Top 15 Richest People In America

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William Gates III

Net Worth: $59.0 billion

Harvard dropout and Microsoft visionary preparing to give up day-to-day involvement in company he cofounded 32 years ago to spend more time focused on his philanthropic endeavors. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation manages $33 billion, donates to causes aimed at bringing financial tools to the poor, speeding up the development of vaccines (for AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis), bettering America’s lagging high schools. Sells 20 million Microsoft shares every quarter, proceeds going to private investment vehicle Cascade; more than half of net worth now outside of Microsoft. Company’s new operating system, Vista, debuted in January to mixed reviews; shares up 12% in past year. Pressing on Google’s turf (and vice versa); spent $6 billion to land Web ad firm Aquantive in May. Would-be rival to Apple’s iPod, the Zune, not yet a hit. Believes Microsoft’s far-flung bets, including 10-year affair with Internet-based television, may soon pay off; says next 10 years will be the "most interesting" in software history. Early goal: put "a computer on every desk and in every home." Soon more than 1 billion computers will run Windows. Days as world’s richest man may be over; Mexican Carlos Slim Helú also worth $59 billion.

Warren Buffett

Net Worth: $52.0 billion

Nation’s most beloved investor is $6 billion richer this year despite handing over $2.1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to charity in July. Berkshire shares up 24% over past 12 months; have averaged 21.4% annual return since 1965. Son of Nebraska politician delivered newspapers as a boy. Filed first tax return at age 13, claiming $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under value investing guru Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Took over textile firm Berkshire Hathaway 1965. Today holding company invested in insurance (Geico, General Re), jewelry (Borsheim’s), utilities (MidAmerican Energy), food (Dairy Queen, See’s Candies). Also has noncontrolling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo. Last year bought Israeli cutting-tool business Iscar and electronic components distributor TTI. Longtime critic of efforts to repeal estate tax; says wealth should not pass exclusively to members of "lucky sperm club." The Oracle of Omaha had long promised to give away his fortune posthumously. Last summer irrevocably earmarked the majority of his Berkshire shares to charity, mostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gift was valued at $31 billion on day of announcement; donation will far exceed that sum so long as Berkshire shares continue to rise.

Sheldon Adelson

Net Worth: $28.0 billion

Cabdriver’s son borrowed $200 from uncle to sell newspapers at age 12. Studied voice in teens, later dropped out of City College in New York City to become court reporter. Made first fortune in trade shows. Created computer industry’s marquee event, Comdex, mid-1980s; sold show to Japan’s Softbank for $862 million 1995. Then Vegas: bought Sands Hotel & Casino for $128 million, demolished it to build the $1.5 billion all-suites Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the 1.2-million-square-foot Sands Convention Center. Changed the way casinos do business by enticing conventioneers to Sin City midweek, taking emphasis off gambling. Sold suites for $250 a night, added high-end retailers, celebrity-chef restaurants. Took Las Vegas Sands public December 2004; shares up 260% since. Nearing completion of $1.8 billion Palazzo resort next to nemesis Steve Wynn’s (see) Wynn Las Vegas. All in on Asia: opened $265 million Sands Macau Casino May 2004, recouped entire investment in one year. Unveiled $2.4 billion Venetian Macau in August; 10.5-million-square-foot mega-resort features 3,400 slots, 800 tables, 3,000 suites and a convention center. Won coveted Singapore gaming license last year; building $3.6 billion Marina Bay Sands on 51-acre site with a view of city’s skyline.

Lawrence Ellison

Net Worth: $26.0 billion

Oracle titan reshaping the software industry via acquisition; has purchased 19 firms for $12 billion since the beginning of last year. Forging into retail, business intelligence software; determined to squeeze out German rival SAP. Biggest challenge: making the myriad applications work together for the release of Oracle Fusion in 2008. Company’s sales rose 25% to $18 billion last year; profit up 26% to $4.3 billion. Chicago native studied physics at U. of Chicago; didn’t graduate. Started Oracle in 1977. Took public in 1986, a day before Microsoft. Companies have been fiercely competitive since. Side bet: invested $125 million in Web software outfit NetSuite; public offering imminent. Has yet to find a home for $100 million he is required to donate as part of an insider trading suit settlement. Still yearning to win yachting’s most prestigious trophy, the America’s Cup. Lost this year to Luna Rossi; rumored to be reviewing new boat designs for 2008. Also owns 453-foot Rising Sun; building a smaller leisure boat because megayacht is hard to park.

Sergey Brin

Net Worth: $18.5 billion

With partner Larry Page (see), Google Guy cracks the top 10 of the Forbes 400; both were worth a mere $4 billion in 2004. Instaquadrupling outpaces early years of Bill Gates, Larry Ellison (see both). Brin emigrated from Russia, Page grew up in Michigan; both sons of professors. Met in computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford; dropped out to start Google in 1998 from friend’s garage. Initially financed by Stanford endowment, angel investors K. Ram Shriram (see), Andy von Bechtolsheim. Raised another $25 million from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital in 1999. Hired seasoned tech exec Eric Schmidt (see) in 2001 to run operations. Took quirky ad-cum-search engine public 2004; shares up 510% since. Sales: $10.5 billion, net margins 30%. Brin serves as president of technology, Page heads product division. Extending ad business into TV, cell phones, various online venues; bought Web video portal YouTube for $1.65 billion last year; recently partnered with EchoStar, LG Electronics, Salesforce.com. Switched Mountain View, Calif. headquarters to solar power this summer; part of plan to "do no evil."

