Inside The 2015 Forbes 400: Facts And Figures About America's Wealthiest (2024)

By Kerry A. Dolan andLuisa Kroll

Surging tech stocks upended ranks near the stratosphere of The Forbes 400 list of the Richest Americans this year. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg both zoomed into the top 10 richest for the first time. Bezos, the biggest gainer on the list, up $16.5 billion in one year, is now the fourth richest American, worth $47 billion. Zuckerberg is number seven, with a net worth of $40.3 billion. A rise in Nike shares lifted founder Phil Knight, age 77, back into the top 20 for the first time in 18 years.

It was harder than ever to join The 400. The price of entry this year was $1.7 billion, the highest it’s been in the 34 years that Forbes has tracked American wealth. Last year it took $1.55 billion to make the cut. Because the bar is so high, 145 U.S. billionaires missed the list.

Bill Gates is the richest American for the 22nd year in a row, with a net worth of $76 billion. His stake in Microsoft, which he cofounded 40 years ago, now accounts for just under 13% of his fortune. His friend Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, occupies the number two spot on The 400 (he’s been ensconced there since 2001), with a net worth of $62 billion. Larry Ellison, chairman of business software firm Oracle, comes in at number three, with a net worth of $47.5 billion. In percentage terms, Travis Kalanick, founder of ride-hailing service Uber, gained the most, doubling his fortune since last year to $6 billion. Investors have valued Uber – which has faced plenty of controversy around the world - at more than $50 billion.

See Full Coverage Of The 2015 FORBES 400.

There are 25 newcomers to The Forbes 400, including Evan Spiegel, the youngest person in the ranks, and the youngest billionaire in the world. Just 25 years old, the Stanford University graduate cofounded mobile messaging app SnapChat with Bobby Murphy, just 27 and also a newcomer. Snapchat has been valued by investors at $16 billion. Other newcomers include private equity titan Robert Smith, the second-richest African-American, after Oprah Winfrey; and the three cofounders of rental-accommodations service Airbnb: Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia.

Altogether the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth $2.34 trillion, up $50 billion from a year ago. The average net worth of list members is $5.8 billion, $100 million more than last year and a record high. About half – 202 of the 400 - are worth more now than they were a year ago, while 119 people from last year’s list had lower net worths this year.Thirty-five people fell off the list, either because their fortunes dropped or they couldn't keep up with the rest. Our estimates are a snapshot of the wealthiest Americans’ net worth on Sept. 11, when we locked in numbers and rankings. Some of The Forbes 400 become richer or poorer within weeks, even days, of publication. In rare instances, someone passes away after we've gone to press with the ranks. That's what happened this year with legendary investor Richard Rainwater, whodied of a rareneurodegenerative disease, something he'd been battling since 2009.

We track those changes online atforbes.com/forbes-400. That’s also where you can find more information on list members, including additional photos, videos and coverage of these influential billionaires.

