Many companies, both private and publicly-listed, pay quarterly, bi-annually, or annual dividends to shareholders. Dividends are distributions of a company’s profits to shareholders; common shareholders are entitled to a cut of the dividends based on their ownership percentage.

We want to examine the biggest dividend earners globally. They include:

1. Gérard and Alain Wertheimer (Chanel)

Gerard and Alain Wertheimer are French siblings who control Chanel, the privately-held luxury fashion brand co-founded by their grandfather. Chanel sells high-priced goods and earns juicy profit margins. The Wertheimer brothers pocketed $5bn in dividends in 2021 alone, U.K. filings show (Chanel is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory).

The Wertheimers also paid themselves a $3.4bn dividend in 2016. We weren’t able to confirm figures for other years.

2. Walton family (Walmart)

The Walton family controls Walmart, America’s largest retail chain by sales. The Waltons own just under 50% of publicly-traded Walmart’s shares, which entitles them to nearly half of the retail giant’s dividends.

Walmart paid $6.6bn in dividends in its most recent fiscal year ended January 2023, giving the Waltons over $3bn in cash from their stake.

3. Amancio Ortega (Inditex)

Amancio Ortega founded the Inditex fashion group, best known for its Zara and Bershka clothing and accessories chains. Ortega owns 59% of Inditex shares. He received 2.2 billion euros ($2.42bn) in dividends in 2022 alone. Ortega invests his dividends via Pontegadea Inversiones, one of the world’s largest family offices.

4. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft)

Steve Ballmer is the former chief executive of tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). He is Microsoft’s biggest individual shareholder, with about 4% of shares as of his last disclosure in 2014. That stake is worth over $100bn and earns Ballmer close to $1bn annually in dividends.

5. Larry Ellison (Oracle)

Larry Ellison is the founder and Chairman of enterprise software giant Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). He owns nearly 42% of the company’s shares, earning him $1.5bn in dividends in Oracle’s most recent fiscal year.

6. Steve Schwarzman (Blackstone)

Steve Schwarzman is the co-founder, chief executive, and biggest shareholder of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), the world’s biggest private equity firm by assets under management. Schwarzman earned $1.02bn in dividends in 2022 alone. Salary, stock awards, and carried interest added an extra $250mn, giving Schwarzman a $1.27bn payout in 2022.

7. Leonid Radvinsky (OnlyFans)

Leonid Radvinsky is an American entrepreneur who owns OnlyFans, a content subscription service used primarily by sex workers. OnlyFans takes a 20% cut on content creators’ revenue, giving the company sizeable profit margins. Radvinsky, OnlyFans’ sole owner, paid himself a $338mn dividend after the company surpassed $1bn in revenue in 2022. In 2021, he collected $284mn in dividends.

8. Phil Knight (Nike)

Phil Knight founded Nike (NYSE: NKE), the world’s biggest athletic shoe and apparel maker by sales. Knight owns 17% of Nike’s shares, which gives him over $300mn in annual dividends.

9. Richard Kinder

Richard Kinder is an American businessman who co-founded Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI), an oil and gas pipeline giant. He owns 11% of Kinder Morgan’s shares, which earned him roughly $280mn in dividends in 2022.

10. Jonathan Gray (Blackstone)

Jonathan Gray is the President and chief operating officer of private equity giant Blackstone. He receives massive dividends like his boss, Steve Schwarzman. Gray collected $183mn in dividends in 2022. Salary, stock awards, and carried interest added an extra $296mn, giving Gray a $479mn payout.

Note: This is not a definitive list. Many other business owners and executives earn massive dividends from privately-held companies, but the details aren’t publicly accessible. We’ve limited this list to the top ten publicly known dividend earners.

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