Surging tech stocks upended ranks near the stratosphere of The
Forbes 400 list of the Richest Americans this year. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg both zoomed into the top 10 richest
for the first time. Bezos, the biggest gainer on the list, up $16.5 billion in
one year, is now the fourth richest American, worth $47 billion. Zuckerberg is
number seven, with a net worth of $40.3 billion. A rise in Nike shares lifted
founder Phil Knight,
age 77, back into the top 20 for the first time in 18 years.
It was harder than ever to join The 400. The price of entry this
year was $1.7 billion, the highest it’s been in the 34 years that Forbes has
tracked American wealth. Last year it took $1.55 billion to make the cut.
Because the bar is so high, 145 U.S. billionaires missed the list.
Bill Gates is the richest American for the 22nd
year in a row, with a net worth of $76 billion. His stake in Microsoft, which
he cofounded 40 years ago, now accounts for just under 13% of his fortune. His
friend Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, occupies the
number two spot on The 400 (he’s been ensconced there since 2001), with a net
worth of $62 billion. Larry Ellison, chairman of business software firm Oracle,
comes in at number three, with a net worth of $47.5 billion. In percentage
terms, Travis Kalanick, founder of ride-hailing service Uber, gained the most,
doubling his fortune since last year to $6 billion. Investors have valued Uber
– which has faced plenty of controversy around the world – at more than $50
billion.
There are 25 newcomers to The Forbes 400, including Evan Spiegel,
the youngest person in the ranks, and the youngest billionaire in the world.
Just 25 years old, the Stanford University graduate cofounded mobile messaging
app SnapChat with Bobby Murphy, just 27 and also a newcomer. Snapchat has
been valued by investors at $16 billion. Other newcomers include private equity
titan Robert Smith, the second-richest African-American, after Oprah Winfrey;
and the three cofounders of rental-accommodations service Airbnb: Nathan
Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia.
Altogether the 400 wealthiest
Americans are worth $2.34 trillion, up $50 billion from a year ago. The average
net worth of list members is $5.8 billion, $100 million more than last year and
a record high. About half – 202 of the 400 – are worth more now than they
were a year ago, while 119 people from last year’s list had lower net worths
this year. Thirty-five people fell off the list, either because their
fortunes dropped or they couldn’t keep up with the rest. Our estimates are a
snapshot of the wealthiest Americans’ net worth on Sept. 11, when we locked in
numbers and rankings. Some of The Forbes 400 become richer or poorer within
weeks, even days, of publication. In rare instances, someone passes away after
we’ve gone to press with the ranks. That’s what happened this year with
legendary investor Richard Rainwater, who died of a rare neurodegenerative disease, something he’d been battling since 2009.
We track those changes online at forbes.com/forbes-400.
That’s also where you can find more information on list members, including
additional photos, videos and coverage of these influential billionaires.
Acknowledgments Special
thanks to Orbis by Bureau van Dijk, Privco, LW Hospitality advisors Real
Capital Analytics, Center for Responsive Politics, factset and all those listed
below who helped us with our reporting and valuations: Eric Anton, HFF; Jim
Barrett, C.L. King & Associates; Brown Harris Stevens; Ron Buss,
Buss-Shelger Associates; Jim Butler, Chairman Global Hospitality Group of JMBM;
CBRE; Center for Responsive Politics; S. craig Cognetti, Grail Partners;
Costar; Jeff Davis, Fairway Advisors; Paula del Nunzio, Chris DeNicolo,
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services; Cushman & Wakefield; Factset;
Truman Fleming, Platinum Real Estate Professionals; Ronald M. Gold, Ronald M.
