Live market
The Inverse ForbesHistoric
The dead hands that still move markets.
These founders are gone. What they built isn't. We trace each enterprise down its value chain to the public companies that carry it today — Standard Oil into ExxonMobil and Chevron, Edison's GE into its three heirs — and credit them the wealth those companies now hold for the world. They kept none of it; they're not here to.
1
Steve Jobs
1955–2011
Apple · founded 1976
Created for others
$4.59T
▼$19.8B−0.43%
$4.59T market cap
Held by the public
AAPL · $309.96
- 2
John D. Rockefeller1839–1937ExxonMobil + Chevron + ConocoPhillips + Marathon PetroleumTo others — ExxonMobil $709B · Chevron $409B · ConocoPhillips $165B · Marathon Petroleum $109B$1.39T▼$3.9B−0.28% - 3
Eli Lilly1838–1898Eli Lilly & Co. · founded 1876LLY · $1255.69$1.13T▲$10.2B+0.91% - 4
J. P. Morgan1837–1913J.P. Morgan & Co. → JPMorgan ChaseJPM · $351.58$970B▲$97M+0.01% - 5
Thomas Edison1847–1931GE Aerospace + GE Vernova + GE HealthCareTo others — GE Aerospace $370B · GE Vernova $262B · GE HealthCare $34B$666B▲$3.4B+0.51% - 6
Robert Wood Johnson II1893–1968Johnson & Johnson · built 1932–63JNJ · $271.14$653B▲$9.1B+1.41% - 7
Sam Walton1918–1992Walmart · founded 1962WMT · $103.39 · family holds 45% ($375B)$458B▼$896M−0.20% - 8
Gordon Moore1929–2023Intel · co-founded 1968INTC · $90.01$453B▼$10.7B−2.30% - 9
A. P. Giannini1870–1949Bank of Italy → Bank of AmericaBAC · $61.72$438B▼$987M−0.22% - 10
Asa Candler1851–1929Coca-Cola · built from 1888KO · $90.74$391B▲$1.0B+0.27% - 11
Sakichi Toyoda1867–1930Toyoda Loom → ToyotaTM · $197.88 · family holds 2% ($5.1B)$252B▲$7.2B+2.93% - 12
Werner von Siemens1816–1892Siemens · founded 1847SIEGY · $163.63 · family holds 6.5% ($17B)$239B▲$4.1B+1.77% - 13
Walt Disney1901–1966Disney · founded 1923DIS · $107.88$195B▲$1.0B+0.52% - 14
Ray Kroc1902–1984McDonald's · scaled from 1955MCD · $271.16$194B▲$1.5B+0.75% - 15
John Deere1804–1886Deere & Co. · founded 1837DE · $652.16$177B▲$8.5B+5.03% - 16
William Boeing1881–1956Boeing · founded 1916BA · $213.53$161B▼$1.2B−0.73% - 17
Akio Morita1921–1999Sony · co-founded 1946SONY · $23.93$143B▲$2.1B+1.46% - 18
Conrad Hilton1887–1979Hilton Hotels · founded 1919HLT · $326.32$77B▼$737M−0.95% - 19
Henry Ford1863–1947Ford Motor · founded 1903F · $14.45 · family holds 2% ($1.1B)$56B▲$1.8B+3.25% - 20
Soichiro Honda1906–1991Honda · founded 1948HMC · $33.40$43B▲$1.0B+2.45% - 21
Milton Hershey1857–1945Hershey · founded 1894HSY · $186.32$38B▼$404M−1.06% - 22
Estée Lauder1908–2004Estée Lauder · founded 1946EL · $100.88 · family holds 32% ($12B)$25B▲$1.2B+4.92%