The new Forbes 400 list is out. This list shows the 400 richest people in the US. The rich are getting richer. In order to make this list, you have to be worth at least $1.7 billion. Techies dominate this billionaire’s list…again.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates takes the top spot for the twenty-second year in a row. He’s worth an unbelievable $76 billion. Investor Warren Buffet came in second. The third biggest billionaire in the US is Larry Ellison. He’s the executive chairman, CEO, and co-founder of computer hardware and software giant Oracle. Ellison comes in at 47.5 billion dollars. Slightly behind him is Internet retail Amazon kingpin Jeff Bezos at $47 billion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg comes in seventh. He’s worth slightly over $40 billion and counting. Year after year, search engine and all-around tech giant Google is voted one of the most valuable and respected companies around today. Maybe that’s why it’s leader Larry Page is the 10th richest man in America. He’s worth an estimated 33 and a third billion dollars. Page’s co-founder, Sergey Brin, comes behind him at #11, worth $32.6 billion. Snapchat CEO Evan Speigal is the youngest person on Fortune 400 list. At 25 years of age, he’s worth 2.1 billion dollars. Needless to say, techies make a huge chunk in the billionaire’s list.
If you ever doubted how important computer technology is to our world today, take a look at this list. Most of these are innovators who saw a need and went with it. Look at where their hard work and innovation took them. So for every person in the computer tech industry, there’s hope that you and I can make this list one day. Just ask Even Speigal. So if there’s anyone in jr. high, high school or college reading this, Bill Gates is right. Be careful of how you treat nerds and geeks; you might be working for us one day. Who would you like to see make the Forbes billionaires list?