America’s richest families are taking the whole idea of “born with a silver spoon” to another level. These clans aren’t just rich, they're filthy stinking rich.

美国最富有的家庭正把“生来富贵”的概念提升到一个新的高度。这些家族不只是有钱，他们是非常有钱。

Many made their fortunes through excellent investments or by getting into an industry at the perfect time (i.e., oil and natural gas drilling in the 1960s and ’70s). Others were big players in fashion, food production or healthcare, and in recent years, tech and the internet have created oodles of new money. But while it was mostly one family member who created the initial wealth — some of whom started with a mere $250 loan and turned it into $5 billion — many heirs have taken their pieces of the pie and created even more riches.

许多人通过出色的投资或在最佳时机进入一个行业而发家致富(即60年代和70年代的石油和天然气钻探)。另一些则是时尚、食品生产或医疗保健领域的大玩家，近年来，科技和互联网也创造了大量新财富。虽然最初的财富主要是由一个家庭成员创造的——有些人一开始只有250美元贷款，后来变成了50亿美元——许多后代已经分得他们的一块蛋糕，创造了更多的财富。