| On
September 17, 2008 Forbes once again announced
its list of the top 400 richest
Americans. While past years have shown
dramatic increases in the combined net wealth
of these individuals, 2008 proved quiet
different with a the net worth rising only
2% from 2007 to $1.57 trillion. In order
to make the list this year, individuals
needed to have at least $1.3 billion in
assets, the same as in 2007.
The
top ten spots of Forbes list remained
almost the same as last year with Bill
Gates at No.1 followed closely by
investor
Warren Buffett at No.2. Larry Ellison
rounds out the top three with members
of the Walton
family, majority shareholders in the
Walmart chain, rounding out most of the
remaining top ten positions.
There
were a lot of changes in ranks from the
2007 list. With fluctuations in stocks
and casino shares, moguls like Sheldon
Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands,
Kirk
Kerkorian, king of the MGM Mirage
chains, and the Google guys Sergey
Brin and Larry
Page all lost billions with falling
stock prices. Adelson's net worth dropped
by an estimated $1.5 million per hour
after shares of his casino fell 75% from
their highs in October 2007 and his total
worth dropped by $13 billion as a result.
Other
entrepreneurs, however, saw explosive
success in 2008. Facebook creator Mark
Zuckerberg made his debut on this years
Forbes 400 with a net worth of $1.5 billion
as did car dealer and art collector Norman
Braman. John Paul DeJoria, the founder
of the tequila brand Patron, also made
the list this year.
Micheal
Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City,
while not new to the list, gained the
most assets over the past year, raising
his net worth by $8.5 billion.
Out
of the 400 wealthiest Americans, two thirds
have self-made fortunes. The others have
either inherited or partially inherited
their wealth. Their average net worth
is $3.9 billion. Out of the 400 individuals
on the list, only 42 are female.
Forbes
researches and lists the top 400 wealthiest
Americans every year. In order to determine
the richest Americans, Forbes takes into
account public and private investments
of individuals, stakes in companies, and
real estate. The declared wealth of the
individuals on the list is estimated or
approximated based on the value of their
assets. Forbes' statistics usually reflect
the lowest approximated value of their
worth and each one is rounded to the nearest
$100 million. Individuals with net worth
in excess of $20 billion are rounded to
the nearest billion.
The
Forbes 400 of 2008 was determined based
on the net worth of individuals as of
August 29, 2008. With constant fluctuations
in the stock market, Forbes understands
that ranks on this list will change daily
or even hourly based on market changes.
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