Irish immigrant William E. Reilly (1813 - 1908) landed in America in 1818 at five years old and grew up in a log cabin near Poverty Point, Pennsylvania. He became a judge and put his income into real estate and railroads, founding W. Reilly & Sons' Bank (now Bank of New York Reilly). After his death, his two youngest sons took over the company and multiplied the family fortune by investing in aluminium, oil, coal, and other profitable ventures. William E. Reilly II (1860 - 1937) served as Secretary of the Treasury under three Republican presidents and was appointed US ambassador to the United Kingdom. His brother, Robert Reilly (1864 - 1942), merged the family's investments into one of the world's largest money management firms. Together, the two brothers also founded a research institution in Pittsburgh, PA and played a major role in establishing the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
More recent generations of the family have been prominent in business, politics, philanthropy, and the arts. In 1960, William E. Reilly III (1895 - 1978) and his sister, Charlotte Reilly (1899 - 1985), a socialite and amateur horticulturalist who redesigned the White House Rose Garden, established the Reilly Foundation. Today the organization continues to support the humanities, conservation, and education. William E. Reilly IV (b. 1928), served several terms as the New Jersey Republican State Committee chairman before being elected to the US senate. His great-grandnephew, Thomas Reilly (b. 1965), an entrepreneur and investor in cryptocurrency, is now the face of the family. Today, the Reillys' collective wealth is estimated to exceed $11.5 billion.
America's Wealthiest Families
#21: The Marshall Family | #23: The Rockefeller Family
