America’s 400 richest are worth a record $3.2 trillion, up $240 billion from a year ago, aided by a stock market that has defied the virus.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, worth $179 billion, is number one for the third year in a row, followed by Bill Gates at number two. It still takes at least $2.1 billion, unchanged for the past three years, to make the cut. Even in these trying times mega-fortunes are still being minted. We welcome 18 new members to the ranks, who made their piles in everything from electric trucks to the now-ubiquitous Zoom.
Plus there are 9 returnees — former 400 members who fell off the list and have made a comeback.
Two from last year’s list died, and 25 dropped off as their fortunes fell; 10 of those setbacks were directly attributable to the Covid crisis. Forbes calculated net worths using stock prices from July 24, 2020. When possible, we met with Forbes 400 members before the coronavirus pandemic and spoke with them virtually or by phone after.
We also interviewed their employees, handlers, rivals, peers and attorneys. Uncovering their fortunes required us to pore over thousands of SEC documents, court records, probate records and news articles. We took into account all types of assets: stakes in public and private companies, real estate, art, yachts, planes, ranches, vineyards, jewelry, car collections and more.
We factored in debt and charitable giving. While some billionaires provided documentation for their private assets and companies, others were less forthcoming. To value private businesses, we coupled revenue or profit estimates with prevailing price-to-sales, price-to-earnings, or similar ratios for similar public companies and applied a 10% discount, or more in cases where information is scarce. We purposely excluded dispersed family fortunes, but we did include wealth belonging to a member’s immediate family if the wealth could be traced to a living founder of the fortune. In those cases you’ll see “& family.” We also included married couples who built fortunes and businesses together if their combined net worth was enough for each person to make the $2.1 billion cutoff. In those instances, we listed both names. Besides wealth, we also ranked each member based on their generosity and the degree to which their fortunes are self-made or inherited.
Read the full profile on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/
1. JEFF BEZOS – NET WORTH: $113 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: AMAZON RESIDENCE: SEATTLE
2/ BILL GATES NET WORTH: $98 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: MICROSOFT RESIDENCE: MEDINA, WASHINGTON
3 WARREN BUFFETT NET WORTH: $67.5 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY RESIDENCE: OMAHA
4 LARRY ELLISON NET WORTH: $59 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: ORACLE ORCL +2.9% RESIDENCE: WOODSIDE, CALIFORNIA
5. MARK ZUCKERBERG NET WORTH: $54.7 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: FACEBOOK RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
6. JIM WALTON NET WORTH: $54.6 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: WALMART WMT +1% RESIDENCE: BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS
7. ALICE WALTON NET WORTH: $54.4 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: WALMART RESIDENCE: FORT WORTH, TEXAS
8. ROB WALTON NET WORTH: $54.1 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: WALMART RESIDENCE: BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS
9. STEVE BALLMER NET WORTH: $52.7 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: MICROSOFT RESIDENCE: HUNTS POINT, WASHINGTON
10. LARRY PAGE NET WORTH: $50.9 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: ALPHABET RESIDENCE: PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
11. SERGEY BRIN NET WORTH: $49.1 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: ALPHABET RESIDENCE: LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA
12. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG NET WORTH: $48 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: BLOOMBERG LP RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
13. CHARLES KOCH NET WORTH: $38.2 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: KOCH INDUSTRIES RESIDENCE: WICHITA, KANSAS
14. JULIA KOCH & FAMILY NET WORTH: $38.2 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: KOCH INDUSTRIES RESIDENCE: NEW YORK CITY
15. MACKENZIE BEZOS NET WORTH: $36 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: AMAZON RESIDENCE: SEATTLE In the world’s most expensive divorce, MacKenzie received a quarter of Jeff’s Amazon shares last summer.
16. PHIL KNIGHT & FAMILY NET WORTH: $29.5 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: NIKE RESIDENCE: HILLSBORO, OREGON
17. SHELDON ADELSON NET WORTH: $26.8 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: LAS VEGAS SANDS CORP. RESIDENCE: LAS VEGAS
18. JACQUELINE MARS NET WORTH: $24.7 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: CANDY, PET FOOD RESIDENCE: THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA
19. JOHN MARS NET WORTH: $24.7 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: CANDY, PET FOOD RESIDENCE: JACKSON, WYOMING
20. ELON MUSK NET WORTH: $24.6 BILLION SOURCE OF WEALTH: TESLA TSLA +10.9% RESIDENCE: LOS ANGELES
____________________
new York USA ECO BUSINESS EcoTechN.com
______________
NEW YORK MIDTOWN TRIBUNE NEWS POLITICS
BUSINESS SOCIETY CRIME CULTURE USA