Bill Gates Still Richest Man In America According To Forbes 400

Bill Gates, still the richest American according to Forbes 400

The Forbes 400 online has political contributions from the past four years for any American billionaire with records in the Federal Election Commissions database, as well as badges to indicate their passion and pursuits.

The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans (first published in 1982) is a list published by Forbes Magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September. The Forbes 400 is currently edited by Luisa Kroll.

Bill Gates is the richest American for the 17th consecutive year with a fortune estimated at 54 billion dollars, up by 4 billion, followed by Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison, according to Forbes magazine’s 400 Richest Americans issued on Wednesday by the business publication.

More than half of the 400 U.S. billionaires increased their wealth last year, while less than one quarter saw their “value” diminished. In 2009, over three quarters of the Forbes billionaires faced with a decline in wealth, according to Reuters.

Like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, too had a good year, his assets increasing by of $ 5 billion to 45 billion dollars.

Larry Ellison, Oracle’s founder and chief, has a fortune of 27 billion dollars, unchanged from 2009, according to estimates, and on the fourth place in the top is Christy Walton, heir of the Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, with a total fortune of 24 billion dollars, up by 2.5 billion since last year.

The top ten American billionaires ranked by Forbes have accumulated  $ 24.9 billion last year. The same exclusive group lost 40 billion dollars last year, according to estimates from 2009.

The top ten’s total wealth increased by 8%, a better performance than that at S & P 500 index, which gained only 1% in the reference period to which Forbes reported its ranking, notes the magazine.

The Forbes 400 billionaires have a combined wealth estimated at 1.370 billion dollars against the 1.270 billion dollars in 2009.

The minimum wealth required to enter the top returned to one billion dollars this year, after in 2009 it descended 950 million dollars.

Top 10 didn’t record any new entries or exits, but the Koch brothers, which control the industry conglomerate Koch Industries, climbed in the rankings at the expense of the other three heirs of the Walton fortune and the New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg Group, who ends the list of the ten richest Americans.

Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg (26 years), was in this year ranked 35, his wealth has tripled from 2009, from $ 2 billion to nearly $ 7 billion. The other co-founders of Facebook, Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin entered the Forbes 400 this year with the fortunes of 1.4 billion and 1.15 billion dollars respectively. Born eight days before Zuckerberg, Moskovitz is the youngest billionaire in the world, notes Reuters.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, ranked number 35 in Forbes 400

The oldest tycoon on the list is David Rockefeller Sr., with a fortune of 2.4 billion dollars at the venerable age of 95 years.

David Rockefeller, the oldest man in Forbes 400.

William Ford, the Ford family heir, entered the list for the first time since 2005, at number 385, with a fortune of a billion dollars after Ford shares rose 50% and reached the peak of the last five years.

The state with the most billionaires, respectively 83, is California, followed by New York, with 64. Texas has 45 members and Florida which has 26.

There are 42 women on the list, led by Christy Walton, 55, and 60-year-old Alice Walton, of the family that controls Wal- Mart Stores Inc. They rank Nos. 4 and 8.

Here’s the top 10, according to Forbes Magazine:

1. Bill Gates with a fortune of $54 Billion, and 54 years of age

2. Warren Buffett with a fortune of $45 Billion at the age of 80

3. Larry Ellison with a fortune of $27 Billion and 66 years of age

4. Christy Walton with a fortune of $24 Billion at the age of 55

5. Charles Koch with a fortune of $21.5 Billion at the age of 74

6. David Koch with a fortune of $21.5 Billion at the age of 70

7. Jim Walton with a fortune of $20.1 Billion at the age of 62

8. Alice Walton with a fortune of $20 Billion at the age of 61

9. S. Robson Walton with a fortune of $19.7 Billion at the age of 66

10. Michael Bloomberg with a fortune of $18 Billion at the age of 68.

For the complete 400 list, please visit Forbes Magazine official website. For direct link, click here.