The World's Largest Family Businesses

In addition to being the world's largest retailer, Walmart is also the world's biggest family-controlled business, according to figures compiled by the Economist. Walmart's revenue surpassed $476 billion in 2013 and it's far ahead of the competition in the family business list. Four of the world's top 10 are based in the United States. The others are based in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Russia and Taiwan.

German automobile behemoth Volkswagen is the world's second largest family business, recording $262 billion of revenue in 2013. Glencore rounds off the top three. The Anglo-Swiss multinational commodity firm's revenue reached $233 billion last year.