Forbes 400 – $1 Billion Is Not Enough Anymore!

You will need more than $1 billion if you hope to be counted as one of America’s richest 400 people. The Forbes 400 is out and the “poorest” person on the list is worth $1.3 billion. There are actually 21 people who tied for this honor. In its 25th edition, Forbes 400 for the first time, indicated that just being a billionaire doesn’t guarantee you a place on their list. In fact there are 82 billionaires who did not make the list. The collective wealth of the 400 richest Americans is worth $1.54 trillion.

As usual Bill Gates III tops the list with $59 billion. He is currently the richest man in the world but is being challenged for that title by Mexican Carlos Slim Helú who is also worth $59 billion. Sergey Brin and Larry Page the co-founders of Google are worth $18.5 billion each, up more than $4 billion since last year. They both come in at #5 on the list. The youngest member, at 33 years old is John Arnold, a former Enron trader who now runs hedge fund Centaurus Energy and has amassed a $1.5 billion fortune. The oldest member of the list is potato king John Simplot, who is 98 years old and worth $3.6 billion. Seven members of last year’s list have died, fifty people couldn’t keep up and forty-five new members joined the club.

To see more details on the 400 richest Americans check out the Forbes 400 website here.