The wealthiest person in California, each other state revealed: Forbes
September 30, 2022
Each year, Forbes releases a list of the richest people in the U.S. In recent history, the list has included national figures like Donald Trump, Mark Cuban, and Warren Buffett, but it also includes people that have a larger reputation closer to home.
The Forbes list features the 400 wealthiest people living in America who have made their fortunes through tech companies, retailers, investing, real estate and more. These billionaires range in age from their 20s to their 90s, and are worth a combined $4 trillion.
Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla and SpaceX, is the richest person in America with a net worth of $251 billion. He edged out Jeff Bezos, whose wealth stems from Amazon, by $100 billion. Rounding out the top 10 are Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, Bloomberg LP’s Michael Bloomberg, and Walmart’s Jim Walton.
With a total of 80 billionaires, California had the most residents on the list. New York had the second-most at 65, followed by Texas with 43 and Florida at 42. Though only eight of the Forbes 400 call it home, Washington had the most individuals landing in the top 10 of any state — Bezos, Gates, and Ballmer.
Eleven states didn’t have a resident that met the criteria to make Forbes’ rankings: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia.
Below is a list of the richest person in each state, as well as their net worth and source of wealth, according to Forbes.
The wealthiest woman on Forbes’ list is Julia Koch, who, along with her three children, inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries after her husband David passed away in August 2019. Following her is Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. They rank 13th and 15th, respectively (there is no 14th, Koch and her brother-in-law Charles Koch tied for 13th).
Notably missing from the 10 wealthiest is Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who dropped out of the top rankings for the first time in 2014. Twenty-two people on the list, including Donald Trump, who had made the list before and fell off it, are back again.
Forbes also found that of the 400 wealthiest people in America, 275 created their fortune while the rest inherited it. You can view the full list on Forbes’ website here. This was the publication’s 41st edition of the Forbes 400.