5 Largest Family-Owned Businesses In the World

1. Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Total revenue in 2019 (in billions of dollars): 524

T0tal number of employees in 2019: 2,200,000

Easily topping the list of the 5 largest family-owned businesses in the world is Walmart, which in terms of revenue is by far the biggest company in the world and is the only company in the world to have revenue crossing half a billion dollars. In addition, it is also the biggest employer in the world with 2.2 million employees, and by any metric is easily among the biggest companies in the world, regardless of industry or ownership.

It’s never easy being the biggest family-owned company in the world, and Walmart has had more than its fair share of controversies, some of which include allegations of discrimination on the bases of race and gender. Perhaps the biggest criticism of the company has been its treatment of laborers, including paying them lower wages even as the family increases its billions. In Mexico, the company received a ruling from the court that it could not pay employees in vouchers that were only reimbursable in Walmart, which is a draconian rule to implement by a company. In 2008, the company paid $352 million in a settlement against lawsuits claiming that the company forced its employees to work overtime off the clock, not getting compensated for their achievements.

See also: 15 largest family owned businesses in the US  and 11 Biggest Family Offices in the World

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