Gold, Inc.; Green Street Advisors; Bjorn Hanson, professor, New York University
Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism; Jones Lang LaSalle;
Kevin Kamen, Kamen & Company Group Services; David Kusin, Kusin & Co.;
Adam Lasoff, Cushman & Wakefield; Cliff Leimbach, IHS; Daniel Lesser, LW
Hospitality advisors; David Loeb, RW Baird; Phil Mahoney, Newmark Cornish &
Carey; Marcus & Mililchap; Matthew Galvin, Morningstar Golf &
Hospitality, LLC; Jack McCabe of McCabe Research and Associates; Jonathan
Miller, Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants; Tom McGovern,
Cushman & Wakefield; Orbis by -Bureau van Dijk; Ian Peck, Art Capital
Group; Clayton Press, Linn Press Art Advisory Services; Privco; PropertyShark;
Real Capital Analytics; Naveen Sarma, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services;
Julia Segal, Bold New York; Dylan Singh, Standard & Poor’s Ratings
Services; S&P Cap IQ; Staffing Industry Analysts; Stephen Algermissen,
Colliers; Steven Khalilzadegan, Savi Realty; Steven Frankel, Dougherty &
Company; Stifel; Matthew Tarpley, cushman & wAKEFIELD; Norma Toering and
Josh Toering, Charlemagne International Properties; Trepp; Brian Tunick,
RBC Capital; Betsy Van Hees, Wedbush Securities; Greg Wasik, Los Angeles
Valuation Group; Bridget Weishaar, Morningstar; Jeff Woolson, CBRE; Peter
Zalewski, Cranespotters.
The Forbes 400 Team Editors: Kerry
A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll with Abram Brown and Nathan Vardi
Reporters: Dan
Alexander, Agustino Fontevecchia, Chris Helman, Max Jedeur-Palmgren, Alex
Morrell, Andrea Murphy, Chase Peterson-Withorn, Jane Roberts, Katia Savchuk,
Chloe Sorvino, and Jennifer Wang
Research: Sue
Radlauer
Additional Reporting: Kurt Badenhausen, Keren Blankfeld, Erin Carlyle,
Kathleen Chaykowski, Liyan Chen, Grace Chung, Daniel Fisher, Russell Flannery,
Miguel Helft, Ellen Huet, Alex Konrad, Ryan Mac, Zina Moukheiber, Joann Muller,
Clare O’Connor, Robert Olsen, Parmy Olson, Natalie Robehmed, Samantha Sharf,
Brian Solomon, Michela Tindera, Glenda Toma, Kate Vinton
Photo Research: Merrilee Barton, Gail
Toivanen, Kristine Smith
Database Management: Dmitri
Slavinsky, Louie Torres, Kyle Rogers, Ken Barney
Designers: Nina
Gould, Kai Hecker, Emma Choi, Irwin Hou
Product: Ariana
Santana, Audrea Soong, Andrea Spiegel
Producer: Natalie
Sportelli, Daniel Kleinman
Video: Greg
Andersson, Kelly Appleton, Meg Christensen, Dikenta Dike, Chad McClymonds,
Kiernan Meadows, Brian Petchers, Tim Pierson, Will Sanderson, Taylor Soppe,
Morgan Sun, Kirsten Taggart and Amanda Tallini
Methodology This
is the 34th year of the flagship Forbes 400. Even though we’ve been
at it a long time, it’s always a challenge. Our reporters dig deep. This
year we started with a list of more than 600 individuals considered strong
candidates and then got to work. When possible we met with Forbes 400
members and candidates in person or spoke with them by phone. We also
interviewed their employees, handlers, rivals, peers and attorneys.
Uncovering their fortunes required us to pore over thousands of SEC documents,
court records, probate records and Web and print stories. We took
into account all types of assets: stakes in public and private companies,
real estate, art, yachts, planes, ranches, vineyards, jewelry, car
collections and more.
We factored in debt. Of course, we don’t pretend
to know what is listed on each billionaire’s private balance sheet,
although some candidates did provide paperwork to that effect. Some
billionaires presiding over private companies were happy to share their
financial figures, but others were less forthcoming.
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To value these businesses, we couple
revenue or profit estimates with prevailing price-to-revenue or
price-to-earnings ratios for similar public companies. We didn’t
include dispersed family fortunes. Those appeared on our list of America’s
Richest Families, which came out in July. We did include wealth belonging
to a member’s immediate relatives if the wealth could be traced to a
single living person. In that case you’ll see “& family” on the list.
