Lots of wealth
Amazon’s founder zooms to No. 1 spot with staggering gain
Thirteen people from Houston made the Forbes’ World Billionaires list for 2018, but they all trailed Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who had $112 billion.
Thirteen Houstonians again earned spots on Forbes’ World Billionaires list for 2018, a year in which Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ascended the top spot for the first time.
Bezos’ emergence is also notable for a couple of superlatives. His $112 billion fortune rose by $39.2 billion in what the magazine describes as the largest year-over-year gain in the list’s 32-year history. And the gap between his net worth and that of Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates marks the largest dollar difference between Nos. 1 and 2 since 2001.
Gates, who has held the top spot in 18 of the last 24 years, has a $90 billion fortune, Forbes said.
The 2,208 billionaires on the global list this year have an average wealth of $4.1 billion, which is also a record. Combined, the billionaires are worth $9.1 trillion, $1.4 trillion more than last year.
The Houston billionaires are among 52 in Texas.
Rich Kinder, chair of oil and gas pipeline giant Kinder Morgan, held his place as Houston’s richest billionaire, ranking No. 281 on the list of 2,208 billionaires with a net worth of $6.2 billion, the magazine reported.
Kinder was among seven Houstonians whose net wealth declined since last year’s Forbes list. He lost a billion in net worth, down 14 percent from $7.2 billion reported in 2017.
Among Texans, Kinder ranked behind only Alice Walton, who gained her fortune from Walmart and ranked No. 16 with a net worth of $46 billion; Michael Dell, No. 39 with a net worth of $22.7 billion; and Andrew Beal, No. 132 with a net worth of $11.6 billion.
The 13 Houstonians’ average net wealth of $4.1 billion mirrored the average of all the world billionaires for 2018.
Kinder and four other local billionaires also rank among the 10 richest Texans. The others are siblings Dannine Avara, Scott Duncan, Milane Frantz and Randa Williams, who share the No. 334 position on the list, with a net worth of $5.5 billion each. That’s down from last year’s net worth of $5.7 billion each. They inherited their wealth from pipeline magnate Dan Duncan.
Other local billionaires include:
• Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets, Landry’s and Golden Nugget Casinos. He showed the biggest jump in wealth. A 48 percent gain from a year ago placed him at No. 499, with $4.3 billion in net wealth. Last year, Fertitta ranked No. 693 with a fortune estimated at $2.9 billion.
• Dan Friedkin, owner of Gulf States Toyota, No. 550, with $4 billion in net worth. That’s up from $3.6 billion in March of 2017.
• Robert McNair, owner of the Houston Texans, No. 588, with $3.8 billion in net worth. That’s up 9 percent from $3.5 billion a year ago.
• Jeffery Hildebrand, cofounder of private oil and gas company Hilcorp, No. 629, with $3.6 billion in net worth. His fortune is down 16 percent from a year ago.
• John Arnold, who made his money in hedge funds, No. 703 with $3.3 billion in net worth, up 10 percent from a year ago.
• George Bishop, founder of GeoSouthern Energy, No. 965 with $2.5 billion in net worth, unchanged from last year’s list.
• Leslie Alexander, former owner of the Houston Rockets, No. 1157 with $2.1 billion in net worth. That’s up 11 percent from $1.9 billion a year ago.
Fayez Sarofim, chairman of money management firm Fayez Sarofim & Co., No 1561 with $1.5 billion in net worth. That’s down 6 percent from $1.6 billion a year ago.
Ten of the local billionaires are richer than President Donald Trump, according to Forbes’ calculations. Trump ranked No. 766 with a net worth of $3.1 billion.
Rounding out the top five on the overall list are: Warren Buffett, worth $84 billion, up from $75.6 billion in 2017; European fashion titan Bernard Arnault, $72 billion; and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, $71 billion.