NEW YORK – Google Inc.’s mammoth initial public offering has netted its two co-founders an interesting side benefit: an entree into the upper echelons of Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans.
Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp. chairman and co-founder, was the nation’s wealthiest person for the 11th straight year with a net worth of $51 billion, followed again by Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman and chief executive, at $40 billion, according to Forbes, which released its annual rankings on Thursday.
Perhaps more noteworthy is the ascent of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who were ranked 16th by Forbes, with $11 billion each, up from No. 43 last year, when they each had a net worth of $4 billion.
| Here’s a look at Forbes’ list of rich Americans:
1. Bill Gates, $51 billion, Microsoft 2. Warren Buffett, $40 billion, Berkshire Hathaway 3. Paul Allen, $22.5 billion, Microsoft, investments 4. Michael Dell, $18 billion, Dell 5. Lawrence Ellison, $17 billion, Oracle 6. (tie) Christy and Jim Walton, $15.7 billion, Wal-Mart. 8. S. Robson Walton, $15.6 billion, Wal-Mart 9. Alice Walton, $15.5 billion, Wal-Mart 10. Helen Walton, $15.4 billion, Wal-Mart |
Google went public last year, but the Internet search engine company returned to the capital markets this month with a follow-up offering of shares that raised $4.18 billion. The company has earned $1 billion since going public.
According to Forbes, whose reporters assembled the list through a series of interviews and company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Brin’s and Page’s wealth is accruing at speeds faster than Gates’ did after Microsoft went public.
Collectively, the top 10 richest Americans saw their collective net worth climb $125 billion, the magazine said. The poorest members of the list each had a net worth of about $900 million.
Paul Allen, a childhood friend of Gates who co-founded Microsoft in 1975, was third wealthiest, with $22.5 billion, while Dell Inc.’s chief executive and co-founder Michael Dell was fourth with $18 billion, and Lawrence Ellison, chief executive of Oracle Corp., was No. 5 with a net worth of $17 billion.
The rest of the top 10 were relatives of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton.
Others on the Forbes 400 list to enjoy the fruits of high-tech and the Internet included Steven Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, who was No. 11 with $14 billion, and Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos, who was No. 42 with$4.8 billion.
A significant number of Forbes 400 members found there is money to be made in sports. Twenty-seven members of the list are sports investors, including owners of basketball and football teams, as well as an English soccer team.
For example, Allen owns the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. And Malcolm Glazer, who ranks No. 258 with $1.3 billion, gained fame in this country but infamy in Britain in the spring after he bought a controlling stake in Manchester United, perhaps the world’s best-known soccer team.
Associated Press
The top three on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans are (top from left) Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Paul Allen. The top 10 include (bottom from left) Robson Walton, No. 8; Michael Dell, No. 4; and Lawrence Ellison, No. 5.
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