heirs to significant fortunes, have had their lives shaped by their wealth. From documentaries to tabloids and reality TV, they have provided insight into the experience of growing up with substantial privilege, and how they choose to use that in defining their own lives.
Here’s a closer look at their lavish lifestyles and the legacies they are continuing—or transforming.
Jamie Johnson
Jamie Johnson is one of the heirs to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. Johnson & Johnson started out selling dental floss and first-aid kits in 1886. Now, it is best known for selling baby products under the brand name Johnson’s and also sells pharmaceutical supplies. The Johnson family is now worth an estimated $16 billion.
Jamie Johnson decided to go into the movie business and made the documentary Born Rich, in which he convinced some of his wealthy friends to talk about their fortunes. It did not make him universally popular — he lost other wealthy friends. But it did highlight the lavish lifestyles of billionaires’ children.
“You wonder….can life get any better than this?” Jamie asks in the documentaries opening sequence. “Well..to be blunt. It can. At midnight, I’m going to inherit more money than most people can earn or spend in a lifetime.”
Stephanie Ercklentz
Stephanie Ercklentz and her husband, Tiger Global Management founder Chase Coleman, are worth an estimated $6 billion. She is the daughter of corporate lawyer Enno W. Ercklentz and socialite Mai Harrison.
Ercklentz’s career includes positions as an investment banking analyst for Merrill Lynch and Manager of Public Relations at Vera Wang. She co-founded Valentine’s Farm, which trains farmers and promotes bio-dynamic farming.
Josiah Hornblower
Josiah Hornblower is an heir of the Vanderbilt family, which originally made its fortune in shipping and railroads. He is also a descendant of the Whitney family, whose notable members include cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney.
In the 20th century, the Whitney family’s wealth came from large businesses that included Pan Am, J.H. Whitney & Company, and Freeport-McMoran.
Ariana Rockefeller
The name Rockefeller hardly needs an introduction.
Model and fashion designer Ariana Rockefeller is the great granddaughter of oil mogul John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, America’s first-ever billionaire and the richest man in the world during his time.
Forbes estimates the Rockefeller family fortune is worth an estimated $10.4 billion dollars today. However, Ariana is one of nearly 200 Rockefellers, Ariana is one of many potential heirs.
Benjamin Luke Weil
Benjamin Luke Weil is the son of former Scientific Games Corporation chairman and CEO Allen Lorne Weil. Now known as Light & Wonder, Inc., this Nevada-based company manufactures slot machines, table games, and shuffling machines.
A best guess of Allen Lorne Weil’s net worth puts it at over $200 million.
Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump is Donald Trump’s most well-known child. Trump real estate-based fortune of $3.8 billion despite legal challenges that include criminal charges and the NYAG’s successful bid to prevent Trump from heading a New York-based company.
Ivanka Trump’s own businesses include a fashion line. Although she had previously been involved in the Trump presidency, Trump later commented that she seemed to have “checked out” towards the end.
John Elkhan
Margherita Agnelli, John Elkann’s mother, is the daughter of Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli. When Giovanni died in 2003, the family fortune was reportedly worth €33 billion.
Giovanni had already gifted John Elkann 25% of the company prior to his death, naming him the successor of his company. But Giovanni’s death sparked a 20-year-long feud between Margherita Agnelli and her three eldest children, John Elkann, Lapo Elkann, and sister Ginevra Elkann.
When Fiat was in danger of bankruptcy, Margherita Agnelli Agnelli agreed to a €1.2 billion payout from her mother Marella in exchange for her stake in the family estate and company, Dicembre. Marella in turn sold that stake to the three Elkann children.
Margherita Agnelli went on to remarry and have five more children with a a Russian businessman. But when Marella died, rumors swirled that Giovanni had a hidden fortune in his estate and accounts abroad, unbeknownst to Margherita.
The international legal dispute among the heirs remains in courts to this day, with rulings as recent as last month that may change the direction of the case.
Mark Mateschitz
Unlike many of the other heirs on this list, thirty-two year old Mark Mateschitz is the only son of Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, who cofounded and owned 49% of Red Bull.
Dietrich passed away in 2022 at the age of 78, leaving Mark his nearly $40 billion dollar fortune.