Larry Page

Net Worth: $18.5 billion

With partner Sergey Brin (see), Google Guy cracks the top 10 of the Forbes 400; both were worth a mere $4 billion in 2004. Instaquadrupling outpaces early years of Bill Gates, Larry Ellison (see both). Brin emigrated from Russia, Page grew up in Michigan; both sons of professors. Met in computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford; dropped out to start Google in 1998 from friend’s garage. Initially financed by Stanford endowment, angel investors K. Ram Shriram (see), Andy von Bechtolsheim. Raised another $25 million from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital in 1999. Hired seasoned tech exec Eric Schmidt (see) in 2001 to run operations. Took quirky ad-cum-search engine public 2004; shares up 510% since. Sales: $10.5 billion, net margins 30%. Brin serves as president of technology, Page heads product division. Extending ad business into TV, cell phones, various online venues; bought Web video portal YouTube for $1.65 billion last year; recently partnered with EchoStar, LG Electronics, Salesforce.com. Switched Mountain View, Calif. headquarters to solar power this summer; part of plan to "do no evil."

Kirk Kerkorian

Net Worth: $18.0 billion

Son of Armenian immigrant fruit farmer dropped out of school in eighth grade. Trained U.S., British fighter pilots during WWII. Flew surplus Air Force planes across Atlantic after war before building charter flights company Trans International Airlines; sold for $104 million profit 1966. Acquired Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas 1967, built International Hotel 1969. Sold both properties to Hilton Hotels 1970. Went Hollywood: made billions buying and selling movie studio MGM, 3 times since 1969. Back to Vegas: nabbed Steve Wynn’s (see) Mirage Resorts for $6.4 billion 2000, then Mandalay Bay Resorts for $7.9 billion 4 years later. Today MGM Mirage owns more than half the hotel rooms on Las Vegas Strip; shares up 140% in past 12 months. Attempted to personally buy Bellagio casino, unfinished 76-acre resort complex CityCenter from MGM Mirage this spring; pulled out after company struck deal with Kerzner International to develop 40 acres of land on Strip. In August sold half of CityCenter, 9.5% chunk of MGM to Middle East investment firm Dubai World for $5 billion. Spent 20 frustrating months fighting to reshape General Motors; believed to have sold entire stake last November.

Michael Dell

Net Worth: $17.2 billion

Soft-spoken Texan reclaimed chief executive spot at Dell Computer in January for first time since 2004 after numerous setbacks pummeled company’s shares. Lost No. 1 spot in PC market to Hewlett-Packard last year as company’s long-standing practice of shunning retail outlets and selling desktop PCs directly to customers over the phone or Internet floundered. Hired former Motorola exec Ronald Garriques to lead company’s global expansion, cut 10% of company’s workforce, struck deals to sell desktop computers in Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club stores. Shares up 25% in past 12 months. Battling HP for China market. Started selling computers from U. of Texas dorm room 1984 with $1,000; dropped out to start Dell. Took public 1988, grew fast with direct-sales model. Most of net worth now outside Dell. Reinvests via private investment vehicle MSD Capital: equities, real estate, private equity. Republican sits on U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology. Wife, Susan, created upper-crust (and unaffordable) fashion label Phi.

Charles Koch

Net Worth: $17.0 billion

Son of Koch Industries founder Fred C. Koch (d. 1967), MIT grad who invented method of refining gasoline from heavy oil. Took refining innovation to Soviet Union 1929; returned home 1930s, became fervently anticommunist. Sons Frederick, Charles, David (see) and William (see) inherited Koch Industries after father’s death; duo bought out William and Frederick for $1.1 billion in 1983. Long-running fraternal feud over deal settled 2001. Today Charles lords over nation’s largest privately held company: chemicals, pipelines, ranching, commodities trading, lumber, paper; also refining operations in Alaska, Texas and Minnesota. Estimated sales: $90 billion. Bought Georgia-Pacific for $21 billion in 2005. Company owns ranch land abutting Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Texas. Charles: cofounder of conservative think tank Cato Institute. Recently published self-help business book The Science of Success; claimed company would go public "over my dead body."

David Koch

Net Worth: $17.0 billion

Son of Koch Industries founder Fred C. Koch (d. 1967), MIT grad who invented method of refining gasoline from heavy oil. Took refining innovation to Soviet Union 1929; returned home 1930s, became fervently anticommunist. Sons Frederick, Charles (see), David and William (see) inherited Koch Industries after father’s death; duo bought out William and Frederick for $1.1 billion in 1983. Long-running fraternal feud over deal settled 2001. Today brother Charles lords over nation’s largest privately held company: chemicals, pipelines, ranching, commodities trading, lumber, paper; also refining operations in Alaska, Texas and Minnesota. Estimated sales: $90 billion. Bought Georgia-Pacific for $21 billion in 2005. Company owns ranch land abutting Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Texas. David: ran as vice presidential candidate on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980.

