How the Mars family fortune was built
Jacqueline Mars inherited her wealth through her family's ownership of Mars Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States. The business was founded in 1911 by her grandfather, Frank C. Mars, who made candy in Tacoma, Washington, before moving the company to Minneapolis and later to Chicago. In 1923 it launched the Milky Way bar, followed by Snickers in 1930, and these brands made Mars a national confectioner.
Her father, Forrest Mars Sr., clashed with Frank over strategy and left for Europe in the early 1930s with the rights to make the Mars bar abroad. He built his own businesses in Britain and later in the United States, including a pet food company and, in 1941, the company that made M&M's. He also brought Uncle Ben's rice to market. In 1964 he merged his companies with the original Mars business and took control of the combined group.
When Forrest Sr. retired, ownership passed to his three children: Forrest Jr., John and Jacqueline. The family has kept Mars private ever since. Her share of the family ownership of Mars is the source of her fortune, which is entirely inherited.
Mars Inc. and its businesses
Mars today is organized around a few major businesses:
- Mars Snacking: chocolate, gum and snacks, including M&M's, Snickers, Twix, Wrigley's chewing gum and Skittles
- Mars Petcare: pet food brands such as Pedigree, Whiskas and Royal Canin, and veterinary services through Banfield, VCA and other clinic groups
- Food and nutrition: rice, sauces and meal products
The company made several large acquisitions in recent decades. It bought the chewing gum maker Wrigley in 2008 and the American veterinary hospital company VCA in 2017, making pet care its largest division. In 2024 Mars agreed to acquire Kellanova, the maker of Pringles and Cheez It crackers, a deal that went through a long regulatory review.
Mars is run by professional managers, while members of the family serve on the board. Jacqueline Mars worked in the company for many years and sat on its board until 2016. The family has a reputation for privacy and for running the business with a long term focus and few public statements. Family members, including the next generation, have remained involved through the board and family councils.
Early life and work in the company
Jacqueline Badger Mars was born in October 1939, the youngest of Forrest Mars Sr.'s three children. Her father was known as a demanding and intensely private businessman, and the family business was a constant presence in her upbringing.
She attended Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, where she studied anthropology, graduating in 1961. She later joined the family company and worked there for many years. After her father stepped back, she and her brothers took over ownership and oversight of the group, and she later served on its board of directors.
Her brother Forrest Mars Jr. died in 2016, and her brother John Mars held senior leadership roles at the company for many years. Jacqueline Mars has lived for many years in Virginia, in the horse country near The Plains, a small community west of Washington. She has kept her private life largely out of public view and rarely gives interviews, in keeping with the family's tradition of discretion about its business and wealth.
Patronage of opera, equestrian sport and the arts
Jacqueline Mars is known as a patron of the performing arts and of equestrian sport. She has been a longtime supporter and board member of the Washington National Opera, which became affiliated with the Kennedy Center in 2011, and she has backed other cultural institutions in the Washington region.
Equestrian sport is her other major passion. She has been a major supporter of eventing, the Olympic discipline that combines dressage, cross country and show jumping, and has owned horses ridden by American riders in international competitions. She has supported the United States Equestrian Team Foundation and the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia, which collects books and art related to horses and field sports.
The Mars family's charitable giving also runs through family foundations that make grants for education, the arts, health and conservation. As with the Mars business, the family tends to give with little publicity, and many of its grants are known only through the annual reports of the organizations that receive them.