Here Are The States With The Most Billionaires
There are 540 billionaires in the United States, with a combined net worth of $2.399 trillion, according to our 2016 list of the world’s richest people. That’s more billionaires and more combined net worth than any other nation in the world.
This is a snapshot of billionaire net worth in every state in America where they live, taken on Feb. 12. Who are the billionaires in your state? How many are there, and what are they worth? What industries do they gravitate towards?
Seven states don’t have billionaires, but you can find their richest residents here. Sixteen American billionaires live overseas, and have a combined net worth of $46.4 billion, about as much as the billionaires of Connecticut or Illinois.
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Billionaire net worth: $22.3B
Industry with most billionaires: Automotive
The three richest men in the state of Arizona all made their money on automobiles. Bruce Halle ($5.4B), Mark Shoen ($4.6B) and E. Joe Shoen ($1.1B) have a combined net worth of $11.1 billion, but built their fortunes from different two very different components of vehicles. Halle opened the first Discount Tire Store in 1960, and has grown the business to more than 900 stores in 28 states. Shoen is the largest individual shareholder of U-Haul. His parents created the company in 1945 and Shoen served as president for 16 years starting in 1990. His brother Joe is the second-largest stakeholder and has been chairman and CEO since 1986.
Arkansas
About 84% of the $71.8 billion net worth of
Arkansas’ billionaires is derived from Wal-Mart (FREDERIC J.
BROWN/AFP/Getty Images).
Billionaire net worth:$71.8B
Industry with most billionaires: Fashion and retail
About 84% of the $71.8 billion net worth of Arkansas’ billionaires is derived from Wal-Mart. The state has five billionaires, but $65.5 billion belongs to two men. S. Robson Walton and Jim Walton are both chairmen for Wal-Mart, but Jim is also the CEO of the company his father created. But Arkansas isn’t just about Wal-Mart: three people with significant fortunes live in the state. Warren Stephens ($2.4B), Johnelle Hunt ($2.1B) and John Tyson ($1.8B) together have a combined net worth of $6.3 billion.
California
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Billionaire net worth: $532.4B
Industry with most billionaires: Technology
California has the highest population of billionaires in the United States. A whopping 124 live in the state and have a total net worth of $532.4 billion. The state’s technology industry a major source of many of those fortunes, including those of the created the five richest people in California. Mark Zuckerberg is the wealthiest among them, with a net worth of $44.6 billion, followed by Larry Ellison ($43.6B), Larry Page ($35.2B), Sergey Brin ($34.4B) and Laurene Powell Jobs ($16.7B). In all, 52 billionaires derive their wealth from the tech sector, more than any other industry in the state. Finance and investments (21 billionaires), media and entertainment (18 billionaires), and real estate (12 billionaires) also produced some of California’s wealthiest people.
Colorado
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Billionaire net worth: $38.8B
Industry with most billionaires: Media and entertainment, Food and beverage
Colorado may be known for recreation — traditionally for mountain sports, and more recently for the legal sale of marijuana — but that’s not necessarily reflected in its billionaire population. Of the state’s 10 billionaires, three derive their wealth from the food and beverage industry, and another three got rich in the satellite and cable television business. The richest man of the state is Charles Ergen, a self-made mogul who is worth $12.2 billion. He got his start selling satellite dishes from the back of his truck in Denver with his wife in 1980. Now he’s the CEO of DISH Network, but still finds time for mountain climbing.
Connecticut
This Greenwich, Connecticut home was listed
at $33 million in 2015. The median home price in the area was $3.31
million at that time. (Realtor.com)
Billionaire net worth: $50.3B
Industry with most billionaires: Finance and investments
Greenwich, Connecticut, is one of the most expensive places to live in America, with a median home price of $2.95 million. It’s not surprising that eight of Connecticut’s 12 billionaires live there, including the richest men in the state, Ray Dalio ($15.6B net worth) and Steve Cohen ($12.7B). Ten of the dozen richest people in the state are self-made, and most of them earned their fortunes in finance and investments. The combined net worth of Connecticut’s billionaires $50.3 billion.
