Forbes reveals Bill Gates is No. 1 in latest 400 ranking of richest Americans

The combined wealth of the Forbes’ 2013 ranking of the richest people in America  is $2 trillion, up from $1.7 trillion in 2012 and the highest ever, due in part to the strength of both the US stock and real estate markets, the wealth magazine revealed in an e-mailed statement Tuesday.

 

The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is a staggering $5 billion, the highest to date, up from $4.2 billion last year, it said. 

 

“Net worth increased for 314 members, and decreased for 30 members. Cost of admission to the 2013 list has rebounded back to what it was pre-financial crisis at $1.3 billion, up from $1.1 billion a year ago,” the statement read.  

 

Bill Gates retains the top spot on the Forbes 400 for the twentieth straight year, at $72 billion. “Up $6 billion from 2012, Mr. Gates is once again the world’s richest person, having passed Mexico’s Carlos Slim in May,” the magazine noted. 

 

Warren Buffett, No. 2, is the biggest dollar gainer this year at $58.5 billion, up $12.5 billion from last year. 

 

Larry Ellison, No. 3, worth $41 billion, is the same as last year. “He is the only one in the Top 10 who did not add to his fortune,” according to the magazine.

 

Mark Zuckerberg was the second biggest gainer at $9.6 billion. “He returns to the Top 20 (No. 20) at $19 billion after dropping to No. 36 last year, while Carl Icahn is back in the Top 20 (No. 18) for the first time since 2008.  

 

Twenty newcomers climbed into the ranks, including Don Hankey (No. 342) of Auto Loans at $1.6 billion, GoPro’s Nicholas Woodman  (No. 386) at $1.3 billion; and Richard Yuengling Jr. of D.G. Yuengling & Son (No. 371) at $1.4 billion. 

 

David Duffield’s fortune is up 205 percent to $6.4 billion from $2.1 billion last year, making the software entrepreneur – currently co-CEO of Workday and former head of PeopleSoft – the largest percentage gainer this year (No. 65).  

 

There are 48 women on the list, including retired Army lieutenant colonel and heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune Jennifer Pritzker (No. 327), formerly known as James Pritzker and the first transgender billionaire. 

 

Paul Allen moves out of the top 20, now at No. 26, from No. 20 in 2012; as does Steve Ballmer, now No. 21, from No. 19 in 2012.  

 

Twenty-eight people who were on the 2012 Forbes 400 dropped off, and 6 people died. Among the deceased is sound pioneer Ray Dolby, who passed away last week.  

 

The latest Forbes ranking of the richest Americans contains a rare interview and cover story with the elusive Alice Walton (No. 8), who has built one of the most impressive museums of American art in the world in her home town of Bentonville, Arkansas, with money from her Wal-Mart inheritance; as well as a behind-the-scenes interview and night out with eccentric billionaire Stewart Rahr (No. 327), a former pharmaceutical distribution entrepreneur who has devoted his life to conflicting themes:  philanthropy and hedonism. — Forbes