Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, has been an advocate of "big families". He has fathered nine children with three women and had a 10th kid who died at infancy.
He even encouraged his employees to reproduce more. “Kids are worth it, if at all possible, I’m planning to increase childcare benefits at my companies significantly,” Musk had tweeted, responding to a question on Twitter about why people shouldn’t have kids for financial reasons.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO added that the Musk Foundation plans to donate directly to families. “I hope you have big families and congrats to those who already do!” he had tweeted.
Elon Musk had also said in May that not many among the richest people in the world have more than one child. “Contrary to what many think, the richer someone is, the fewer kids they have. I am a rare exception. Most people I know have zero or one kid,” he had tweeted .
But, a review of some of the richest people in the US proves otherwise, finds Forbes. The publication analysed more than 700 US billionaires to find that the ultra-rich have an average of 2.3 children, above the recent 1.93 average for average Americans.
If only those billionaires who have kids are taken into account, the average number of children shoots to 3.1.
Here's a list of the nine top baby-boom billionaires in the US compiled by Forbes:
Frank VanderSloot - 14 children
A big Republican donor and wellness tycoon, VanderSloot has six children from his first marriage and eight from his current wife. They’ve been married for 26 years. His net worth is $3 billion.
Farris Wilks - 11 children
This American petroleum industry titan has a net worth of $1.3 billion. He is the pastor of his own church, the Assembly of Yahweh Seventh Day Church in Texas. Wilks and his wife Jo Ann have been linked to conservative Christian groups and are active Republican donors, having donated generously to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
David Duffield - 10 children
Founder of software companies Workday and PeopleSoft, Duffield and his wife Cheryl have 10 children (five of them are adopted). The family also has seven grandchildren, four parrots and four dogs. His net worth his $9.6 billion.
Jerry Moyes - 10 children
Moyes and his wife Vickie have been married since the 1980s and have 10 children together. He had founded Swift Transportation in 1966 with one truck, transporting imported steel and cotton between Arizona and California. Today, Moyes and his family's net worth is $1.4 billion.
Nelson Peltz - 10 children
The founder of Trian Fund Management and activist investor has 10 children with three women. His net worth is $1.6 billion.
Richard Schulze - 10 children
He worked as an electronics components manufacturer representative before opening his stereo equipment shop, Sound of Music, in 1966 which he later grew it into the chain of superstores and renamed Best Buy. Schulze and his wife Maureen both lost their first spouses to cancer and donated $6 million to Moffitt Cancer Center in 2018. They have 10 children. His net worth is $3.8 billion.
Frederick Smith - 10 children
The founder, Chairman and CEO of FedEx has 10 children from two marriages. The company now generates $84 billion in annual revenue and Smith's net worth is $5.1 billion.
Elon Musk - 9 children
Musk fathered six children with Canadian author and then wife Justine Wilson. Their first child died at infancy. The couple then had twins, and triplets. Musk also has two children with Canadian musician Grimes. He also had twins in November 2021 with Neuralink colleague Shivon Zilis.
Scott Smith - 9 children
A cancer survivor, Smith is one of three cofounders of Utah-based cloud computing company Qualtrics. He cofounded the company in Provo, Utah in 2002 with his two sons, Ryan and Jared. Ryan is the CEO. Smith's net worth is $1 billion.
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