What Is The Mars Family's Net Worth and Combined Wealth?
The Mars family is an American family of entrepreneurs who have a combined net worth of $90 billion. One of the richest families in the United States, The Mars family owns the confectionery company Mars, Inc., that bears their name. Mars, considered to be the largest confectionery company in the world, made $45 billion in sales in 2022 and is known for products such as Milky Way bars, Snickers, M&M's, Twix, Skittles, Combos, Ben's Original (previously called Uncle Ben's), and Dolmio pasta sauce.
Mars also became a leading manufacturer of pet food, with Pedigree and Whiskas as its key pet-care brands. Known for its privacy, Mars was founded by Franklin Clarence Mars, and Franklin's grandchildren, John Mars and Jacqueline Mars, each own 1/3 of the company. His great-granddaughters, Victoria, Pamela, Valerie, and Marijke, own the remaining 1/3. It was only in 2008 when the company briefly made the headlines by making a joint purchase of Wrigley, the chewing gum company, with Warren Buffet for $23 billion. Along with other assets, the Mars family's net worth is believed to reach $90 billion. In 2020 the Mars family was ranked #3 on a list of America's Richest Families.
Family Members
Franklin Clarence Mars was born in 1883 in Hancock, Minnesota, and he founded Mars, Inc. in 1911 and invented the Milky Way and Snickers candy bars. He married Ethel G. Kissack in 1902, and they had a son, Forrest Mars, Sr. (born 1904) before divorcing in 1910. Franklin wed Ethel Veronica Healy later that year, and their daughter, Patricia, was born in 1914. Forrest Sr. married Audrey Ruth Meyer, and they had three children, John, Forrest Jr., and Jacqueline. Forrest Sr. took over Mars, Inc. after Franklin's death in 1935, and after he retired in 1973, he turned control of the company over to his three children. Forrest Sr. died in 1999, and Forrest Jr. passed away in 2016. Forrest Jr. and his first wife, Virginia Cretella, had four daughters, Victoria, Pamela, Valerie, and Marijke. John Mars has been married to Adrienne Bevis since 1958, and they have three children, Linda (born 1960), Frank (born 1963), and Michael (born 1967). Jacqueline Mars was married to David H. Badger from 1961 to 1984, and they had three children together, Alexandra (born around 1966), Stephen (born 1969), and Christa (born 1975).
Mars, Inc.
Franklin's mother taught him how to hand dip candy, and he began selling candy by the time he was 19. In 1911, he opened the Mars Candy Factory with his second wife, Ethel, in Tacoma, Washington. After that business failed, Frank and Ethel returned to Minnesota, and Franklin founded Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis and later incorporated in that city as Mars, Incorporated. In 1923, the company introduced the Milky Way bar. The company moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1929, and the following year Franklin created the Snickers bar. In 1932, the company introduced the 3 Musketeers bar, and his son Forrest launched Mars Limited and the Mars bar in the UK. In 1984, the company moved its headquarters to McLean, Virginia. In 2007, Mars, Inc. purchased Doane Petcare Company. The company also operates Ethel M Chocolates, a premium chocolate shop chain that is an outgrowth of the chocolate business Forrest opened in 1980 in Las Vegas. In 2008, Mars, Inc. and Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated acquired the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the largest chewing gum producer in the world, for $23 billion.
Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images
In 2014, a new Mars chocolate plant was opened in Topeka, Kansas. The $270 million plant was the first Mars plant to be opened in the U.S. in more than three decades. In 2016, the chocolate and Wrigley segments of the company merged to form the Mars Wrigley Confectionery. In 2020, the company acquired Kind North America, a snack food company, for $5 billion. In 2022, Mars, Inc. acquired Trü Frü, a whole-fruit snacking company. In May 2020, Mars, Inc. sued JAB Holding, alleging that former JAB Holding executive Jacek Szarzynski stole confidential documents and gave them to the owner of Panera Bread and Pret A Manger. The lawsuit stated that over 6,000 of Mars' internal documents were illegally downloaded, including financial results and planning documents.
Awards and Honors
In 2010, Mars, Inc. was honored with the U.S. Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence. At the awards ceremony, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated, "Mars was selected because of the company's special relationship with the cocoa farmers of Ghana. Mars has supported the Sustainable Tree Corps and helped in developing the Cocoa Livelihoods Program to evaluate the cocoa sector of Ghana and other regions. Mars works to raise awareness of the importance of reducing child labor and protecting workers at every level of the cocoa value chain from the fields to the factories. And by 2020, Mars has committed to certify its entire cocoa supply – all 250,000 tons a year – as sustainable." In 2013, "Fortune" magazine named Mars, Inc. one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," giving the example that "employees of the candymaker's pet-food division (brands include Pedigree and Whiskas) can take their dogs to work, where they often sleep under desks." In 2017, the company earned a Diversity in Media Award nomination for Marketing Campaign of the Year for its "Maltesers – Dance Floor" commercial. In 2020, Vet Help Direct named Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service (part of the Linnaeus Group, which joined Mars Petcare's Veterinary Health Group in 2018) the Best Vet in the United Kingdom.
