Filthy Rich

Gates Tops Forbes Wealthy List

And the Facebook founders make a huge splash.

The rich get richer. As the U.S. economy is still in recovery mode, the country’s wealthiest Americans have seen a rise in their net worth, according to the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. The combined net worth of the list members rose to about $1.37 trillion in 2010, up 8 percent from the previous year, according the list released late Wednesday. At the top of the list was Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $54 billion, followed by Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett with $45 billion, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison with $27 billion. The minimum to get on the list was $1 billion, and California had the most people on the list with 83, followed by New York with 64. But the biggest surprise was Facebook’s increased presence. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth rose 245 percent—more than anyone on the list—giving him the No. 35 spot with an estimated fortune of $6.9 billion. The number puts him higher than Apple/Pixar honcho Steve Jobs and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch. “It's the rise of Facebook,” said Luisa Kroll, Forbes' global wealth editor. “At a time where there are a lot of the same people on the list and not a lot of new things being created, you do have Facebook.”