List of members of the Forbes 400 (2008)
The assembled net worth of America's wealthiest people rose to $1.57 trillion in 2008, according to the Forbes 400.
Rising prices of oil and art paved the way for 31 new members and eight returnees, while volatile STOCK and housing markets forced 33 from the rankings.
With a net worth of $57 billion, Bill Gates remains the wealthiest man in America despite losing his crown to Warren Buffett for a few months in 2008. Buffett's shares in Berkshire Hathaway have fallen 15% since February 2008.
Forbes 400 (2008)
The following list is the ranking of America's wealthiest billionaires on September 17, 2008.
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Icon |
# |
Name |
Net worth (USD) |
Sources of wealth |
|---|---|---|---|
Bill Gates |
$57 billion |
Microsoft, Cascade Investments LLC |
|
Warren Buffett |
$50 billion |
Berkshire Hathaway |
|
$22.5 billion |
Oracle Corporation |
||
$23.4 billion |
Wal-Mart |
||
$23.3 billion |
Wal-Mart |
||
$23.2 billion |
Wal-Mart |
||
Christy Walton & family |
$23.2 billion |
Wal-Mart Inheritance |
|
$20 billion |
Bloomberg L.P. |
||
$19 billion |
Koch Industries |
||
$19 billion |
Koch Industries |
||
$17.3 billion |
Dell Inc. |
||
$16 billion |
Microsoft |
||
$15.9 billion |
|||
$15.9 billion |
Fidelity Investments |
||
$15.8 billion |
|||
$15 billion |
Las Vegas Sands |
||
$15 billion |
Microsoft |
||
Jack Taylor & family |
$14 billion |
Enterprise Rent-A-Car |
|
$13 billion |
Cox Enterprises |
||
$12 billion |
Irvine Company |
||
$12 billion |
Icahn Enterprises |
||
$12 billion |
BOK Financial Corporation |
||
$12 billion |
Mars, Inc. |
||
$12 billion |
Mars, Inc. |
||
$12 billion |
Mars, Inc. |
||
$11.5 billion |
Revlon |
||
$11.2 billion |
Tracinda Corporation |
||
$11 billion |
TNK-BP |
||
$11 billion |
Fidelity Investments |
||
$11 billion |
Soros Fund Management |
||
$10.5 billion |
Nike |
||
$10.0 billion |
Amazon.com |
||
$9 billion |
Metromedia |
||
$8.7 billion |
SAS Institute Inc. |
||
$8.1 billion |
Dish Network |
||
$8 billion |
Regal Entertainment Group |
||
Steven Cohen |
$8 billion |
SAC Capital |
|
$8 billion |
Advance Publications |
||
$8 billion |
Advance Publications |
||
$7.6 billion |
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. |
||
$7.6 billion |
Renaissance Technologies |
||
Harold Hamm |
$7 billion |
Continental Resources Inc. |
|
Pauline MacMillan Keinath |
$7 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
Cargill MacMillan Jr. |
$7 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
Whitney MacMillan |
$7 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
Marion MacMillan Pictet |
$7 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
$6.8 billion |
News Corporation |
||
$6.7 billion |
American International Group |
||
$6.5 billion |
Dreamworks Animation |
||
James Cox Kennedy |
$6.5 billion |
Cox Enterprises |
|
Henry Kravis |
$6.5 billion |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts |
|
Blair Parry-Okeden |
$6.5 billion |
Cox Enterprises |
|
$6.4 billion |
Blackstone Group |
||
$6.3 billion |
Ebay |
||
Robert Rowling |
$6.2 billion |
TRT Holdings |
|
$6.2 billion |
Charles Schwab |
||
Ira Rennert |
$6 billion |
AM General |
|
$6 billion |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts |
||
Eric Schmidt |
$5.9 billion |
||
$5.8 billion |
APP Pharmaceuticals |
||
Steven Jobs |
$5.7 billion |
Apple Inc., The Walt Disney Company |
|
$5.5 billion |
Oak Hill Investment Group |
||
$5.5 billion |
Bechtel Corp. |
||
Stephen Bechtel, Jr. |
$5.5 billion |
Bechtel Corp. |
|
$5.5 billion |
Guardian Industries Corp. |
||
$5.1 billion |
Viacom |
||
$5.1 billion |
Valhi |
||
$5 billion |
Carnival Cruise Lines |
||
$5 billion |
Cook Group |
