8 most secretive billionaires in the world, revealed: from Marvel’s Isaac Perlmutter who was ‘fired’ from Disney, to Chanel’s Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, and Frederick Barclay

Aug 22 , 2023

The Cargill-MacMillan family (Martha Cargill is pictured), Philip Anschutz and Frederick Barclay are among today’s most secretive billionaires. Photos: Getty Images, AP

Today’s most famous billionaires, from Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg (will that cage fight ever happen?) to Jeff Bezos, seem to enjoy the spotlight – but not all super-wealthy tycoons want to be seen

Philip Anschutz runs the parent company of Coachella; the Mars family are behind M&M’s, Snickers, and Dove; and Chanel’s Alain and Gérard Wertheimer are dubbed as ‘fashion’s quietest billionaires’

It’s a rare day that passes without a headline about Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, or any number of the other flashy and seemingly press-loving billionaires.

That rumoured cage fight between Musk and Zuckerberg was a melee for media attention. (Most recently, a slew of MMA champs reportedly offered to coach Musk, even though Zuckerberg has since dubbed the fight challenge “not serious”). And Jeff Bezos can regularly be spotted on his US$500 million yacht with fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

But some others in the billionaire class are just the opposite, taking great care to stay out of the limelight.

Here’s a sampling of some of the world’s most secretive and reclusive billionaires, how they built their fortunes, and how they’ve tried to avoided the public eye over the years.

(One necessary disclaimer: we may not even know about the really tight-lipped billionaires, who have managed to stay off the lists of Forbes, Bloomberg, and the like. The individuals and families named below did not immediately respond to requests for comment unless stated otherwise. Their net worths are accurate as of August 15.)

1. Philip Anschutz

Philip Anschutz is the man behind Coachella. Photo: Getty Images

You’ve probably heard of Coachella before, but the man behind the festival is far less well known.

Meet Philip Anschutz, who has been dubbed “America’s most reclusive billionaire”. His net worth sits at US$10.7 billion, according to Forbes.

The 83-year-old owns Anschutz Entertainment Group, or AEG, which is the parent company of Coachella. Before getting into entertainment, Anschutz made his money in oil and railways. He discovered an oilfield on the Wyoming-Utah border by 1979, and three years later, Mobil bought half of it for US$500 million.

He went on to buy the Rio Grande Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1980s, and sold them in 1995 for US$1.4 billion, while retaining the right to lay fibre-optic cables on them for telecoms services.