The Simmonses – $5.4B
The Simmonses are in possession of such a huge fortune thanks to corporate raiding. The wealth in the family is fairly new as it only started with Harold Simmons, Sr. He worked as a bank examiner and drug store employee before going on to form a capital company of his own. The company began to do corporate takeovers, and one publication even called him a “feared raider”. Whenever a corporation went under, he bought it out, stripped the company, gave it new life, and claimed the money he earned. This was something he did numerous times, mostly to smaller companies since they made for better targets than big conglomerates. He was a philanthropist as well. Did you know he paid out a donation of $200 million to the Southwest Medical Center at the University of Texas?
The Simmonses – $5.4B