Paul Allen

Net Worth: $16.8 billion

Microsoft cofounder may be one of most hopeful tech investors ever. Spent 8 years at company he started in 1975 with Bill Gates (see)—and 24 years after quitting, it still provides a quarter of his net worth. Fortune down 53% since 2000 (back then: $36 billion). Lost huge sums on far-off visions: $250 million on Interval Research Group (tiny sun-powered, wearable computers; shuttered in 2000); stake in Charter cable now worth $1.1 billion, down 85% since 2000. Even Microsoft fails him: stock down 50% since 2000. Once owned 25% stake in company; has sold large chunks of shares over time. Tumbles out of The Forbes 400 Top 10 this year. Fared better in natural gas: 20% stake in Plains All American up 20% in year, to $830 million. Has fun: rock ‘n’ roll museum in Seattle, basketball’s Portland Trail Blazers, football’s Seattle Seahawks, 413-foot yacht. Went to prestigious Lakeside School with Gates in Seattle. Dropped out of Washington State. Left Microsoft in 1983 to fight Hodgkin’s disease. Early backer of DreamWorks SKG, sold out this year. Guitar junkie funded 2-year legal battle by Jimi Hendrix kin to recover rights to his music; won. Donates to education, arts, science causes.

Christy Walton & family

Net Worth: $16.3 billion

For the first time since 1989 there isn’t a Walton in Top 10 of The Forbes 400; Wal-Mart shares flat over past 12 months as bigger gainers passed by famously secretive children and daughter-in-law of Sam Walton (d. 1992). Mom, Helen, passed away April; matriarch’s fortune to pass to charity over next few years. Sam began retail career 1940 making $75 a month as J.C. Penney clerk. Opened Ben Franklin 5-and-10 store in Newport, Ark. 5 years later; lost lease 1950. With brother James opened chain of general stores in Bentonville, Ark. 1962. Took Wal-Mart public 1970, now world’s largest retailer, with more than 7,000 stores in 14 countries; 1.9 million employees serve 176 million customers a week. Sales: $345 billion. Family controls 40%. Christy: widow of John Walton (d. 2005) supports school choice programs for underprivileged kids.

S Robson Walton

Net Worth: $16.3 billion

For the first time since 1989 there isn’t a Walton in Top 10 of The Forbes 400; Wal-Mart shares flat over past 12 months as bigger gainers passed by famously secretive children and daughter-in-law of Sam Walton (d. 1992). Mom, Helen, passed away April; matriarch’s fortune to pass to charity over next few years. Sam began retail career 1940 making $75 a month as J.C. Penney clerk. Opened Ben Franklin 5-and-10 store in Newport, Ark. 5 years later; lost lease 1950. With brother James opened chain of general stores in Bentonville, Ark. 1962. Took Wal-Mart public 1970, now world’s largest retailer, with more than 7,000 stores in 14 countries; 1.9 million employees serve 176 million customers a week. Sales: $345 billion. Family controls 40%. Rob: company’s first lawyer; now chairman.

Jim Walton

Net Worth: $16.3 billion

For the first time since 1989 there isn’t a Walton in Top 10 of The Forbes 400; Wal-Mart shares flat over past 12 months as bigger gainers passed by famously secretive children and daughter-in-law of Sam Walton (d. 1992). Mom, Helen, passed away April; matriarch’s fortune to pass to charity over next few years. Sam began retail career 1940 making $75 a month as J.C. Penney clerk. Opened Ben Franklin 5-and-10 store in Newport, Ark. 5 years later; lost lease 1950. With brother James opened chain of general stores in Bentonville, Ark. 1962. Took Wal-Mart public 1970, now world’s largest retailer, with more than 7,000 stores in 14 countries; 1.9 million employees serve 176 million customers a week. Sales: $345 billion. Family controls 40%. Jim: oversees family banking business.

Alice Walton

Net Worth: $16.1 billion

For the first time since 1989 there isn’t a Walton in Top 10 of The Forbes 400; Wal-Mart shares flat over past 12 months as bigger gainers passed by famously secretive children and daughter-in-law of Sam Walton (d. 1992). Mom, Helen, passed away April; matriarch’s fortune to pass to charity over next few years. Sam began retail career 1940 making $75 a month as J.C. Penney clerk. Opened Ben Franklin 5-and-10 store in Newport, Ark. 5 years later; lost lease 1950. With brother James opened chain of general stores in Bentonville, Ark. 1962. Took Wal-Mart public 1970, now world’s largest retailer, with more than 7,000 stores in 14 countries; 1.9 million employees serve 176 million customers a week. Sales: $345 billion. Family controls 40%. Alice: raises horses, founded American art museum in Bentonville.

 

Author: Forbes.com