The makers of OxyContin just tentatively settled 2,000 lawsuits on their role in the opioid crisis. Meet the Sacklers, who built their $13 billion fortune off the controversial prescription drug.

The Sackler family is one of the richest families in the US.

The vast majority of the Sackler fortune comes from a well-known prescription painkiller that Purdue Pharma launched in 1996, OxyContin.

OxyContin is seen as partly to blame for the opioid crisis sweeping the US.

More than 130 people in the US die each day after overdosing on opioids, including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in July indicated that overdose deaths actually dropped 5% from 2017 to 2018, the first year-to-year decline since 1990.

Purdue Pharma, which generates $3 billion in annual sales, has faced hundreds of lawsuits over what accusers say is misleading marketing about the risks of addiction when taking OxyContin.

On August 27, NBC News reported that Purdue Pharma was offering to settle the more than 2,000 lawsuits against the pharmaceutical company for between $10 billion and $12 billion.

The proposed settlement would entail Purdue declaring bankruptcy, according to NBC News. The Sackler family would give up ownership and turn it into a for-profit “public benefit trust” that would provide $4 billion in drugs — some of which are used to save people from overdoses — to cities, counties, and states.

The deal would include $3 billion in cash from the Sackler family itself, Bloomberg reported.

Purdue Pharma continues to deny any wrongdoing. In a statement to Business Insider, the company said: “While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals.”

The company added that while “the people and communities affected by the opioid crisis need help now,” Purdue Pharma “believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome.”

The company declined to comment on any details of the proposed settlement to Business Insider.

The pharmaceutical empire began when brothers Mortimer and Raymond Sackler took over a small pharmaceutical company in New York City’s Greenwich Village called Purdue Frederick as cochairmen.

Arthur, the oldest Sackler brother, worked in pharmaceutical marketing and became one of the world’s leading collectors of Asian art.

Arthur’s four children, Elizabeth Sackler, Carol Master, Arthur Felix Sackler, and Denise Marica, have said they have not made any money from OxyContin.

Elizabeth, a board member of the Brooklyn Museum, where she endowed the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, has called the OxyContin-based wealth of her family members “morally abhorrent.”

A 2018 investigation by The Atlantic found a court document that showed a nearly $20 million payment to Arthur M. Sackler’s estate in 1997 from the Purdue family of companies, suggesting his descendants did benefit in some way from OxyContin.

In an email to Business Insider, Janet Wootten, a spokeswoman for Jillian Sackler, widow of Arthur M. Sackler, denied that Jillian, Arthur, or their heirs have financially profited from the sale of OxyContin.

Mortimer Sackler, the middle son and one of Purdue Pharma’s chief executives, died in 2010 at age 93. He left behind his third wife, Theresa Sackler, and seven children, three of whom are board members of Purdue Pharma, according to The Guardian.

One of those board members is his son, also named Mortimer.

Mortimer Sr.’s other four children — Samantha Sophia, Michael, Marissa, and Sophie — are apparently not involved in the company.

Raymond Sackler, Purdue Pharma’s other former chief executive, died in 2017 at age 97. He had two children: Jonathan and Richard.

Richard Sackler reportedly lives in a six-bedroom home in Austin, Texas.

His son, David Sackler, paid cash for a $22.5 million home in Los Angeles in 2018, according to Curbed.

David is married to Joss Sackler, the founder of a private social club and clothing company for women.

Raymond’s granddaughter, Madeleine Sackler, is an award-winning filmmaker.

But the family is well-known for their philanthropic endeavors, with their names visibly emblazoned on hospital wings and museum galleries.

There’s a Sackler Center at the Guggenheim in New York City, as well as a Sackler Educational Lab at the American Museum of Natural History.

The family’s influence on art extends beyond New York City. There’s a Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

According to Esquire, at Yale University, there’s a Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences and a Richard Sackler and Jonathan Sackler Professorship of Internal Medicine.

And in London, there’s the Serpentine Sackler Gallery.

There’s even a type of rose named after a Sackler.

The owners of Purdue Pharma — including members of the Sackler family — reached a tentative settlement agreement, the New York Times reported on September 11.

The settlement requires the Sacklers to pay $3 billion of their own fortune in cash over the next seven years, The Times reported.

Purdue Pharma will likely file for bankruptcy and be split into separate companies, according to The Times.