Florida
Russ Weiner, one of Florida’s billionaires,
founded Rockstar Energy Drink in 2002. (Photograph by Ethan Pines/The
Forbes Collection)
Billionaire net worth: $126.6B
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The 44 billionaires living in Florida have a collective net worth of $126.6 billion, and 27 made their own fortunes. The group of self-starters has a total net worth of $82.7 billion and includes the richest man in the state, Thomas Peterffy ($11.1B). He arrived in the U.S. in 1965 as a penniless descendant of Hungarian aristocrats who lost their fortune to the Soviets. He is now the chairman and CEO of Interactive Brokers Group. Another self-made billionaire of Florida is Shahid Khan ($5.9B). He came to the U.S. from Pakistan when he was 16 and created autoparts maker Flex-N-Gate. The privately-held company has nearly $4.9 billion in sales.
Georgia
Georgia is home to the billionaire whose wealth derives from Chick-Fil-A. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
Billionaire net worth: $30.5B
Industry with most billionaires: Media and entertainment, Food and beverage, Fashion and retail, Service
Like Wyoming, Georgia is home to two pairs of billionaire siblings who inherited wealth. Pest-control billionaires Gary (net worth $2.5B) and Randall Rollins ($2.5B) live here, along with Dan ($3.3B) and Bubba Cathy ($3.3B), whose wealth derives from Chick-Fil-A. Self-made individuals like the co-founders of Home Depot ($3.3B) and Spanx billionaire Sara Blakely ($1.1B) complete the state’s nine billionaires.
Hawaii
Billionaire net worth: $7.2B
Industry with most billionaires: Technology
With its idyllic setting and tropical weather, it’s surprising only one billionaire calls Hawaii his home. Pierre Omidyar, who is worth $7.2 billion, lives in Honolulu. The eBay founder remains on the board of the auction website and PayPal, but has been slowly giving his shares in the companies to his philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network. Despite making his fortune from technology, Omidyar has big real estate plans for the state, with plans to develop resorts and homes on the islands.
Idaho
Billionaire net worth: $5.5B
Industry with most billionaires: Manufacturing
The three billionaires in the state of Idaho are all members of one family and work in the same business. Scott, Don and Gay Simplot have a combined net worth of $5.5 billion that derives from Simplot, a supplier of potatoes, vegetables and fruit products for the food service industry. Scott serves as the chairman and CEO, while his sister Gay is a director. Don no longer has an active role in the company. In 2008, Simplot supplied a third of America’s French fries. The company has also expanded into phosphate mining and the manufacturing of fertilizer.
Illinois
Billionaire net worth: $43.9B
Industry with most billionaires: Finance and investments
Thirteen of Illinois’ 17 wealthiest people live in Chicago. The richest person in Illinois is Ken Griffin (net worth $7.5B) who, like 11 other billionaires in the state, made his own fortune. Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund firm Citadel, topped the 2016 Forbes list of highest-earning hedge fund managers and traders, personally making $1.7 billion. But he’s not the only Illinoisan who is making big moves. Real estate investor Sam Zell (net worth $4.8B) closed a massive deal in January 2016 in which he sold 20% of his Equity Residential portfolio — about 23,000 apartments — to Starwood Capital.
Indiana
Billionaire net worth: $12.3B
Industry with most billionaires: Sports
There are four billionaires in the state of Indiana, and two own local sports teams. Herbert Simon (net worth $2.8B), is the surviving brother of an entrepreneurial duo that founded the Simon Property Group and grew it to be one of the world’s largest REITs. The Simon brothers later bought the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, a team which has doubled in value in the past year. James Irsay (net worth $2.3B) is the CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, the football team he inherited from his father. The combined net worth of Indiana billionaires is $12.3 billion.
Iowa
Billionaire net worth: $3.6B
Industry with most billionaires: Food and beverage
It’s no wonder that the only billionaire from Iowa made his fortune from the state’s biggest commodity. Harry Stine, who is worth $3.6 billion, earned his wealth from the corn and agriculture business. He licenses his corn and soybean seed genetics to multinational firms like Monsanto. Stine is also working to revolutionize the corn industry by creating seeds that are bred to thrive in densely planted areas, increasing harvests. State farmers were expected to grow 2.5 billion bushels of corn in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Kansas
Forbes media
Billionaire net worth: $41.8B
Industry with most billionaires: Diversified, Technology
The ninth richest person in the world and one of the most politically influential men in the U.S. has made his home in Kansas. Charles Koch, the CEO of multinational corporation Koch Industries, is worth $39.6 billion. The firm he manages is valued at $100 billion and is the second-largest private company in America. Koch is one of two billionaires in the state. Min Kao is the other and has a net worth of $2.2 billion. Kao is chairman and CEO of GPS-maker Garmin, which sold more than 141 million products but continues to face difficult competition from smartphones.
