THE TOP 20
1. JEFF BEZOS $179 billion • SELF-MADE: SOURCE: Amazon AGE: 56 • RESIDENCE: Seattle, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥
The world’s richest person has his troubles, including coronavirus-related protests by Amazon workers and a big-tech antitrust investigation by Congress. But with the quarantining masses flocking to online shopping, Bezos is wealthier than ever. Amazon’s stock has soared 64% over the past year, adding $65 billion to his fortune.
Aided by a stock market that has defied the pandemic, the very wealthiest Forbes 400 members are doing better than ever. The top 20 are worth a combined $1.3 trillion, up 21% from a year ago, while the average Forbes 400 member’s wealth is up 8% from last year. In all, these 21 ultra-rich individuals (there’s a tie at No. 20) account for 42% of the total wealth of this year’s list. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has finally bested Warren Buffett for the No. 3 spot, while Elon Musk breaks into the top 20 for the first time.
Forbes calculated net worths using stock prices from July 24, 2020.
2. BILL GATES $111 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Microsoft AGE: 64 • RESIDENCE: Medina, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥♥
The self-taught health expert warned about the risk of a global pandemic in a prescient 2015 TED talk. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed to spending more than $350 million to fund Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and tests, and help distribute them in developing countries. The foundation matched 50% of funds raised for teachers via DonorsChoose on August 11.
3. MARK ZUCKERBERG $85 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Facebook AGE: 36 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
Both Facebook use and ad revenue have grown during the pandemic. Over a thousand advertisers, including Adidas and Clorox, joined a boycott starting in midJune to oppose what they say is the social media giant’s weak policing of hate speech and misleading political ads. In late June, Zuckerberg said he would start banning more ads that contain hateful content.
4. WARREN BUFFETT $73.5 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Berkshire Hathaway AGE: 90 • RESIDENCE: Omaha, NE PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥
The renowned value investor largely sat out the Covid-19 crisis until his Omaha, Nebraska–based conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, secured its biggest acquisition in four years, agreeing to buy Dominion Energy’s natural-gas pipelines for $9.7 billion in cash and debt in July. This is the first year since 2000 that Buffett—who has given away more than $40 billion overall, mostly through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—has fallen below the No. 3 spot on The Forbes 400.
5. LARRY ELLISON $72 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Software AGE: 76 • RESIDENCE: Woodside, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥
His software firm, Oracle, helped the United States government build a database to track the results of Covid-19 treatments and a website that signed up 100,000 volunteers for Phase 3 clinical trials for vaccines in just its first week. Meanwhile, Ellison’s stake in electric carmaker Tesla has quadrupled to $4 billion in value since December 2018, when he joined its board.
6. STEVE BALLMER $69 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Microsoft AGE: 64 • RESIDENCE: Hunts Point, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
The former Microsoft CEO has pledged $40 million to combat the Covid-19 crisis, including $10 million to the University of Washington School of Medicine to speed up vaccine development. In Washington, Ballmer has given more than $6 million statewide for coronavirus relief, including to a food-bank relief fund. In March, he purchased the Forum sports and concert arena in Inglewood, California, for $400 million. That acquisition neatly sidestepped lawsuits filed by the Forum’s previous owners, which had aimed to prevent Ballmer from building a new arena nearby for his NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers.
7. ELON MUSK $68 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Tesla, SpaceX AGE: 49 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥
8. LARRY PAGE $67.5 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Google AGE: 47 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥ 9. SERGEY BRIN $65.7 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Google AGE: 47 • RESIDENCE: Los Altos, CA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥
When the pair stepped down as president (Brin) and CEO (Page) of Google parent Alphabet last December, the Google cofounders penned an open letter highlighting their 21-year-old company’s achievements (such as Google Maps and YouTube) and describing their future roles as proud parents, “offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!” Both remain board members and controlling shareholders.
10. ALICE WALTON $62.3 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Walmart AGE: 70 • RESIDENCE: Fort Worth, TX PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥ 11. JIM WALTON $62.1 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Walmart AGE: 72 • RESIDENCE: Bentonville, AR PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥ 12. ROB WALTON $61.8 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Walmart AGE: 75 • RESIDENCE: Bentonville, AR PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥
Walmart sales jumped nearly 9% in the quarter through April 30, helped by a 74% surge in online sales. To meet heightened demand during the pandemic, it hired 400,000 mostly temporary workers. The children of founder Sam Walton are its biggest individual shareholders; only Rob, the former chairman, sits on the board.
13. MACKENZIE SCOTT $57 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Amazon AGE: 50 • RESIDENCE: Seattle, WA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥ 14. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG $55 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Bloomberg LP AGE: 78 • RESIDENCE: New York, NY PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥♥♥
New York’s former mayor poured more than $1 billion—a record-shattering sum, but still less than 2% of his net worth— into his failed presidential campaign. Since he dropped out of the race in March, his Bloomberg Philanthropies has given some $330 million to fight Covid-19.
15. CHARLES KOCH $45 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Koch Industries AGE: 84 • RESIDENCE: Wichita, KS PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
Koch has been head of the nation’s largest private company, the $115 billion (sales) Koch Industries, since 1967. Koch Industries’ Molex subsidiary has been supplying parts to build the long-in-development Japanese supercomputer Fugaku, which finally booted up in April to help with Covid-19 research efforts.
15. JULIA KOCH & FAMILY $45 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Koch Industries AGE: 58 • RESIDENCE: New York, NY PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
Once an assistant to fashion designer Adolfo, Julia met David Koch on a blind date in 1991; they married five years later. She inherited his stake in Koch Industries upon his death in August 2019 and now heads the David H. Koch Foundation, which supports medical research, arts and education.
17. PHIL KNIGHT & FAMILY $39.2 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Nike AGE: 82 • RESIDENCE: Hillsboro, OR PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
Knight cofounded $37.4 billion (sales) Nike in 1964 and retired as chairman in 2016. That same year, he pledged $500 million to his alma mater, the University of Oregon, for a science campus, and $400 million to his other alma mater, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. The sportswear company pledged $40 million in June to fight systemic racism.
18. MICHAEL DELL $35.6 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Dell computers AGE: 55 • RESIDENCE: Austin, TX PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
In July, Dell Technologies, of which Dell is chairman and chief executive, said it is exploring a potential spinoff of its nearly $50 billion stake in VMware, a publicly traded cloud company.
19. SHELDON ADELSON $29.8 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Casinos AGE: 87 • RESIDENCE: Las Vegas, NV PHILANTHROPY SCORE: ♥♥
Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands lost $985 million in the second quarter as its two Vegas casinos and resorts were shuttered due to the pandemic. Now they’re partially reopened, and Adelson says he will continue paying all his employees through October. A longtime supporter of Republican candidates, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have donated $1.2 million to committees backing President Trump this year, compared to $20 million in 2016.
20. JACQUELINE MARS $29 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Candy, pet food AGE: 80 • RESIDENCE: The Plains, VA PHILANTHROPY SCORE: N/A 20. JOHN MARS $29 billion • SELF-MADE SCORE: SOURCE: Candy, pet food AGE: 84 • RESIDENCE: Jackson, WY PHILANTHROPY SCORE: N/A
The siblings each inherited an estimated one-third of the $35 billion (sales) candy company, which makes Snickers and M&Ms. Mars also owns Uncle Ben’s rice, which announced in June, following Black Lives Matter protests across the country, that it would “evolve” the brand and was evaluating how to do so.