Tech Tycoons Dominate US Rich List

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has retained his standing at the top of the Forbes Rich List with a personal fortune estimated at $59bn…

“Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been ranked as the wealthiest person in America for the 14th year in a row…”

New York — Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the richest person in America for the 14th year in a row, followed by investor Warren Buffett, according to Forbes magazine’s latest list of the wealthiest Americans.

The pair’s fortunes grew by $6 billion in the past year, Forbes magazine put Gates’ fortune at $59 billion, with investment guru Warren Buffett in second place with a net worth of $52 billion.

“Gates was one of 34 rich list members – all of them men – who made their money in a technology-related area. Five of them appear in the top ten.”

The list once again showed the growing influence of the technology industry on US economy, with Gates leading the list of 34 tech executives out of a total of 400.

“The Microsoft chairman — who plans to step down from his day-to-day business activities next year — was joined by two other people who made their fortunes at Microsoft: co-founder Paul Allen and CEO Steve Ballmer.”

Other technology heavyweights with a personal worth in the top 10 include: Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson $28 billion, head of Las Vegas Sands Corp., and software tycoon Larry Ellison $26 billion, chief executive of Oracle Corp., remained at No. 3 and No. 4, Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page making their first appearance in joint fifth place with $18.5 billion, and Dell chief Michael Dell in eighth with $17.2 billion, on the 25th annual ranking of 400 rich Americans, which now requires a minimum net worth of $1.3 billion for inclusion.

“The collective net worth of those listed on the 400 this year rose from $290 billion to $1.54 trillion,” Forbes said. “Despite market jitters, nearly half of the 45 new members come from hedge fund and private equity investments.”

For the first time since 1989 there are no members of the Walton family, descendants of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, in the top 10. Four members — Jim, Christy, Robson and Alice — slipped to 12th and 15th place.

The Waltons were displaced by Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who came in at No. 5 with fortunes of $18.5 billion. “They are also jointly the second-youngest billionaires on the list.” Brothers Charles and David Koch, who run Koch Industries, the world’s second largest private company, and are each valued at $17 billion, earning them 9th place.

In all, five Google billionaires made the Forbes list. The others are Google CEO Eric Schmidt (No 48, $6.5 billion), the head of sales and business development Omid Kordestani (No 204, $2.2 billion) and Kavitark Shriram (No 271, $1.8 billion) — a board member who was an early investor in the company.

“However, this year’s Forbes study showed that having $1 billion is no longer enough to make it into the list of the top 400 richest Americans, as 21 Americans shared the 380th spot with a fortune of $1.3bn.”

Google, which last week turned ten-years-old, listed its shares in August 2004 at $US85 — Today those shares have rocketed in value to $US552 and Google has a market value of $US173 billion.

While Gates may still be the richest American, he could soon lose his place as the world’s richest man as Mexican telecoms owner “Carlos Slim Helú” now comes within a mere $500m of his fortune.

Helú’s fortune has grown quickly and Forbes admitted that at times he has surpassed the Microsoft chairman.

“Since we released our list of the world’s billionaires six months ago, declaring Bill Gates the world’s richest man, Helú has closed the gap,” said Forbes reporter Matthew Miller. “Who’s richer now? It depends on what day it is.”

“Miller said that, when stock prices were tallied on 31 August, Slim and Gates were within $500m of each other at around $59bn.”

“A move of $2 in the share price for Microsoft, or a big cell-phone company in which Slim holds a 30 per cent stake, can add or subtract a billion dollars,” he said.

Other notable tech billionaires who made the cut are Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (No 56, $5.7 billion), eBay founder Pierre Omidyar (No 32, $8.9 billion), Intel founder Gordon Moore (No 68, $4.5 billion) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (no 35, $8.7 billion).

Investor Kirk Kerkorian was the biggest gainer on the list, his fortune rising by more than $9 billion in the past year to $18 billion. He debuted in the top 10 at No. 7 — up from No. 26 last year.

Of the top 400 richest Americans, Forbes said 270 were entirely self-made, 74 inherited their wealth and 39 are women. There were 82 American billionaires who did not make the list.

“The youngest member, and new to the list, is 33-year-old hedge fund manager John Arnold, who came in at No 317 with a $1.5 billion wealth, while the oldest is 98-year-old John Simplot, valued at $3.6 billion and No 214 on the list.”

“It has been a busy year for the fortune-hunting team. Strong equity markets combined with rising real estate values and commodity prices pushed up fortunes from Mumbai to Madrid.”

The 400 richest Americans, including U.S. citizens now living abroad, as compiled by Forbes magazine. Following each name is the person’s age, net worth, hometown and source of wealth.

“Where more than one name is listed under a number, there is a tie.”

Forbes pinned down 946 billionaires, including 178 newcomers and 17 people who climbed back into the ranks after being absent for a year or more. Two-thirds of last year’s billionaires are richer. Only 17% are poorer, including 32 who fell below the billion-dollar mark.

“The billionaires’ combined net worth climbed by $900 billion to $3.5 trillion. That equates to $3.6 billion apiece.”

Buffett has pledged 85 percent of his net worth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities.

“Bill Gates might still be the richest, but the growing clout of Google is evident in Forbes magazine’s latest list of the wealthiest Americans.”