Kentucky
Billionaire net worth: $2.2B
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B. Wayne Hughes is one of 27 billionaires in the United States to have made a fortune in the service industry. He founded the world’s largest self-storage chain in 1972, and serves as Public Storage’s chairman emeritus. He saw room to grow during the financial crisis, and bought up single-family homes to renovate and rent as the market improved.
Louisiana
Billionaire net worth: $2.2B
Industry with most billionaires: Sports
Louisiana billionaire Tom Benson started off as a bookkeeper at a Chevrolet dealership in New Orleans, gradually funneling his earnings into his own string of dealerships, then local banks, and eventually, sports teams. Benson bought the New Orleans Saints in 1985 and later acquired the New Orleans Pelican basketball team in 2012. He also owns a 26-story office building and Champions Square, an outdoor entertainment venue near the Superdome arena.
Maine
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Billionaire net worth: $1.1B
Industry with most billionaires: Fashion and retail
The state best known for lobsters and summer vacations has one billionaire, Bill Alfond, who is worth $1.1 billion. Alfond’s father founded the Dexter Shoe Company in 1958, and after selling millions of boots and shoes per year, sold the firm for a chunk of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 1993. Bill Alfond and his siblings made their fortunes by increasing the value of those shares, while their father turned to philanthropy in his later years, donating millions to state universities and hospitals.
Maryland
Billionaire Dan Snyder is the owner of the Washington Redskins and lives in Maryland. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Billionaire net worth: $23.4B
Industry with most billionaires: Finance and investments, Sports
The richest man in Maryland is on the short list of developers striving to build a new headquarters for the FBI. Ted Lerner, who is worth $5.5 billion, borrowed $250 from his wife to start his real estate company in 1952. After selling 22,000 homes, he became a builder and now owns 20 million square feet of retail and commercial space, hotels and 7,000 apartments. While Lerner’s success in real estate is remarkable, there are other industries in the state that have more billionaires: sports, for example. Dan Snyder (net worth $2.1B), the owner of the Washington Redskins, and Stephen Bisciotti ($3B), the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, both live in the state.
Massachusetts
Abigail Johnson of Massachusetts is the richest person in her state. (Daniel Barry/Bloomberg News)
Billionaire net worth: $39.2B
Industry with most billionaires: Finance and investments
Abigail Johnson of Massachusetts the richest person in her state, a rare title for an American woman. Just eight U.S. women are richest individual in their state. Johnson, who is worth $13.1 billion, began working for Fidelity when she was in college. She became a full-time employee in 1988 and took over as CEO in 2014. She replaced her father Edward Johnson, who is the second richest person in the state with a fortune of $7.2 billion. The Johnsons’ combined net worths make up more than half of Massachusetts’ $39.2 billion total billionaire net worth.
Michigan
Brothers Hank and Doug Meijer are the co-chairmen of Meijer and the richest people in Michigan. (Photo via Newscom)
Billionaire net worth: $36.2B
Industry with most billionaires: Healthcare
Out of the 11 billionaires living in Michigan, seven are self-made, with a combined net worth of $21.2 billion. That’s about 59% of the state’s total billionaire net worth ($36.2B). But despite that, the richest people in the state initially inherited their wealth and continue to grow it through their family business. Brothers Hank and Doug Meijer are the co-chairmen (Hank is also the CEO) of Meijer, a big-box store chain with more than 200 locations in six states. Meijer is the 19th-largest private company in America, with estimates sales of $15.75 billion. The brothers have been in charge since their father handed over the business in 1990.
Minnesota
The MacMillian family makes up three out of
the five billionaires in Minnesota and derive their wealth from Cargill.
Billionaire net worth: $10.6B
Industry with most billionaires: Food and beverage
The MacMillian family makes up three out of the five billionaires in Minnesota. With a combined net worth of $6.7 billion, the clan members derive their wealth from Cargill, the international food conglomerate that was founded in Minnesota in 1865 and is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States. Whitney MacMillian (net worth $4.7B) was the last family member to serve as CEO, retiring in 1995. Martha and John MacMillian are also billionaires, each worth $1 billion. Read more here...