How many MacMillan and Cargill descendants own stakes and what are their estimated shares?

1. Who exactly “owns” Cargill: a closely held family bloc

Reporting consistently describes Cargill as a private company majority‑owned by descendants of founders William W. Cargill and the MacMillan line: sources say the family collectively controls about 88–90% of the business, with the remainder held by employees or management through stock programs ^{[1] [2] [3] [6]}. Independent writeups and profiles repeat the same broad figure — roughly 88% — while some family‑focused pieces round that to “about 90%” ^{[2] [3] [6]}.

2. How many descendants hold stakes: estimates, not a registry

Accounts quantify the number of individual family shareholders differently: several sources say “approximately 90” or “about 100” family members own the controlling stake; others say “over 100.” These are journalistic estimates rather than a public shareholder registry, because Cargill is private and does not disclose a full ownership list ^{[2] [7] [8]}. In short: available sources report roughly 90–100+ family owners, but no single authoritative roster is published ^{[2] [7] [8]}.

3. Individual stakes that are reported: a few cited examples

Some descendants have been singled out by name and percentage in multiple profiles. Pauline MacMillan Keinath is widely reported as one of the largest individual holders, with estimates ranging from about 11% to as high as 13% of Cargill in different outlets ^{[3] [4] [9]}. Alexandra Daitch is named in Forbes as holding an estimated 3% stake ^[5]. Other reporting notes several family members listed by Forbes as billionaires, implying meaningful individual holdings, but many individual percentages are not publicly enumerated ^{[1] [10]}.

4. How the headline numbers are derived — and their limits

The 88–90% family‑ownership figure appears repeatedly across journalism and financial writeups and is grounded in long‑standing reporting on Cargill’s private structure and past disclosures, but it is an estimate: Cargill is privately held and not required to publish a complete ownership ledger, so these numbers are reconstructed from filings, prospectuses, historical litigation, company statements and journalistic investigation ^{[1] [4] [8]}. Consequently, precise counts and percentage splits vary between outlets and over time as shares shift via inheritance, sales to family members, gifting, or transfers to foundations ^[8].

5. Dividend practice and internal allocation context

Sources note that the family historically keeps a large portion of net income in the business and distributes a minority as dividends; Forbes reporting cited that the family has taken about 18% of net profits as dividends in some past descriptions. That practice — together with occasional major asset transactions like the Mosaic stake sale — has driven both liquidity events for heirs and complex redistributions of wealth inside the clan ^{[11] [8]}.

6. Competing figures and why they differ

Different outlets emphasize slightly different totals (88% vs. ~90%), and estimates of the number of family owners range from “approximately 90” to “over 100.” The variance arises because outlets use different source material (company reports, prospectuses, lawsuits, Forbes wealth estimates) and because family ownership shifts through inheritance and private transactions; no single public source reconciles those changes ^{[2] [7] [4]}.

7. What reporters and researchers cannot show from available sources

Available sources do not publish a definitive, up‑to‑date table of every descendant and their exact percentage holdings; the precise ownership ledger is not in the public domain. Therefore, claims beyond the published estimates—such as an exhaustive count of descendants or an exact percentage for each named individual beyond those cited—are not supported by the reporting available here ^{[2] [4] [5]}.

8. Bottom line for readers

Multiple independent sources align on the broad facts: descendants of the Cargill and MacMillan families control the vast majority (about 88–90%) of Cargill, and that controlling stake is split among roughly 90–100+ family members; a few heirs are repeatedly named with estimated individual stakes (Pauline MacMillan Keinath ~11–13%, Alexandra Daitch ~3%), but the full breakdown is not publicly disclosed and estimates vary by outlet ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}.