One person's misfortune is another's opportunity to make a fortune.
The rise in global food prices has helped three members of the super-rich Cargill family, who majority-own of one of the world’s largest food companies, join the ranks of the world’s 500 richest people.
Siblings James Cargill, Austen Cargill and Marianne Liebmann – all great-grandchildren of William Wallace Cargill, who founded the Cargill company in 1865 – this week joined the Bloomberg Billionaires list of the richest 500 people alive. Each of them has an estimated $5.4bn (£4.1bn) fortune – up a fifth so far this year. They join Cargill’s other great-grandchildren Pauline Keinath and Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer on the richest 500 list. They each have fortunes of about $8.06bn. Three more Cargill family members – Alexandra Daitch, Sarah MacMillan and Lucy Stitzer – are also billionaires. The extended family controls about 87% of the company and is ranked as the 11th richest family in the world, with a collective fortune of about $50bn.
The giant Cargill food company, which employs more than 155,000 staff in 70 countries and is expected to report record profits this year, outstripping 2021’s record-breaking $5bn profit. Cargill, which has its headquarters in Minnesota, reported a 63% increase in profits last year to almost $4.93bn – the biggest in its 157-year history. Revenues rose by 17% to $134bn.
Eric Muňoz, Oxfam America’s senior policy adviser for agriculture, said: “Right now we’re seeing food prices skyrocket, which is taking a devastating toll on the most vulnerable communities. Exorbitant food prices, alongside the Covid-19 pandemic, are pushing families in countries like Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan to the breaking point. – Meanwhile, the richest have seen their profits soar..."
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