The Ballmer Family – $47.8 Billion
The Ballmer family has its current patriarch, Steve Ballmer, to thank for their richest. For many years, Steve worked as the CEO of software giant Microsoft. In fact, Steve was among the very first dozen employees the company hired back in the early 1970s.
After taking a step back from his CEO position in Microsoft, Ballmer decided to buy a large portion of the NBA team the Los Angeles Clippers, for a rumored $2 billion. If that’s true, this would actually be the second-highest amount of cash ever paid for a pro sports team in American history. Fortunately, the team’s success in the court has made the Ballmer’s family fortune grow to over $47 billion, so it was certainly worth it!