For the first time since 1994, the Forbes 400 now has a new number one, while ten Connecticut residents also made this year’s rankings.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Founder and CEO, overtook Bill Gates’ 24-year run on top of the leader board. Bezos had a record-breaking year, by earning a $78.5 billion gain, and being the first to enter the list at over $100 billion – with $160 billion, according to Forbes.
This elite club has a hefty requirement for its members, with a minimum of $2.1 billion net worth and the average net worth rising to a record $7.2 billion. These new requirements kept 204 other billionaires off of the list.
Here are the Top Ten:
- Jeff Bezos – Amazon’s Founder and CEO
- Bill Gates – Microsoft
- Warren Buffett – Berkshire Hathaway
- Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook
- Larry Ellison – software
- Larry Page – Google
- Charles Koch – Koch Industries
- David Koch – Koch Industries
- Sergey Brin – Google
- Michael Bloomberg – Bloomberg LP
Connecticut was well represented,, with 10 residents on the list from a multitude of professions.
25. Ray Dalio – hedge funds
36. Steve Cohen – hedge funds
133. Karen Pritzker – hotels, investments
215. Clifford Asness- Investment Management
239. Vincent McMahon -Entertainment
302. Bradley Jacobs – logistics
316. Stephen Mandel, Jr – hedge funds
383. Alexandra Daitch – Cargill
383. Lucy Stitzer – Cargill
Honorable Mentions:
- Robert Kraft – New England Patriots owner (77th place)
- George Lucas – Star Wars creator (123rd place)
- Donald Trump – Television, real estate (wealth earned outside his role as President) (259th place)
- Oprah Winfrey – TV shows (298th place)
You can see the entire list, as well as biographies of all 400 people on Forbes.com
