It’s official: America’s rich are getting richer, at least over the past year.
The billionaires who made Forbes magazine’s latest annual “Forbes 400” list, published this week, have a collective net worth of $2.34 trillion — an increase of $50 billion from one year ago.
The average net worth of the people who made the list this year was $5.8 billion, an increase of $100 million from last year and a record high, Forbes reports.
Tech giants in particular profited this year, with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (net worth of $47 billion) and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($40.3 billion) making the top 10 for the first time.
The youngest person on the list is 25-year-old Evan Spiegel ($2.1 billion), who co-founded Snapchat, the app popular among teenagers that is used by almost 100 million people daily, Forbes reports.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates ($76 billion) came in at No. 1 for the 22nd year.
The top 10 list comprises:
- Bill Gates — $76 billion
- Warren Buffett — $62 billion
- Larry Ellison — $47.5 billion
- Jeff Bezos — $47 billion
- Charles Koch — $41 billion
- David Koch — $41 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg — $40.3 billion
- Michael Bloomberg — $38.6 billion
- Jim Walton — $33.7 billion
- Larry Page — $33.3 billion
The wealthiest women to make the cut are Walmart founder Sam Walton’s daughter, Alice Walton ($32 billion), and daughter-in-law, Christy Walton ($30.2 billion).
Perhaps the most controversial member of the Forbes 400 is real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who appears on the cover of this week’s issue of Forbes magazine despite ranking at No. 121. Forbes says his net worth is $4.5 billion.
Trump, who has argued with the magazine about his net worth for years, tells Forbes otherwise:
“Of course your numbers are wrong. I’m worth much more than $10 billion.”
But whether Trump is worth $4.5 billion or $10 billion, he could be worth a lot more if he had invested in the stock market instead of real estate. To learn how that’s possible, check out “Trump Worth $10 Billion Less Than If He’d Simply Invested in S&P 500.”
What’s your take on this year’s 400 wealthiest billionaires? Share your thoughts with us below or on Facebook.
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