It is still 100% family-owned — now by the three elderly offspring of Forrest Mars Sr., who launched Mars onto its trajectory as a confectionery colossus after taking over the business from his father, Franklin C. Mars, who died in 1934. That family is either extraordinarily private or weirdly reclusive, depending on whom you ask, though asking them isn’t an option, since the last time any family members gave an interview was during the administration of Bush 41. The three owners are all multibillionaires — each is reportedly among the 20 or so richest Americans. Ask employees — while officially called “associates,” they sometimes refer to themselves as Martians — about a member of the Mars family, and you’re about as likely to get a revealing answer as if you’d asked about the proprietary process in which they stamp “m” on the little colored candies. The shortest time interval in the Martian universe is that between when you ask about a Mars family member and when someone on the astronomically high-strung public-relations team snaps to attention and rules the question out of order. Mars can make Willy Wonka’s workplace appear downright normal.