The Forbes 400 Richest Americans list reveals that if you don't have a least $1.3 billion, you're only a billionaire wimp, as that's what it took to make the list this year. Last year $1 billion got you on the list. That means 82 American billionaires weren't able to make the cut.
The overall combined worth of all that made the ist was $1.54 trillion, in comparison to the $1.25 trillion last years' list added up to.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett kept their perennial 1st and 2nd place, with Gates worth $59 billion and Buffett $52 billion. Casino owner Sheldon Adelson came in at No. 2 with a worth of $26 billion. Larry Ellison retained his No. 4 position with a net worth of $26 billion.
Kirk Kerkorian increased his fortune the most with his shares in MGM Mirage (MGM) skyrocketing by 135 percent over the last year, to increase his fortune by $9 billion.
Google Billionaires Larry Page and Sergey Brin did very well on their share increases as well, with Brin increasing by $4.4 billion and Page by $4.5 billion.
The Walton heirs dropped out of the top ten this year; with business slowing down for Wal-Mart, they were only able to finish in the No. 12-15 positions.
Top 25 Richest Americans on List:
| 1 | William Gates III | 59.0 | 51 | Medina, WA | Microsoft |
| 2 | Warren Buffett | 52.0 | 77 | Omaha, NE | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 3 | Sheldon Adelson | 28.0 | 74 | Las Vegas, NV | casinos, hotels |
| 4 | Lawrence Ellison | 26.0 | 63 | Redwood City, CA | Oracle |
| 5 | Sergey Brin | 18.5 | 34 | Palo Alto, CA | |
| 5 | Larry Page | 18.5 | 34 | San Francisco, CA | |
| 7 | Kirk Kerkorian | 18.0 | 90 | Los Angeles, CA | investments, casinos |
| 8 | Michael Dell | 17.2 | 42 | Austin, TX | Dell |
| 9 | Charles Koch | 17.0 | 71 | Wichita, KS | oil, commodities |
| 9 | David Koch | 17.0 | 67 | New York, NY | oil, commodities |
| 11 | Paul Allen | 16.8 | 54 | Mercer Island, WA | Microsoft, investments |
| 12 | Christy Walton & family | 16.3 | 52 | Jackson, WY | Wal-Mart inheritance |
| 12 | Jim Walton | 16.3 | 59 | Bentonville, AR | Wal-Mart |
| 12 | S Robson Walton | 16.3 | 63 | Bentonville, AR | Wal-Mart |
| 15 | Alice Walton | 16.1 | 58 | Fort Worth, TX | Wal-Mart |
| 16 | Steven Ballmer | 15.2 | 51 | Hunts Point, WA | Microsoft |
| 17 | Abigail Johnson | 15.0 | 45 | Boston, MA | Fidelity |
| 18 | Carl Icahn | 14.5 | 71 | New York, NY | leveraged buyouts |
| 19 | Forrest Mars Jr | 14.0 | 76 | McLean, VA | candy, pet food |
| 19 | Jacqueline Mars | 14.0 | 67 | Bedminster, NJ | candy, pet food |
| 19 | John Mars | 14.0 | 71 | Arlington, VA | candy, pet food |
| 19 | Jack Taylor & family | 14.0 | 85 | St Louis, MO | Enterprise Rent-A-Car |
| 23 | Donald Bren | 13.0 | 75 | Newport Beach, CA | real estate |
| 24 | Anne Cox Chambers | 12.6 | 87 | Atlanta, GA | Cox Enterprises |
| 25 | Michael Bloomberg | 11.5 | 65 | New York, NY | Bloomberg |
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NewsVisual did some great interactive maps of some of the wealthiest businessmen in America, such as Warren Buffett http://www.newsvisual.com/newsvisual/2007/09/buffett-gates-t.html , Carl Icahn http://www.newsvisual.com/newsvisual/2007/07/icahns-connecti.html and Rupert Murdoch (OK, not American, but still an interesting read) http://www.newsvisual.com/newsvisual/news_corp/index.html . When you think about it it really is incredible that these guys are connected to so many different companies and industries.
Posted by: Jon | September 21, 2007 5:53 PM | Permalink to Comment