Marijke Mars Net Worth

Marijke Mars has an estimated net worth of $12.6 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Marijke Mars profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $6 billion in 2019.

Marijke Mars is an American businesswoman tied to Mars, Incorporated, the family company behind candy and pet food. She is a fourth-generation member of the Mars family and serves on the company’s board of directors. After college, she worked as a regional manager for Kal Kan Foods, one of the company’s pet food businesses. She later worked at Mars Food. Her wealth comes from her ownership stake in the private company and its long-running brands.

Her fortune grew after 2016, when she and her sisters inherited estimated 8% stakes each in Mars after their father, Forrest Mars Jr., died. That inheritance made her one of the family’s billionaire heirs. Mars has roots that go back to 1911, when her great-grandfather Frank Mars founded the candy business. Forbes put her net worth at $12.6 billion on its real-time billionaires tracker as of October 20, 2026.

How Marijke Mars built her fortune

Most of Marijke Mars’s wealth is tied to Mars, Incorporated, a private company with businesses in candy and pet food. Forbes places her in the Food & Beverage industry and points to candy and pet food as the main sources of her wealth. She is not listed by Forbes as self-made. Instead, her fortune comes from an inherited ownership stake in one of the biggest family companies in the sector.

Her role is not only as an heir. Mars also serves on the company’s board of directors, giving her a direct place in its leadership. The family company’s history stretches back to 1911, when Frank Mars founded the candy business. A major recent move came in December 2025, when Mars acquired snack company Kellavova for $35.9 billion including debt, expanding the company’s reach beyond its older brands.

Forbes net worth trend

Forbes has raised its estimate of Marijke Mars’s fortune several times in recent years. It was $6 billion on the 2019 World’s Billionaires list, then $7.8 billion in 2021 and $9.6 billion in 2023. The 2024 list kept the same $9.6 billion estimate. Those changes tracked the value Forbes assigned to her inherited share of Mars, the private company at the center of her wealth.

The estimate moved higher again after that. Forbes listed her at $10.7 billion in 2025 and $12.3 billion on the 2026 World’s Billionaires list. On Forbes’ real-time tracker in October 2026, it reached $12.6 billion. Because her money is tied to an 8% stake in Mars, changes in Forbes’ estimate mainly reflect how it values the company and its candy and pet food businesses over time.