15 Richest People in America
Richest People in America!!
We all have the curiosity to know about who is the wealthiest and how much money they have. People grow wealthier due to their hard work and good fortune working together at the right time.
Their ranking on the list of richest people changes over time as their net worth and financial performance change.
So, to peak your interest, here is a list of the top 15 richest Americans whose net worth is more than $50 billion. They are ranked based on their net worth published on Forbes World’s Billionaires list of 2021
15 Richest People in America 2024
The information about net worth and other facts about these billionaires are derived from various sources such as Forbes, Wikipedia, Investopedia, and others
15. Dan Gilbert
The 15th richest American on this list of billionaires is Dan Gilbert, an investor and businessman. He was born on January 17, 1962, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
As of 2024, His estimated net worth is $51.9 billion.
Dan Gilbert co-founded Quicken Loans, the largest home mortgage lender, in 1985, where he is the chairman of the company.
In August 2020, Gilbert took Quicken Loans public as Rocket Companies, with a $36 billion valuation. He also owns the majority of the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the NBA teams.
Other several sports teams such as the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League are also owned by him.
Further, He has also invested around $5.6 billion in real estate in downtown Detroit and Cleveland by purchasing 100 properties to provide 24000 jobs.
14. MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott is the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world. He is the owner of the E-commerce company Amazon. She is a novelist, philanthropist, and business person.
MacKenzie Scott holds a net worth of $53 billion.
She got divorced from Jeff Bezos in 2019 and ended 25 years of marriage. As a divorce settlement, She was given 25 percent of his ex-husband’s Amazon stake. She holds a net worth of $53 billion.
MacKenzie has pledged to give 50 percent of her fortune to charity. In 2020 she donated approximately $6 billion to almost 500 non-profit organizations. In addition to this, in 2021, She gave $2.7 billion to 286 organizations.
She is also the author of two novels: The Testing of Luther Albright, published in 2005, and Traps, published in 2013. Her first novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, won an American Book Award in 2006.
Besides this, Mackenzie Scott is also executive director of Bystandard Revolution. She founded it in 2014 as an anti-bullying organization.
13. Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg is An American businessman, philanthropist, and 108th mayor of New York City and was born on February 14, 1942. From 2002 to 2013, he served as Mayor for a total of 12 years.
Michael Bloomberg founded the financial data and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981, where he owns 88% stock of the company, worth $10 billion.
He has an estimated net worth of $59 billion which makes him one of the richest Americans.
Prior to founding his own company, he worked for an investment company, Salmon Brothers, on Wall Street as an equity trader and system developer.
He is a philanthropist who has given over $5 billion to various causes such as gun control, environmental protection, and others.
Bloomberg has announced his candidacy for President of the United States in November 2019. He self-funded $935 million for his campaign. However, he dropped out of the race after winning only 61 delegates.
12. Rob Walton
Samuel Robson Walton was born as the eldest son of Sam Walton on October 7, 1949. Sam Walton is the founder of Walmart, an American multinational retail corporation. Walmart’s revenue is $559.2 billion.
Rob Walton holds a total net worth of $59.5 billion, as of 2024.
He is a co-owner of Walton Enterprises, Walmart’s biggest shareholder.
Rob Walton began his career at Walmart in 1969 and was promoted to senior vice president in 1978. He became Chairman of Walmart in 1992, just two days after the death of his father.
In 2015, he resigned as Chairman and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Greg Penner.
Together with his siblings, Jim Walton and Alice Walton, Rob Walton owns almost half of Walmart’s stock. In addition to this, he also owns a 25% stake in Arvest Bank, the oldest and largest bank in Arkansas.
11. Jim Walton
Jim Walton is an American businessman and stock trader. He is the youngest son of Sam Walton, Walmart founder, and was born on June 7, 1948. His association with Walmart has provided him with the majority of his wealth.
His estimated net worth is $60.2 billion as of 2024.
Jim Walton joined the Walmart board of directors in 2005 and served for over a decade until Walton’s position was ceded to his son Steuart in 2016. He served as the Ceo and Chairman of Arvest Bank, where he owns 44 percent stock.
Jim Walton owns a newspaper company Community Publishers Inc., where he sits as Chairman. This company was founded by his father, Sam Walton, after purchasing the local Arkansas newspaper.
10. Alice Walton
Similar to Rob Walton and Jim Walton, Alice Walton is also heir to Walmart’s Wealth. She was born as a daughter on October 7, 1949, as the only daughter of Sam Walton.
Alice Walton is the Walton family fortune’s successor.
With a net worth of $64.6 billion, she is the richest American woman.
Alice Walton worked as a broker at EF Hutton in 1979. In 1998, she started Llama Co., a private investment company where she served as chairwoman, president, and CEO.
Apart from this, she buys American art and displays them at Crystal Bridge Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, which she founded in 2011.
9. Steve Ballmer
The ninth richest American on this list is Steve Ballmer, a businessman, and investor born on 24 March 1956.
He has a total net worth of $68.7 billion as of 2024.
Ballmer is the former CEO of Microsoft Corporation, a well-known software company. He has a 4% stake in Microsoft company, which is his primary source of income.
Bill Gates appointed him at Microsoft in 1980, and he dropped out of Stanford University’s MBA program. After 18 years of joining Microsoft, He was promoted to president of the company in 1998.
He eventually became chief executive officer of Microsoft in 2000, and he held this post until 2014. Steve Ballmer is also the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. He bought this NBA team for $2 billion.
8. Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin was born on August 21, 1973. He is a computer scientist, business magnate, and Internet entrepreneur from the United States.
As of 2024, he has a net worth of $89 billion.
In 1998, he and his friend from Stanford University, Larry Page, co-established Google. They met while pursuing their Ph.D. at Stanford University.
Brin and Page were co-presidents until Eric Schmidt became the company’s CEO in 2001.
When in 2015 Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was formed, Brin served as the company’s president until stepping down in 2019. He remained as a board member and a controlling shareholder.
7. Larry Page
Larry Page is an American computer scientist and computer entrepreneur. He was born on March 26, 1973, in Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
His net worth is $91.5 billion as of 2024.
During his Ph.D. study at Stanford University, Larry Page and his friend Sergey Brin came up with the concept of devising an algorithm that could link every website together and rank them based on their popularity.
They devised Google’s PageRank algorithm, search engine technology in 1996. They raised $1 million from investors, their family, and friends to expand their search engine.
In 1998, Larry Page with Sergey Brin co-established Google, Inc., the most popular search engine. Larry page led Google as CEO until 2000 and then from 2011 to 2015. Google owns Youtube, Android, Google maps, and other popular companies.
Page was CEO of Alphabet, google’s parent company, from 2015 to 2019. He is still Alphabet’s board member and the company’s controlling shareholder.
6. Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison is the co-founder, former CEO, executive chairman, and CTO of the American multinational computer technology corporation, Oracle Corporation.
He is the sixth richest American with a fortune of $93 billion.
Larry Ellison started Oracle in 1977. After that, Oracle has established itself as a successful and reliable database vendor for mid-and low-end systems.
Ellison stepped down as CEO in 2014 and continues to serve as chair of the board and chief technology officer. He owns around 35 percent of Oracle Corporation.
Larry Ellison has also bought Hawaiian island Lanai for $300 million, which has around 3000 people. He has pledged to donate 95 percent of his fortune to charity through a private trust.
5. Warren Buffet
Warren Edward Buffett is a businessman, investor, and philanthropist. On August 30, 1930, Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and he is also famously known as the “Oracle of Omaha.”
He is the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathway. He is regarded as one of the most successful investors.
As of 2024, his net worth is $96 billion.
Buffet’s father was a stockbroker; thus, he had an early interest in investing. At the age of 11, he bought his first stock, and at the age of 13, he filed his first tax return. He also conducted a pinball machine business.
He founded Buffett Partnership, Ltd in 1956, and his company later purchased Berkshire Hathaway, a textile manufacturing company.
Since 1970, Warren Buffett has led Berkshire Hathaway as chairman and major shareholder.
He adopts the Benjamin Graham school of value investing, which entails purchasing undervalued stocks with strong fundamentals and keeping them for the long term.
4. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, an Internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and media mogul, was born on May 14, 1984.
His invention of Facebook has made him famous all over the world.
As of 2024, his net wealth is $116 billion.
Zuckerberg founded the Facebook social networking service with some of his Harvard University roommates in 2004 as a means for students to match their identities with their photos.
This became quite popular across many universities, with billions of people using it.
In May 2012, Zuckerberg brought Facebook in public with a majority of shares, but He still holds around 15% of the stock. His Facebook has also acquired popular apps Messenger, Whatsapp, Instagram, and other apps and services.
Nowadays, Facebook has become the most preferred method of communication around the world. Zuckerberg and his wife plan to give away 99% of their Facebook shares to a philanthropic organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
3. Bill Gates
Bill Gates, a businessman, software developer, investor, and philanthropist, was born on October 28, 1955.
Gates is the third richest American, with a net worth of $136 billion, as of 2024.
In 1975, he and his friend Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft, the world’s largest software company.
Bill Gates served as Microsoft’s CEO and Chairman before stepping down as CEO in 2000 and as Chairman in 2014.
He owns about 1.3 percent of Microsoft for about $28.5 billion.
In addition to Microsoft, he oversees various other businesses such as Branded Entertainment Network, Cascade Investment, TerraPower, bgC3 LLC, and others.
In 2000, he merged his two philanthropic organizations and formed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda, own it together.
2. Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, the former CEO and founder of Amazon, is on the second spot on the list of richest Americans. He was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the U.S.
He stepped down as CEO of Amazon on July 5, 2021, and became executive chairman.
His net worth stood at $177 billion as of 2024.
In 2020, Jeff Bezos’ wealth increased by about $24 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic as more people purchases online from home.
Despite divorcing his wife in 2019 and giving her a portion of his stake in the company, he maintains the same position.
In addition to Amazon, Jeff Bezos has founded “Blue Origin” in 2000 as a commercial rocket development business. He has also bought “The Washington Post” in 2013 for $250 million.
1. Elon Musk.
Elon Musk is a South African-born Canadian American entrepreneur and business magnate. He was born on June 28, 1971.
His total net worth is $309 billion, as of 2024.
He co-established the online software business “Zip 2” with his brother in 1995, which was eventually sold for $307 million.
He founded x.com, an online bank that merged with another company in 2000, Confinity, to form Paypal.eBay later bought this company for $1.5 billion in 2002. As a result, he is already worth a billion dollars.
In 2000, he invested millions of dollars and founded the American aerospace company, Space X. It is the first private company that has sent a person into space.
Elon Musk joined Tesla, an electric car-making company, in 2004 and became Tesla’s Ceo in 2008. Tesla stock has climbed dramatically since its first public offering in 2010. He owns 21% of Tesla’s stock.
