Bow down to the richest person in America. Again. That’s right, folks. Bill Gates is back on top of the newest Fortune 400 list for richest people in the United States. The Microsoft founder has long flirted with the top of this list, and, in fact, he was number one on the Forbes list from 1995 to 2009, although, in 2008, he relinquished his spot to let someone else enjoy the glow.
But now Gates is back at the top, even though he’s technically no longer with Microsoft. Keeping those common stocks was clearly a good idea. According to the newest list from Forbes, Gates’ worth is $59 billion, which is $20 billion more than the second place entry, Warren Buffet. Beyond that, however, is the sheer amount of tech industry mavens are on the Forbes list. In fact, the top 20 or so is absolutely littered with people who made their money with the computers and/or the Internet.
Some examples include:
- Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle, is in fourth place with $33 billion
- Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is in 13th place with $19.1 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg ($17.5 B), Sergey Brin ($16.7 B), and Larry Page ($16.7 B) follow Bezos at 14, 15, and 16
- Michael Dell comes in at 18th with a worth of $15 billion
- Steve Ballmer follows Dell at 19 with $13.9 billion
Clearly, the lesson for all you youngsters wondering what field you should study is to look towards the computer/tech industry. It can make a billionaire out of you. Oddly enough, the last place person on Forbes’ list is Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. While Snyder may not have the net worth of the people in front of him, he’s still worth over $1 billion, something I’m sure will manage to keep him warm at night.
And for all those worried about Yahoo, Jerry Yang, co-founder and ex-CEO of Yahoo, is also on the list with a worth of $1.1 billion.