NEW
YORK—Microsoft Corp. cofounder Bill Gates remains America’s richest man
by far, as the tech and philanthropy giant took the top spot on the
Forbes 400 list for the 19th year running, with a net worth of $66
billion.
Investor Warren
Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., again took second with $46
billion, while Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison remains third with
$41 billion and brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch
Industries Inc., tied for fourth with $31 billion.
Forbes
said the rich mainly got richer in 2012, with net worth rising for 241
members of its list and shrinking for only 66. Rising stock prices, a
rebound in real estate values and rare art prices helped.
More
members of the Walton family, the founders of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
moved up into the Top 10, displacing investor George Soros and Las Vegas
Sands Corp. founder Sheldon Adelson. New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, who made his fortune with the financial data services firm
Bloomberg LP, is also back with the top dogs at No. 10 with an estimated
net worth of $25 billion.
Social
media moguls took the biggest hit. Zynga Inc.’s Mark Pincus and Groupon
Inc.’s Eric Lefkofsky dropped off the list entirely. Facebook’s Mark
Zuckerberg was the biggest dollar loser in Forbes’ latest ranking of the
400 wealthiest Americans. The company’s lackluster IPO in May resulted
in a huge drop in market value that cut the value of his shareholdings
almost in half, costing him $8.1 billion in net worth. That dropped
Zuckerberg from No. 14 on the list to No. 36.
But
although Zuckerberg lost more money than most people will make in many
lifetimes, his net worth still totals an estimated $9.4 billion,
according to the magazine.
(AP)
In Photo:
This June 26 image provided by Forbes, and the pullout cover for the
magazine’s Sept. 21 issue shows from left to right: Warren Buffett,
Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Pete Petersen, Leon Black,
Jon Bon Jovi (seated on the ground), Marc Benioff, David Rubenstein,
Steve Case, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen and Marc Andreessen posing for a
portrait in the Trustees Room at the New York Public Library in New
York. The 12 individuals shown were part of a group attending a Forbes
convened event called the Forbes 400 Summit On Philanthropy. During the
event, the magazine’s editors invited 12 of the leading
philanthropists in the US to pose for the portrait. (AP Photo/Forbes)
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