The "Old Money" Families Who Still Rule the World

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This full-length documentary investigate the “old money” families who, unlike many who lost wealth, still manage control vast swathes of power within the world’s dealings.

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction
0:44 The Mellon Family
29:12 The Oppenheimer Family
53:07 The Bush Family
1:18:07 The Rockefeller Family
1:37:55 The Bronfman Family
2:06:37 The Thomson Family

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Behind the façade of democratic governance and free markets lies a more complex reality: a handful of dynastic families whose wealth and influence have shaped global affairs for generations, often beyond the spotlight of public scrutiny.

This documentary explores six extraordinary family dynasties whose power transcends elected officials and corporate boardrooms, operating through intricate networks of financial institutions, foundations, and political connections that have weathered world wars, economic collapses, and technological revolutions.

The Mellon family emerges as America's banking aristocracy, transforming a Pittsburgh fortune into an empire spanning finance, industry, and culture through Mellon Bank and massive industrial holdings like Alcoa and Gulf Oil.

Their legacy lives on not only through financial institutions but also through cultural treasures like the National Gallery of Art, established by Andrew Mellon, and their immense philanthropic foundations that continue shaping American intellectual and artistic life.

The Oppenheimers built their dynasty on diamonds and gold, with Sir Ernest Oppenheimer's control of De Beers creating a near-monopoly that dictated global diamond prices for most of the twentieth century while their mining interests in Africa gave them unprecedented influence over entire nations.

Through Anglo American Corporation, the family's reach extended beyond precious stones into banking, newspapers, and strategic minerals, with their wealth becoming so intertwined with South Africa's economy that they effectively operated as a shadow government during apartheid and beyond.

The Bush family represents political dynasty at its most effective, producing two U.S. presidents, a senator, and two governors across three generations while building a network connecting intelligence agencies, oil interests, defense contractors, and Middle Eastern monarchies.

From Prescott Bush's banking career and senatorial role to George H.W. Bush's transformation from oilman to CIA director to president, the family exemplifies how political power and business interests create self-reinforcing cycles of influence.

The Rockefeller legacy begins with John D.'s Standard Oil monopoly but evolves into something far more sophisticated – a web of foundations, think tanks, and institutions that continues shaping global policy long after their industrial empire was dismantled.

Their fingerprints remain on everything from global health initiatives to international banking through institutions like the Council on Foreign Relations, Rockefeller Foundation, and Chase Manhattan Bank – embodying how wealth transforms into permanent institutional influence.

The Bronfman family parlayed Prohibition-era liquor fortune from Seagram into a diversified empire spanning entertainment, banking, and real estate while wielding enormous influence in Jewish philanthropy and Israeli politics.

Their journey from bootleggers to respected philanthropists demonstrates how strategically deployed wealth can facilitate remarkable social rehabilitation across generations.

Canada's Thomson family built a global information empire from a small-town newspaper into Thomson Reuters, controlling much of the data infrastructure that underpins the modern financial system and legal profession.

With a fortune exceeding $42 billion, this deliberately low-profile dynasty demonstrates how controlling information flows yields more sustainable power than manufacturing or resource extraction in the digital age.

These six families represent different models of dynastic influence – from the Mellons' financial and cultural dominance to the Oppenheimers' resource control, from the Bushes' political network to the Rockefellers' institutional approach, from the Bronfmans' social rehabilitation to the Thomsons' information empire.

Their combined strategies reveal the true architecture of power in our seemingly democratic world – where wealth concentrated across generations creates influence that transcends electoral cycles and outlasts political movements, operating beyond public scrutiny while fundamentally shaping the world we inhabit.