||
$5 billion |
Menards |
||
Paul Milstein & family |
$5 billion |
Milstein Properties |
|
$5 billion |
Perot Systems |
||
$5 billion |
Covanta Holding |
||
$4.9 billion |
Franklin Resources |
||
Lester Crown & family |
$4.8 billion |
General Dynamics |
|
$4.7 billion |
Polo Ralph Lauren |
||
$4.6 billion |
Sinclair Oil |
||
Ray Dalio |
$4.5 billion |
Bridgewater Associates |
|
Bradley Hughes |
$4.5 billion |
Public Storage |
|
$4.5 billion |
Hunt Petroleum |
||
Richard LeFrak & family |
$4.5 billion |
The LeFrak Organization |
|
John Paulson |
$4.5 billion |
Paulson & Co. |
|
Stephen Ross |
$4.5 billion |
The Related Companies L.P. |
|
$4.4 billion |
Intel |
||
David Murdock |
$4.4 billion |
Castle & Cooke, Inc. |
|
$4.4 billion |
SAS Institute Inc. |
||
$4.4 billion |
Ty Inc. |
||
$4.2 billion |
Washington Group International |
||
$4.1 billion |
Franklin Resources |
||
$4.1 billion |
International Data Group |
||
$4 billion |
Amway |
||
$4 billion |
Industrial Light & Magic |
||
David Sun |
$4 billion |
Kingston Technology Company |
|
$4 billion |
Kingston Technology Company |
||
La'Qwan Chess |
$3.9 billion |
Och-Ziff Capital Management Group |
|
$3.8 billion |
Loews Corporation |
||
$3.7 billion |
Citadel Investment Group |
||
$3.7 billion |
J.W. Childs |
||
La'Donna Jackson |
$3.7 billion |
Ziff Brothers Investments |
|
Dirk Ziff |
$3.7 billion |
Ziff Brothers Investments |
|
Robert Ziff |
$3.7 billion |
Ziff Brothers Investments |
|
$3.6 billion |
Estée Lauder |
||
Carl Pohlad |
$3.6 billion |
Wells Fargo |
|
Haim Saban |
$3.6 billion |
Saban Entertainment |
|
Dennis Albaugh |
$3.5 billion |
Albaugh Inc. |
|
Leon Black |
$3.5 billion |
Apollo Management L.P. |
|
Edgar Bronfman, Sr. |
$3.5 billion |
Seagram Company Ltd. |
|
Ronald Burkle |
$3.5 billion |
Yahoo! |
|
John Paul DeJoria |
$3.5 billion |
John Paul Mitchell Systems |
|
Stanley Druckenmiller |
$3.5 billion |
Duquesne Capital Management |
|
Richard Kinder |
$3.5 billion |
Kinder Morgan |
|
Herbert Kohler, Jr. & family |
$3.5 billion |
Kohler Company |
|
Bruce Kovner |
$3.5 billion |
Caxton Associates, LLC |
|
E. Stanley Kroenke |
$3.5 billion |
THF Realty |
|
Theodore Lerner |
$3.5 billion |
Lerner Enterprises |
|
Donald Schneider |
$3.5 billion |
Franklin Electric |
|
Richard Schulze |
$3.5 billion |
Best Buy |
|
Ann Walton Kroenke & family |
$3.4 billion |
Wal-Mart |
|
Ronald Lauder |
$3.4 billion |
Central European Media Enterprises, Estée Lauder |
|
Mitchell Rales |
$3.4 billion |
Danaher Corporation |
|
John Sobrato & family |
$3.4 billion |
Sobrato Development Companies |
|
Stephen Wynn |
$3.4 billion |
Wynn Resorts |
|
Charles Dolan & family |
$3.4 billion |
Cablevision Systems |
|
Barbara Piasecka Johnson |
$3.3 billion |
Johnson & Johnson |
|
Paul Tudor Jones II |
$3.3 billion |
Raptor Fund |
|
Evgeny (Eugene) Shvidler |
$3.3 billion |
Gazprom Neft |
|
Glen Taylor |
$3.3 billion |
Taylor Corp. |
|
Peter Kellogg |
$3.2 billion |
Goldman Sachs |
|
George Mitchell |
$3.2 billion |
Devon Energy |
|
Steven M. Rales |
$3.2 billion |
Danaher Corporation |
|
A. Jerrold Perenchio |
$3.1 billion |
Univision Communications, Inc. |
|
T. Boone Pickens |
$3.1 billion |
BP Capital Management |
|
Steven Spielberg |
$3.1 billion |
Dreamworks Animation |
|
Lee Bass |
$3 billion |
Bass Enterprises Production |
|
Sid Bass |
$3 billion |
Bass Enterprises Production |
|
Jeffrey Hildebrand |
$3 billion |
Hilcorp Energy |
|
Henry Hillman |
$3 billion |
Hillman Co. |
|
James Jannard |
$3 billion |
Oakley, Inc., Red Digital Cinema Camera Company |
|
William Koch |
$3 billion |
Oxbow Group |
|
Edward Lampert |
$3 billion |
Sears Holding Company |
|
Aubrey McClendon |
$3 billion |
Chesapeake Energy |
|
Ronda Stryker |
