The twenty-five richest people in America have a minimum net worth of $12 billion each.  Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and all around uber-genius tops the list with $57 billion.  Warren Buffett comes in a relatively close second at $50 billion.  Then there follows a significant drop off both in terms of dollars and name recognition.

The money is staying in the family, with a number of second generation billionaires on the list.  Four of the top six are members of the Walton family (the Wal-Mart Waltons, that is).  The Koch brothers, of whom you’ve probably never heard, are tied for ninth place with $19 billion a piece.  Counted together, they’d be in third place.  The same could be said of the three Mars siblings (as in M&M Mars) and their $13 billion each.  You could go all the way down to the four MacMillian children who come in tied for 42nd place with a paltry $7 billion a piece.  Added together, they’d also come in behind only Gates and Buffett among individuals on the list.  Of course, if you counted all the Waltons together, they’d be first by a good amount.

You often hear people expressing a desire to become rich and famous.  Interestingly enough, many of the people on the list are not household names.  It may well be that the rich part holds more allure than the famous part.  For example, George Soros, the far-left hedge fund guru, is famous for supporting liberal causes with exorbitant amounts of money.  He’s tied for twenty-eighth on the list with Edward Johnson III.  Most people who are somewhat aware of the financial world are familiar with Soros, but what about Johnson?  Johnson is exactly as rich as Soros, but unless you did your term paper on Fidelity Mutual, you’ve probably never heard of him.

If you’re hoping to crack your way onto the list, learning to program a computer would be a good place to start.  Six of the top 15 earned their billions in computers – three from Microsoft, two from Google, and one from Oracle.  That’s the only advice I have.  After that, you’re on your own.

Tweet This Post