THE FLUSH 400

The thirty-ninth annual iteration of The Forbes 400, our ranking of the richest people in America, was the centerpiece of our October issue. Pandemic be damned: The country’s wealthiest gained an aggregate $240 billion over the past year. The familiars at the top—Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, Buffett—were perhaps upstaged by the highest-ranking newcomer, Eric Yuan (No. 43; $11 billion), whose Zoom video-chat platform is the one indisputable winner of 2020, enabling classrooms, regular hellos to Grandma and Friday cocktails with friends. The majority of Forbes 400 members were as rich or richer than last year, but one notable figure was down: Donald J. Trump (No. 339; $2.5 billion). Amateur pundits pounced: “You’ve lost $600 million according to Forbes,” crowed @Eric19755 on Twitter, “all because of a pandemic you could have prepared for & better responded to.” A contrarian crossfire: “Even someone who isn’t a Trump supporter should look at this as refreshing,” tweeted @ProudAmerican82. “Trump has sacrificed it all for the American people.”