Mars shares ownership of Mars Inc., the world's largest confectioner. The closely held, McLean, Virginia-based company makes candy (M&Ms, Snickers, Milky Way), chewing gum (Juicy Fruit, Orbit), pet chow (Pedigree, Whiskas) and packaged foods (Ben's Original, Suzi Wan). It has annual revenue of more than $47 billion.
The majority of Mars's fortune is derived from her 8% stake in McLean, Virginia-based Mars Inc., a closely held US candy, food and pet products company. The Mars family is the sole shareholder of the company, according to private company filings. The company declined to comment on the breakdown of individual shareholders.
The analysis assumes the fortune was inherited equally by third-generation siblings Jacqueline, John and Forrest Jr. It also assumes the late Forrest Jr.'s stake was split equally among his four children, Victoria, Valerie, Marijke and Pamela, after his death in 2016.
The business is the world's largest candy maker and best known for confections such as Snickers, Milky Way and Twix. With its purchase of Wrigley in 2008 for $23 billion, it commands more than half of the US chewing-gum market, according to Euromonitor. Its other popular candies include Skittles, Starburst, Life Savers and Altoids. Its food brands include Ben's Original and Suzi Wan, and pet food and care brands include Pedigree, Whiskas and Eukanuba.
Mars Inc. has revenue of more than $47 billion, according to a January 2024 press release. It's valued using the average enterprise value-to-sales and enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiples of three publicly traded peer companies: Hershey, Nestle and Mondelez International.
Mars Inc has $17 billion in loans and other debt as of March 2024, according to Bloomberg data. The billionaire's share of that debt is included as a liability.
A family spokeswoman, Amy Weiss, declined to comment on the valuation.
Marijke Mars was born in 1965, one of four daughters of the late Forrest Mars Jr. and his first wife, Virginia Cretella.
Her great-grandfather, Frank Mars, learned to hand-dip chocolate as a schoolboy. He began making and selling buttercream candies from his home in Tacoma, Washington in 1911, and moved the business to Minneapolis in 1920, operating under the banner Nougat House. A long string of confectionery blockbusters followed, including Milky Way, Snickers and 3 Musketeers.
After his death in 1934, Frank's only son, Forrest, took over the business and expanded it into pet care with the purchase of Chappie canned dog food and, later, into packaged food with the addition of what would become Uncle Ben's rice. Forrest stepped down from day-to-day management of the global food manufacturer in 1969, turning over control to his two sons, John and Forrest Jr., who died in July 2016.
After earning her undergraduate degree from Duke University, Marijke Mars joined the family business in Los Angeles where she worked as regional manager at one of Mars Inc.'s pet food companies, Kal Kan Foods. She now works at Mars Food, which makes a dozen food brands including Uncle Ben's and Suzi Wan.