In California, Mark Zuckerberg surpassed Oracle Corp. co-founder Lawrence Ellison
Getty ImagesHow much are the wealthiest people in each state making? More than ever, a new report from Forbes found. Most of the people on the list were on it last year — and collectively, they’re worth $682 billion more than last year. Overall, the net worth of each person averages $14.4 billion in the 2017 listing, up from $12.6 billion each in 2016.
A silver lining for people not in the 1%: of the 50 top earners in each state, 35 of them have self-made fortunes and only 15 inherited their massive wealth. Many of their respective fortunes were made in industries specific to the states where they reside. Here are the wealthiest people in each state and how they made it rich.
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1. Alabama: Jimmy Rane
Rane is the founder of lumber company Great Southern Wood Abbeville. He’s known as the character he plays in commercials, the ‘Yella Fella’ and is worth $700 million.
2. Alaska: Jonathan Rubini
Rubini is worth $340 million. He is the CEO and chairman of commercial real-estate developer JL Properties.
3. Arizona: Bruce Halle
Halle, founder and chairman of Discount Tire, is worth $6 billion — up from $4.7 billion in 2016.
4. Arkansas: Jim Walton
Walton is the youngest son of Wal-Mart WMT, -0.48% founder Sam Walton. He is worth $38.5 billion.
5. California: Mark Zuckerberg
This year Facebook inventor Mark Zuckerberg surpassed Oracle Corp. co-founder Lawrence Ellison, who topped the list in California in 2016, with a net worth of $62.4 billion
Getty Images6. Colorado: Charles Ergen
Ergen is the co-founder and chairman of Dish Network. His net worth is $18.8 billion.
7. Connecticut: Ray Dalio
Dalio, founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, is worth $16.8 billion.
8. Delaware: Robert Gore & Elizabeth Snyder
Siblings Gore and Snyder are worth $720 million each. Gore is chairman of W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., developer of Gore-Tex.
9. Florida: Thomas Peterffy
Peterffy is worth $13.2 billion. The Hungarian-born American entrepreneur founded Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.
10. Georgia: Jim Kennedy
Kennedy, worth $12.6 billion, is the current chair of Cox Enterprises, the media conglomerate his grandfather founded.
11. Hawaii: Pierre Omidyar
Omidyar, founder of eBay, is worth $8.9 billion.
Getty Images12. Idaho: Frank VanderSloot
VanderSloot, worth $1.9 billion, is the founder and CEO of Melaleuca Inc., maker of environmentally friendly products.
13. Illinois: Ken Griffin
Griffin is worth $8 billion and runs Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund.
14. Indiana: Carl Cook
Cook is the chief executive officer of medical device company Cook Group. His net worth is $8 billion.
15. Iowa: Harry Stine
Stine made his $3.3 billion fortune in the agriculture industry.
16. Kansas: Charles Koch
Koch is an investor and political activist whose $47.5 billion wealth is largely inherited.
17. Kentucky: B. Wayne Hughes
Hughes is the founder and chairman of Public Storage, a self-storage company in the U.S. He is worth $2.7 billion.
18. Louisiana: Tom Benson
Benson, who made his fortune by owning auto dealerships and local banks, owns of the New Orleans Saints, is worth $2.6 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2016.
19. Maine: Susan Alfond
Alfond inherited her wealth from her father, who sold his Dexter Shoe Co. to Warren Buffett in 1993. She is worth $1.4 billion.
20. Maryland: Ted Lerner
Lerner is a real-estate developer and owner of the Washington Nationals baseball team. His net worth is $5.8 billion, up from $3.7 billion in 2016.
21. Massachusetts: Abigail Johnson
Johnson is president of Fidelity Investments. She’s worth $14.9 billion.
22. Michigan: Daniel Gilbert
Gilbert made his $5.9 billion fortune from his business Quicken Loans and owns the NBA team the Cleveland Cavaliers.
23. Minnesota: Whitney MacMillan
MacMillan is the great grandson of William W. Cargill, who founded agricultural company Cargill. He is worth $5.4 billion, up from $3.8 billion in 2016.
24. Mississippi: Leslie Lampton
Lampton is worth $760 million. He founded refining and chemicals conglomerate Ergon in 1954.
25. Missouri: Stanley Kroenke
Kroenke, one of the largest real estate owners in the U.S., is worth $7.5 billion. He is married to Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton-Kroenke.
26. Montana: Dennis Washington
Washington is worth $5.9 billion and made his fortune in mining.
27. Nebraska: Warren Buffett
Buffett, the billionaire investor who founded Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, -0.17% , is worth $76.2 billion. That’s an increase of $14.6 billion in 2016.
