NEW YORK: The billionaires on Forbes’ 2018 ranking of the 400 richest people in America, (“The Forbes 400” p. 127 of the October 31, 2018 special issue of Forbes magazine), have a record-breaking, combined total net worth of $2.9 trillion, up from $2.7 trillion in 2017. The minimum net worth now required to be counted among the very richest Americans hit an all-time high of $2.1 billion, up from $2 billion in 2017. Even at these new heights, 15 newcomers made this year’s list. But more billionaires than ever were too poor to make the ranks: 204 Americans with 10-figure fortunes fell short. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member hit $7.2 billion, also a record high, up from $6.7 billion a year ago.
“We’re seeing more billionaires than ever before, thanks in part to the strong stock market and continuing tech boom. For the first time, more than a third of US billionaires were too poor to make this elite list of the nation’s 400 richest,” said Luisa Kroll and Kerry Dolan, assistant managing editors of wealth at Forbes Media.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, whose fortune jumped $78.5 billion in one year, leads The Forbes 400 list this year, with a net worth of $160 billion – by far the highest ever. Bill Gates, worth $97 billion, who held the No. 1 spot for 24 consecutive years, is now ranked at No. 2 on the list. Warren Buffett, worth $88.3 billion, comes in at No 3. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg holds spot No. 4 with a net worth of $61 billion, despite being $10 billion poorer than he was a year ago. Rounding out the top 5 is Larry Ellison, worth $58.4 billion.