The 400 Richest Americans 2009
Forbes has recently compiled a ranking list for America’s super rich. This year, for only the fifth time since 1982, the collective net worth of The Forbes 400 Richest Americans has declined – falling $300 billion in the past 12 months from US$1.57 trillion to US$1.27 trillion. Faltering capital markets and real estate prices, along with divorce and fraud, pushed the fortunes of 314 members down and drove 32 drop off the rankings.
Warren Buffett, America’s second-richest citizen, hurts the most. The Oracle of Omaha dropped US$10 billion from his personal balance sheet as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell 20% in 12 months. He is now worth US$40 billion. Beating out Buffett for the 16th straight year as America’s richest man is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Sluggish Microsoft shares and declining outside investments pushed the software visionary’s net worth down US$7 billion in 12 months. The top-10 richest Americans lost a combined US$39.2 billion in the past 12 months, a 14% decline.
The biggest gainer is banker Andrew Beal, who tripled his net worth to US$4.5 billion buying up cheap loans and assets as the markets crumbled last fall. Membership on the list was made easier as the price of admission dropped US$350 million, from US$1.3 billion last year to US$950 million this year, paving the way for 19 new members and 19 returnees.
Newcomers to the list include Marvel Entertainment chief Isaac Perlmutter, whose net worth soared to US$1.55 billion after Disney agreed to buy the superhero outfit in August for US$4 billion in cash and stock. Other new members include Bloomberg LP co-founder Charles Zegar (US$1 billion), mapping-software magnate Jack Dangermond (US$2 billion) and trading titan Steven Schonfeld (US$1 billion). You can check out the top-24 of the ranking list below:
| Rank | Name | Net Worth ($mil) | Age | Residence | Source |
| 1 | William Gates III | 50,000 | 53 | Medina | Microsoft |
| 2 | Warren Buffett | 40,000 | 79 | Omaha | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 3 | Lawrence Ellison | 27,000 | 65 | Redwood City | Oracle |
| 4 | Christy Walton & family | 21,500 | 54 | Jackson | Wal-Mart |
| 5 | Jim C. Walton | 19,600 | 61 | Bentonville | Wal-Mart |
| 6 | Alice Walton | 19,300 | 60 | Fort Worth | Wal-Mart |
| 7 | S. Robson Walton | 19,000 | 65 | Bentonville | Wal-Mart |
| 8 | Michael Bloomberg | 17,500 | 67 | New York | Bloomberg |
| 9 | Charles Koch | 16,000 | 73 | Wichita | manufacturing, energy |
| 9 | David Koch | 16,000 | 69 | New York | manufacturing, energy |
| 11 | Sergey Brin | 15,300 | 36 | Palo Alto | |
| 11 | Larry Page | 15,300 | 36 | San Francisco | |
| 13 | Michael Dell | 14,500 | 44 | Austin | Dell |
| 14 | Steven Ballmer | 13,300 | 53 | Seattle | Microsoft |
| 15 | George Soros | 13,000 | 79 | Westchester | hedge funds |
| 16 | Donald Bren | 12,000 | 77 | Newport Beach | real estate |
| 17 | Paul Allen | 11,500 | 56 | Mercer Island | Microsoft, investments |
| 17 | Abigail Johnson | 11,500 | 47 | Boston | Fidelity |
| 19 | Forrest Edward Mars | 11,000 | 78 | McLean | candy, pet food |
| 19 | Jacqueline Mars | 11,000 | 70 | Bedminster | candy, pet food |
| 19 | John Mars | 11,000 | 73 | Arlington | candy, pet food |
| 22 | Carl Icahn | 10,500 | 73 | New York | leveraged buyouts |
| 23 | Ronald Perelman | 10,000 | 66 | New York | leveraged buyouts |
| 24 | George B. Kaiser | 9,500 | 67 | Tulsa | oil & gas, banking |
| 24 | Philip Knight | 9,500 | 71 | Beaverton | Nike |
The complete list can be found at www.forbes.com/lists/2009/54/rich-list-09_The-400-Richest-Americans_Rank.html. You can also check out for more details of each of The Forbes 400 Richest Americans 2009 at www.forbes.com/2009/09/29/forbes-400_rich-list-09_all_slide_2.html.