Getty Images28. Nevada: Sheldon Adelson
Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS, -0.20% is worth $35.6 billion. His net worth was $29 billion in 2016.
29. New Hampshire: Andrea Reimann-Ciardelli
This German-born heiress has $1.1 billion in wealth, largely in investments.
30. New Jersey: Donald Newhouse
Newhouse is the heir to Advance Publications, founded by his father. He is worth $12 billion.
31. New Mexico: Mack C. Chase
Chase is the founder of oil-and-gas company Chase Energy Corp. He is worth $700 million, down from $910 million in 2016.
32. New York: Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg, co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., is worth $50.7 billion. He also was the richest man in New York in 2016 with a net worth of $33.7 billion at the time.
Getty Images33. North Carolina:James Goodnight
Goodnight, co-founder of software firm SAS Institute, is worth $10.1 billion (down from $11.1 billion in 2016).
34. North Dakota: Gary Tharaldson
Tharaldson, worth $900 million, is the founder of Tharaldson Hospitality management LLC.
35. Ohio: Les Wexner
Wexner is the chairman and chief executive officer of fashion retailer L Brands, which owns Bath & Body Works. He is worth $6.2 billion, up from $5.1 billion in 2016.
36. Oklahoma: Harold Hamm
Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, is worth $10.2 billion.
37. Oregon: Phil Knight
Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike Inc., is worth $25.1 billion — up from $6.1 billion in 2016.
38. Pennsylvania: Mary Alice Dorrance Malone
Malone, an heiress to the Campbell Soup fortune, is worth $3.8 billion.
39. Rhode Island: Jonathan Nelson
Nelson, founder of Providence Equity Partners, is worth $2 billion.
40. South Carolina: Anita Zucker
Zucker is the widow of Jerry Zucker, the former chief executive officer of retail firm Hudson’s Bay Co. Her net worth is $3 billion.
41. South Dakota: T. Denny Sanford
Sanford is worth $2.1 billion. He is CEO of bank holding company United National Corp.
42. Tennessee: Thomas Frist Jr.
Frist Jr., co-founder of Hospital Corp. of America, is worth $8.8 billion — more than double his net worth of $4.3 billion in 2016.
43. Texas: Alice Walton
Walton surpassed Michael Dell, the richest man in Texas as of 2016, with her $38.2 billion in wealth inherited from her father, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
44. Utah: Gail Miller
Miller is worth $1.2 billion and made her fortune in auto dealerships.
45. Vermont: John Abele
Abele co-founded medical device developer Boston Scientific BSX, -0.39% . He is worth $625 million after donating more than $100 million to charity.
46. Virginia: Jacqueline Mars
Mars, net worth $27.6 billion, is the granddaughter of the founder of candy company Mars, Inc.
47. Washington: Bill Gates
Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +0.16% , is worth $88.9 billion — up from $81.5 billion in 2016.
Getty Images48. West Virginia: Jim Justice
Justice, a coal mining businessman, is worth $1.6 billion. He’s currently the governor of West Virginia.
49. Wisconsin: John Menard Jr.
Menard Jr., founder of home improvement chain Menards, is worth $10.9 billion.
50. Wyoming: John Mars
Mars is worth $27.6 billion. He is the son of the founder of candy company Mars, Inc.
Good grief. Check out Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, in Oregon. Talk about a skyrocketing wealth.
I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I don’t have a problem with people being wealthy if they came by it honestly……there is the rub. Ultra rich who spend their fortunes abusing the worlds population have sold their souls and will be dealt with in a different plane. Zuckerjoo is from the Greenberg acting family, don’t know about the others only that a lot of them seemed to have come out of a special MIC unit. And so it goes.
Yeah, Phil Knight’s net worth quadrupled in a year? How did he pull that off?
Certainly not from betting on U of Oregon football.
By comparison the above listed people are pikers.
Who are the really wealthy people who actually run the world?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRuKmxQSPSw&t=259s
I count 11 people who are actually involved in ( or got their money from ) producing something. I assume the Federal Reserve is responsible for allowing most of this scum to float to the top.
i’m bad about not refreshing b4 i comment-
steve,you beat me to it about the sources of wealth-
Nothing says more about the decline and shifting economy of America like the sources of the wealth of these people.
Where’s all the manufacturing,mining,machine building and inventing wealth?
Shoes,apparel,financing,entertainment,etc…so much useless bs on the list.
Not a complete shutout, Tampa. There are eight people on the list whose fortunes come from mining (4), medical devices (1), agriculture (2), and lumber (1). And then there is the Campbell Soup heiress. I like soup.
Another year gone by and I didn’t make the list, dammit!