Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, is celebrating his 10th year as America’s richest man after once again topping the rich list compiled by Forbes magazine.
The 47-year-old chairperson and co-founder of the computer software group is worth $46-billion, up $3-billion from a year ago as a result of an improvement in the share prices of dotcom stocks.
After two years of decline, the list of America’s 400 richest individuals, compiled for the 21st year by Forbes, registers a rise in their overall wealth. Even so, Gates’s fortune is still just under half of the $85-billion he was worth at the height of the dotcom boom in 1999.
Largely as a result of the revival of internet stocks in the past year, Forbes calculates that America’s richest are now worth $955-billion, an increase of 10% over the year.
The share price rally had a significant impact on a number of executives in the hi-tech sector. Jeff Bezos’s wealth rose by $3-billion to $5-billion after the Amazon internet company he founded saw a tripling of its share price.
Bezos came in 32nd but his personal fortune is a trifle compared with those higher on the list, whose rankings are little changed on last year.
Second place is still held by legendary investor Warren Buffett, who is worth $36-billion. Third comes Paul Allen, another co-founder of Microsoft, who is estimated to be worth $22-billion. Another Microsoft executive, Steve Ballmer, is in 11th place with $12,2-billion.
Places four to eight are shared by five members of the Walton clan who founded the Wal-Mart supermarket chain which owns Asda in Britain. Forbes gives each of them a personal value of $20,5-billion, putting their combined wealth at $102,5-billion.
It also means that Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam, and his widow Helen are America’s richest women.
Another family features high on the table – the founders of the eponymous Mars confectionery empire. Three members of the family are valued at $10,4-billion each, earning them places in the top 20 of the 400-place ranking.
Forbes calculates that to win a place in the rich list individuals need a personal wealth of at least $600-million, which helped push a number of high profile Americans out of this year’s rankings. The most notable is Gary Winnick, founder of now bankrupt Global Crossing.
Newcomers to the list include secretive hedge fund managers Steve Cohen and Ken Griffin, as well as oil tycoon Patrick Taylor, who Forbes notes is using his $700-million fortune to help send hundreds of students through college.
Among other notable newcomers are Patrick Soon-Shiong, in 195th place with a personal fortune of $1,2-billion. Forbes notes that the Los Angeles scientist is a self-made man as a result of his stake in American Pharmaceutical Partners, which manufactures generic injectable drugs.
He is one of 95 people on the list resident in California, which is now home to more of America’s richest people than any other US state.
The west coast of America is home to more of the country’s wealthy than New York city, whose residents took 81 places the list when it was founded 21 years ago. This year 47 of the 400 reside in the city of New York.
The magazine also tracked individuals who have had places in the list since 1982. It found that 54 are still on the list, four fewer than last year as a result of the deaths of philanthropist Walter Annenberg, newspaper publisher Edward Gaylord and property developer Samuel Le Frak.
Motorola’s Robert Galvin slid out from last year’s 350th place after a drop in his personal wealth.
Forbes magazine forecast that Gates’s premier place on the list is secure. ”Will anyone catch Gates? Not any time soon. Despite the technology industry’s continuing woes, Gates is still $10-billion richer than America’s second richest man, Warren Buffett, and more than twice as rich than technology rival Larry Ellison [founder of Oracle, at $18-billion].” – Guardian Unlimited Â