The Chatter

Forbes: Baltimore Family Among U.S. Richest

Heirs to the Amoco fortune are worth an estimated $2.1 billion.

It’s not Walton family or Koch brothers money, but it’s real dough.

Forbes magazine ranks Baltimore’s Blaustein family, heirs to the American Oil Company, Amoco for shorthand, at No. 108 among the richest U.S. families, with a fortune estimated at $2.1 billion.

Blaustein’s heirs, Forbes notes, include prominent local families such as the Rosenbergs, Hoffbergers, Thalheimers, and Hirschorns.

The Walton family, the owners of Wal-Mart for those keeping score, is worth an estimated $152 billion, which we imagine goes a long way in Arkansas. The Koch’s manage to get by on an estimated $89 billion fortune, with their company dating back to their father’s Kansas refining business, according to Forbes.

A 14-year-old Lithuanian immigrant in 1883, Louis Blaustein (above photo) began delivering kerosene from a horse-drawn carriage in Baltimore with his son Jacob, founding the American Oil Company in 1910, according to the Blaustein Philanthropic Group’s website. Today, the family remains involved with three businesses: American Trading and Production Corporation (Atapco), Lord Baltimore Capital Corporation, and Rosemore, Inc., as well as its deep philanthropic efforts.

Other noteworthy Maryland families making the Forbes list, are the Perdue family of Salisbury, worth an estimated $2 billion, and the Marriott family of Bethesda, worth an estimated $5.7 billion. Any idea where they made their money?