The Chearavanont family, owners of the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), has ranked 21st on Bloomberg's "World's Richest Families" list for the year 2020.
In the Bloomberg 2020 listing which includes 25 families, the Chearavanont family is the only Thai family on the list, ranking 21st richest with assets totalling $30.7 billion or 959.19 billion baht.
The Walton family, owner of the world's largest retail business Walmart, which owns and runs more than 11,000 supercentres, ranked first with a valuation of US$215 billion.
The Mars family, owner of the Mars confectionery and pet care businesses, ranked second with a assets of $120 billion. The Koch family of Koch Industries followed as the third richest with $109.7 billion in assets.
The Al Saud family of Saudi Arabia ranked fourth with $95 billion in assets while the Ambani family, owner of Reliance Industries based in Mumbai, India, ranked fifth with $81.3 billion.
CP Group started in Thailand when Chia Ek Chor and his brother set up a seed shop in Bangkok in 1921.
According to the company, it has expanded its investments to more than 22 countries around the world, with its most recent focus on shrimp farming in the United States, adding to its food business in America and Europe.
Recently, CP Group announced its new sustainability policy with the goal to become a carbon-neutral and zero-waste organisation, the company said.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, CP Group made donations to assist communities in Thailand totalling over 700 million baht. Assistance included the establishment of a 100-million-baht surgical face mask factory that would provide face masks free of charge to medical personnel and the public.
Furthermore, the group announced a policy to not lay off any of its 400,000 employees worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic.