Acknowledgments Special thanks to Orbis by Bureau van Dijk, Privco, LW Hospitality advisors Real Capital Analytics, Center for Responsive Politics, factset and all those listed below who helped us with our reporting and valuations: Eric Anton, HFF; Jim Barrett, C.L. King & Associates; Brown Harris Stevens; Ron Buss, Buss-Shelger Associates; Jim Butler, Chairman Global Hospitality Group of JMBM; CBRE; Center for Responsive Politics; S. craig Cognetti, Grail Partners; Costar; Jeff Davis, Fairway Advisors; Paula del Nunzio, Chris DeNicolo, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services; Cushman & Wakefield; Factset; Truman Fleming, Platinum Real Estate Professionals; Ronald M. Gold, Ronald M. Gold, Inc.; Green Street Advisors; Bjorn Hanson, professor, New York University Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism; Jones Lang LaSalle; Kevin Kamen, Kamen & Company Group Services; David Kusin, Kusin & Co.; Adam Lasoff, Cushman & Wakefield; Cliff Leimbach, IHS; Daniel Lesser, LW Hospitality advisors; David Loeb, RW Baird; Phil Mahoney, Newmark Cornish & Carey; Marcus & Mililchap; Matthew Galvin, Morningstar Golf & Hospitality, LLC; Jack McCabe of McCabe Research and Associates; Jonathan Miller, Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants; Tom McGovern, Cushman & Wakefield; Orbis by -Bureau van Dijk; Ian Peck, Art Capital Group; Clayton Press, Linn Press Art Advisory Services; Privco; PropertyShark; Real Capital Analytics; Naveen Sarma, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services; Julia Segal, Bold New York; Dylan Singh, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services; S&P Cap IQ; Staffing Industry Analysts; Stephen Algermissen, Colliers; Steven Khalilzadegan, Savi Realty; Steven Frankel, Dougherty & Company; Stifel; Matthew Tarpley, cushman & wAKEFIELD; Norma Toering and Josh Toering, Charlemagne International Properties; Trepp; Brian Tunick, RBC Capital; Betsy Van Hees, Wedbush Securities; Greg Wasik, Los Angeles Valuation Group; Bridget Weishaar, Morningstar; Jeff Woolson, CBRE; Peter Zalewski, Cranespotters.

The Forbes 400Team Editors: Kerry A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll with Abram Brown and Nathan Vardi

Reporters: Dan Alexander, Agustino Fontevecchia, Chris Helman, Max Jedeur-Palmgren, Alex Morrell, Andrea Murphy, Chase Peterson-Withorn, Jane Roberts, Katia Savchuk, Chloe Sorvino, and Jennifer Wang

Research: Sue Radlauer

Additional Reporting: Kurt Badenhausen, Keren Blankfeld, Erin Carlyle, Kathleen Chaykowski, Liyan Chen, Grace Chung, Daniel Fisher, Russell Flannery, Miguel Helft, Ellen Huet, Alex Konrad, Ryan Mac, Zina Moukheiber, Joann Muller, Clare O’Connor, Robert Olsen, Parmy Olson, Natalie Robehmed, Samantha Sharf, Brian Solomon, Michela Tindera, Glenda Toma, Kate Vinton Photo Research: Merrilee Barton, Gail Toivanen, Kristine Smith

Database Management: Dmitri Slavinsky, Louie Torres, Kyle Rogers, Ken Barney

Designers: Nina Gould, Kai Hecker, Emma Choi, Irwin Hou

Product: Ariana Santana, Audrea Soong, Andrea Spiegel

Producer: Natalie Sportelli, Daniel Kleinman

Video: Greg Andersson, Kelly Appleton, Meg Christensen, Dikenta Dike, Chad McClymonds, Kiernan Meadows, Brian Petchers, Tim Pierson, Will Sanderson, Taylor Soppe, Morgan Sun, Kirsten Taggart and Amanda Tallini

Methodology This is the 34thyear of the flagship Forbes 400. Even though we’vebeen at it a long time, it’s always a challenge. Our reporters digdeep. This year we started with a list of more than 600 individualsconsidered strong candidates and then got to work.When possible we met with Forbes 400 members and candidatesin person or spoke with them by phone. We also interviewed theiremployees, handlers, rivals, peers and attorneys. Uncovering their fortunes required us to pore over thousands of SEC documents, courtrecords, probate records and Web and print stories. We took intoaccount all types of assets: stakes in public and private companies, realestate, art, yachts, planes, ranches, vineyards, jewelry, car collectionsand more.

We factored in debt. Of course, we don’t pretend to knowwhat is listed on each billionaire’s private balance sheet, althoughsome candidates did provide paperwork to that effect.Some billionaires presiding over private companies were happy to share their financial figures, but others were less forthcoming.

Tovalue these businesses, we couple revenue or profit estimates withprevailing price-to-revenue or price-to-earnings ratios for similarpublic companies.We didn’t include dispersed family fortunes. Those appeared onour list of America’s Richest Families, which came out in July. We didinclude wealth belonging to a member’s immediate relatives if thewealth could be traced to a single living person. In that case you’ll see“& family” on the list.