Business Reviews - News Stories |
|
|
Forbes
Rich List 2004
Review of America's richest
people
according to the Forbes business magazine,
2004
|
| :::
Woopidoo Portal> Rich
Lists> 400 Richest Americans |
|
|
Forbes Rich List - 400 Richest Americans in 2004 |
Not
since the year 2000 has the 400 richest
Americans total fortunes gone above the
$1 trillion mark. Even the burden of coming
through an economic recovery hasn't put
a dent in the net worth of those on the
list, with a total increase of $45 billion
in just 12 months.
At
number one for the 11th consecutive year
is Microsoft
founder Bill Gates with an estimated
$48 billion. In second position is the investment
guru and chairman of the Berkshire Hathaway
group of companies Warren
Buffett with an estimated $41
billion. Buffett
is gaining on the number one position with
an increase in wealth by an estimated $5
billion.
The top ten positions on the list are again
dominated by the Walton family with 5 members
being listed. The family gained their wealth
(an estimated $18 billion each) through
the wildly successful Wal Mart chain of
shopping centers started by the entrepreneurial
Sam
Walton.
Even though the dot-com highs are mostly
behind us there are still many tech entrepreneurs
throughout the list. The top ten alone has
Bill
Gates 1(Microsoft), Paul
Allen 3(Microsoft), Michael
Dell 9(Dell) and Larry
Ellison 10(Oracle). The technology
heavy Nasdaq is well below its tech boom
highs but individuals continue to amass
great personal fortunes through technology.
Google founders have made their entrance
to the list after they took their search
engine public. Sergey
Brin and Larry
Page share 43rd position on the
list this year with an estimated $4 billion
each. Brin
is also the youngest person on this years
list at just 31 years of age.
Another new entrant is Teresa Heinz Kerry,
the wife of Democrats nominee for president
John Kerry. She is the heir of the Heinz
food company with an estimated $750 million.
The largest percentage gainer is casino
operator Steve Wynn with a %100 increase
in wealth to $1.3 billion. Amazon.com founder
is the largest percentage loser, yet still
holds his position of 38th richest after
losing $800 million.
Most of the people listed this year are
billionaires. 313 of the 400 richest Americans
have a net worth of $1 billion or more.
It now takes $750 million just to be listed!
Copyright © 2004 Woopidoo.com
|
|
|
Related Business Success Resources at Woopidoo.com |
|
|
|
|
|
