The World's Richest Royals (2026)

The three richest royal families in the world are all in the Gulf, worth more than $740 billion between them, according to Bloomberg's ranking of the world's richest families published in December 2025. Every figure below is an estimate: monarchies rarely disclose their wealth, and the line between family money and state money is often blurred. We give the source and date for each one.

The richest royal families

1. Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi: $335.9 billion

The ruling family of Abu Dhabi ranked second among all the world's families in Bloomberg's 2025 list, behind only the Waltons of Walmart. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE's national security adviser, oversees personal and sovereign assets worth a combined $1.5 trillion, with heavy investment in artificial intelligence. Source: Bloomberg, World's Richest Families 2025 (December 2025).

2. Al Saud, Saudi Arabia: $213.6 billion

Bloomberg describes its estimate for the Saudi royal family as probably well below the true total, because it cannot fully capture the cash held by thousands of extended family members. The family's fortune rests largely on the kingdom's oil wealth. The Public Investment Fund, worth about $1 trillion, is a state fund and is not counted as family wealth. Source: Bloomberg, World's Richest Families 2025 (December 2025).

3. Al Thani, Qatar: $199.5 billion

Qatar's ruling family built its fortune on the country's offshore gas reserves. Its holdings run from hotels, insurance and construction at home to London property in Mayfair, stud farms, private banks and the Valentino fashion house. Source: Bloomberg, World's Richest Families 2025 (December 2025).

The richest reigning monarchs

Personal fortunes are harder to pin down than family ones, and several of the estimates below are years old. We show them as published.

4. King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand: $30–60 billion (estimate)

In 2018 the Crown Property Bureau announced that full ownership of the Crown's assets had passed to the king, including prime Bangkok real estate and stakes linked to Siam Commercial Bank and Siam Cement Group. Analysts quoted at the time put their value at $30 billion to $60 billion. Source: Al Jazeera, 17 June 2018.

5. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei: about $20 billion (estimate)

Sultan since 1967, he heads a state whose wealth comes from oil and gas. Source: Business Insider estimate, 2018.

6. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai: about $4 billion (estimate)

Ruler of Dubai since 2006 and the UAE's Vice President and Prime Minister. Estimates of his personal fortune vary widely and do not capture the wider Al Maktoum family's holdings. Source: Business Insider estimate, 2018.

7. Prince Hans-Adam II, Liechtenstein: about $3.5 billion (estimate)

The princely family owns LGT, the private banking and asset management group. Source: Business Insider estimate, 2018.

8. King Mohammed VI, Morocco: about $2.1 billion (estimate)

Source: Business Insider estimate, 2018.

9. Prince Albert II, Monaco: about $1 billion (estimate)

Source: Business Insider estimate, 2018.

10. King Charles III, United Kingdom: £640 million

The Sunday Times Rich List 2025 put the King's personal wealth at £640 million, up £30 million in a year, mostly from the investment portfolio he inherited from Queen Elizabeth II and the private estates of Sandringham and Balmoral. The Crown Estate, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Crown Jewels are not counted, because they are not his personal property. Source: Sunday Times Rich List, 16 May 2025.

Why the Gulf dominates

The Gulf's ruling families sit on top of the world's largest oil and gas reserves, and their fortunes have grown alongside sovereign wealth funds that now invest across technology, sport and infrastructure. Abu Dhabi's ruling family alone is worth about $122 billion more than the Al Saud.

How we compiled this list: family figures are from Bloomberg's December 2025 ranking; monarch figures are the most recent published estimates we could find, with their dates. We will update this list when new figures are published.

Sources:

• Bloomberg, World's Richest Families 2025, as reported by Geo News, 16 December 2025: https://www.geo.tv/latest/639765-how-much-wealth-do-richest-arab-families-have and Quartz: https://qz.com/worlds-richest-families-2025-bloomberg
• Al Jazeera, 17 June 2018: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/thai-king-signs-royal-family-30bn-fortune-180617061730616.html
• Business Insider 2018 estimates, as listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_royalty_by_net_worth
• Sunday Times Rich List 2025, via LBC, 16 May 2025: https://www.lbc.co.uk/business/ab405d6b15ab41289f552c982f17801c