Rank of local billionaires stands pat.
Area’s three billionaires keep spots as more join the club worldwide
Membership in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s billionaires has swelled by nearly a third, but there’s no need to check to see if you made it.
No one new from San Antonio cracked the list. So, once again, the number of billionaires who call San Antonio home remains firmly stuck at three.
Heading the list of San Antonio residents in the no-longer-so-exclusive club is Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury, 78, the Silver Ventures owner who hit the jackpot when he sold salsa maker Pace Foods to Campbell Soup for about $1.1 billion in 1994.
Forbes calculated Goldsbury’s net worth at $1.7 billion, unchanged from last year. Nevertheless, his ranking tumbled 566 spots from 1,267 last year to tied for 1,833 this year.
That’s likely due in part to an “unprecedented” explosion in the number of newly minted billionaires.
Forbes reported 660 new people joined the billionaire’s party, pushing membership up to 2,755. Apparently, the pandemic didn’t rain on everybody’s parade.
San Antonio’s two other billionaires — Dr. James Leininger, 76, and B.J. “Red” Mccombs, 93 — came in tied at 2,035 with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
For Leininger, the founder of wound-care company Kinetic Concepts Inc., his net worth was flat in comparison with 2020 when he was ranked as the 1,415 richest person on the list. Kinetic Concepts Inc. was rebranded as Acelity Inc., which was acquired by 3M Co. in 2019.
Auto magnate Mccombs’ net worth rose $100 million from last year when he was 1,513 on the list. Still, his net worth is off from $1.6 billion just a few years ago. Mccombs built a network of 55 car dealerships that’s now down to 12, Forbes reported.
H-E-B Chairman and CEO Charles Butt, 83, is not on the list because the magazine doesn’t separate his fortune from the rest of his family. Forbes earlier this year calculated the family’s net worth at $17.8 billion.
Gayle Benson, 74, the widow of Tom Benson — who amassed some of his wealth in San Antonio car dealerships and banking before moving to New Orleans in the 1980s — landed at 891 on Forbes’ list with a $3.5 billion fortune. Tom Benson died at age 90 in 2018.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos retained the title of the world’s richest man, registering a staggering net worth of $177 billion. That’s a nearly 57 percent increase from 2020 when his wealth was calculated at $113 billion.
Tesla and Spacex founder Elon Musk rocketed to second on the list from 31 a year ago. His net worth has climbed to $151 billion — or more than 500 percent from $24.6 billion last year.
Some notable Texans on the the list include Landry’s and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, whose $4.6 billion net worth placed him 622 on the list.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wasn’t far behind Fertitta, ranking 655 with a net worth of $4.4 billion.