For the first time, all 400 of the Richest Americans (according to Forbes) are billionaires.
Remember earlier this year when Bill Gates complained about being so rich? Well, today’s new ranking should bring him much consternation.
Gates still leads the list with an estimated $53 billion net worth. His bridge partner, Warren Buffett, is second on the list with an estimated $46 billion net worth. And to add to Gates’ grief at being so rich, Buffett has agreed to donate 85 percent of his fortune, valued at the time at $37 billion, to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities.
Some other interesting observations:
- In addition to being the richest people in America, Gates and Buffett are also #1 and #2 on the list of the world’s richets people.
- Only two women are in the Top 10 — both named Walton, and neither earned the money on their own (the first women on the list who earned her own money is Fidelity Investments’ Abigail Johnson, who ranks 16th, with $13 billion).
- The youngest on the list? Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the co-founders of Google, who ranked 12th and 13th with respective net worths of $14.1 billion and $14 billion — are each only 33.
- By comparison, only 179 of the richest 400 were billionaires ten years ago (on the 1996 list, Gates is still #1, with an net worth of $18.5 billion)
- Moving up the list the quickest? Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who over the past two years has made $23.6 million a day — just under $1 million a hour (that’s every hour, 7 days a week for 2 years. Wow.).
Well shit.
Left by kw on September 22nd, 2006 at 1:25 pm