Richest Agriculture Family’s Fortunes Jump as Food Prices Surge

  • Three more in Cargill family join list of world’s wealthiest
  • Cargill is the largest closely held company in the U.S.

A bulk carrier is loaded with corn grains at the Cargill Inc. grain port in Santarem, Para State, Brazil.

Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg
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Rising food prices and turbulent global commodities markets are fueling a surge in wealth for the billionaire family behind America’s largest closely held company.

Three more members of the Cargill family -- siblings James Cargill, Austen Cargill and Marianne Liebmann -- have joined the ranks of the world’s 500 richest people thanks to their stakes in Minnesota-based food processor Cargill Inc. Each has a net worth of $5.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up 20% this year.