$3 billion |
Stryker Corporation |
|
Donald Trump |
$3 billion |
Trump Organization, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. |
|
Ray Dolby |
$2.9 billion |
Dolby Laboratories |
|
Nancy Walton Laurie |
$2.9 billion |
Wal-Mart |
|
David Rockefeller, Sr. |
$2.9 billion |
Standard Oil |
|
Amos Hostetter, Jr. |
$2.8 billion |
Comcast Corporation |
|
Martha Ingram & family |
$2.8 billion |
Ingram Micro |
|
Peter George Peterson |
$2.8 billion |
Blackstone Group |
|
Melvin Simon |
$2.8 billion |
Simon Property Group |
|
Steven Udvar-Hazy |
$2.8 billion |
American International Group |
|
Leslie Wexner |
$2.8 billion |
Limited Brands |
|
William Wrigley, Jr. |
$2.8 billion |
Blackstone Group |
|
Mortimer Zuckerman |
$2.8 billion |
Boston Properties |
|
William Conway, Jr. |
$2.7 billion |
The Carlyle Group |
|
Daniel D'Aniello |
$2.7 billion |
The Carlyle Group |
|
David Rubenstein |
$2.7 billion |
The Carlyle Group |
|
David Shaw |
$2.7 billion |
D. E. Shaw & Co. |
|
Tom Ward |
$2.7 billion |
SandRidge Energy |
|
Oprah Winfrey |
$2.7 billion |
Harpo Productions |
|
David Bonderman |
$2.6 billion |
TPG Capital |
|
Mark Cuban |
$2.6 billion |
HDNet, Dallas Mavericks |
|
Leonore Annenberg |
$2.5 billion |
TV Guide, The Philadelphia Inquirer Inheritance |
|
John Arnold |
$2.5 billion |
Centaurus Advisors, LLC |
|
Edward Bass |
$2.5 billion |
Bass Enterprises Production |
|
Nicolas Berggruen |
$2.5 billion |
Berggruen Holdings |
|
Austen Cargill II |
$2.5 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
James Cargill II |
$2.5 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
Mary Janet Cargill |
$2.5 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
Jim Davis & family |
$2.5 billion |
New Balance |
|
Archie Aldis "Red" Emmerson |
$2.5 billion |
Sierra Pacific |
|
Philip Falcone |
$2.5 billion |
Harbinger Capital |
|
Gordon Getty |
$2.5 billion |
Getty Oil |
|
Tom Gores |
$2.5 billion |
Platinum Equity |
|
David Gottesman |
$2.5 billion |
Berkshire Hathaway |
|
Timothy Headington |
$2.5 billion |
XTO Energy |
|
Diane Hendricks |
$2.5 billion |
ABC Supply Company Incorporated |
|
William Barron Hilton |
$2.5 billion |
Hilton Hotels Corporation |
|
Marianne Liebmann |
$2.5 billion |
Cargill Inc. |
|
Mary Alice Dorrance Malone |
$2.5 billion |
Campbell Soup Company |
|
Frederik GH Meijer & family |
$2.5 billion |
Meijer |
|
Michael Milken |
$2.5 billion |
Drexel Burnham and Company |
|
Richard Rainwater |
$2.5 billion |
Peak Oil |
|
Edward Roski, Jr. |
$2.5 billion |
Majestic Realty Co. |
|
Lynn Schusterman |
$2.5 billion |
Samson Resources |
|
Taylor E. Boeing |
$2.5 billion |
Boeing |
|
Alan Casden |
$2.4 billion |
AIMCO |
|
William Randolph Hearst III |
$2.4 billion |
Hearst Communications, Inc. |
|
Jess Jackson |
$2.3 billion |
Kendall-Jackson |
|
Frank Batten, Sr. |
$2.3 billion |
Landmark Communications |
|
Bennett Dorrance |
$2.3 billion |
Campbell Soup Company |
|
Malcolm Glazer & family |
$2.3 billion |
Zapata Corporation |
|
H. Fisk Johnson |
$2.3 billion |
Johnson Family Enterprises |
|
Imogene Powers-Johnson |
$2.3 billion |
Johnson Family Enterprises |
|
S. Curtis Johnson |
$2.3 billion |
Johnson Family Enterprises |
|
Helen Johnson-Leipold |
$2.3 billion |
Johnson Family Enterprises |
|
Winnie Johnson-Marquart |
$2.3 billion |
Johnson Family Enterprises |
|
Jim Kendall Traut & Family |
$2.1 billion |
Amway Global |
|
John Malone |
$2.1 billion |
Liberty Media Corporation |
|
Craig McCaw |
$2.0 billion |
Clearwire Corporation |
|
Thomas Pritzker |
$2.0 billion |
Global Hyatt Corporation, Marmon Group |
|
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner |
$2.0 billion |
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. |
|
√me==References==