The 2024 Forbes 400 List Of Wealthiest Americans: Facts And Figures

Forbes

It was another great year to be rich, especially for the select few at the very top. With markets roaring, nearly all of the 25 wealthiest people in America got wealthier over the past 12 months—some by billions, or even tens of billions, of dollars.  In all, the top 25 billionaires on The Forbes 400 list are worth a collective $2.5 trillion. They hold nearly half of the $5.4 trillion in total wealth of the entire 400.  This elite group is $471 billion richer than in 2023, with each of the top 25 up 31% on average, outpacing the 18% jump in wealth across list members overall and the S&P 500’s 27% return.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2024/10/01/the-2024-forbes-400-the-25-wealthiest-people-in-america/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, the 2024 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, facts and figures.

00:09It's a record-smashing year for America's 400 richest people.

00:14After adding nearly $1 trillion to their fortunes over the past 12 months, the Forbes 400 are

00:20worth a collective $5.4 trillion, by far the most ever.

00:26It now takes a record $3.3 billion to even make the annual list, which we released Tuesday,

00:32up from $2.9 billion in 2023.

00:36In general, the richer you were, the richer you got.

00:40Just 25 people, a dozen of them worth $100 billion or more, are responsible for $500

00:45billion of the gains.

00:48These top 25 now hold more than $2.5 trillion in wealth, nearly half the list's total net

00:54worth.

00:56Forbes calculated fortunes using stock prices from September 1st, 2024.

01:02The richest person in America for the third straight year is Elon Musk, who is worth an

01:06estimated $244 billion.

01:10Despite dropping $7 billion in wealth over the past year amid sputtering Tesla stock

01:15and an ongoing battle over his $56 billion stock options package, Musk remains some $47

01:22billion ahead of No. 2 Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, who is worth an estimated $197 billion.

01:31Mark Zuckerberg, whose estimated net worth is $181 billion, climbed from No. 8 last year

01:36to No. 3 in 2024 thanks to the huge rebound in shares of Meta, the parent company of Facebook,

01:43Instagram, and WhatsApp.

01:45Alice Walton continues her reign as the richest woman in the U.S., her ninth time in a decade,

01:52with shares of Walmart, which her father Sam Walton co-founded in 1962, up by 41% in the

01:57past year.

01:58She's worth an estimated $89.2 billion, good for No. 15 overall.

02:05Walton is one of just 67 women on the Forbes 400, up from 60 last year.

02:11As a group, the list's women are worth a combined $839 billion, compared to $621 billion

02:18in 2023.

02:20Diane Hendricks, who's worth $21.9 billion, remains the wealthiest self-made woman in

02:26America, one of a record 13 women on the list who built, rather than inherited, their fortune.

02:33Overall, 67% of the Forbes 400 is self-made, meaning they founded their own company or

02:39helped build one, though some traveled much longer and tougher paths to great wealth than

02:43others.

02:45Forbes once again assigned everyone on the list a self-made score, from 1 to 10, with

02:5010 being the true rags-to-riches stories.

02:53Those remain rare, just 25 out of the 400.

02:57Despite it requiring more money than ever to make the list, 23 billionaires were able

03:01to elbow their way into the ranks this year.

03:04Some of these newcomers include Todd Graves, who created the Raising Cane's fast food chain,

03:09and is worth $9.5 billion, Leonid Radvinsky, the owner of OnlyFans, who's worth $3.8 billion,

03:17and Alex Karp, the co-founder and CEO of data mining company Palantir, who's worth

03:22$3.6 billion.

03:25Another 11 people who fell off a previous Forbes 400 list returned to the ranks this

03:30year.

03:31The most notable?

03:32Donald Trump, now worth $4.3 billion.

03:36Trump has ridden the volatile stock price of truth social parent company Trump Media

03:40and Technology Group back onto the list, part of a broader ploy to wring billions in wealth

03:45out of his political career.

03:47These newcomers and returnees displaced several less fortunate billionaires who lost their

03:52spot among the nation's richest people.

03:54There were 30 drop-offs this year.

03:57They join a growing list of American billionaires who are simply too poor to make the cut.

04:02For the first time ever, there are more American billionaires not on the Forbes 400 than there

04:07are on it.

04:09415 and counting.

04:11That includes famous names like Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, and Taylor Swift.

04:17The youngest member of the ranks is Walmart heir Lucas Walton, who is 38 years old and

04:21worth an estimated $33.9 billion.

04:25Venture capitalist and real estate mogul Josh Kushner, who is worth $3.8 billion and is

04:3039 years old, is the only other listee under the age of 40.

04:35On average, the members of the 2024 Forbes 400 are 70 years old.

04:40The eldest is Dole Food Company's David Murdoch, who is worth $3.7 billion and is

04:46101 years old.

04:49For full coverage, and to see the whole list, as well as see our more in-depth Forbes 400

04:54videos on the top 5, the billionaires not rich enough to make it, and the newcomers,

04:58check out Chase Peterson Whithorn's piece on Forbes.com.

05:03This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:06Thanks for tuning in.

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