The 10 Wealthiest People In America

Change from last year: +$1.4 billion

Age: 64

Alice is another daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and an heiress to the family fortune.

She is a major art collector and currently heads the 200,000-square-foot Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$4 billion

Age: 72

Michael Bloomberg is the former mayor of New York and is now back as CEO of Bloomberg LP, with an 88% stake.

Before becoming the mayor of NYC, Bloomberg was a self-made billionaire and Harvard Business School alum. You can read about his journey to success here.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$2.2 billion

Age: 64

James Carr Walton (who goes by Jim) is the youngest son of Sam Walton and is on the Wal-Mart board of directors.

Jim is also a member of the Republican Party of Arkansas and is currently the Chairman and CEO of Arvest Bank Group, Inc., which has branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$2.6 billion

Age: 59

Christy Walton is the wealthiest woman on the Forbes 400 list this year and is also the richest woman in the world. She married into the Wal-Mart family through her late husband John Walton, who died in a plane crash.

Her wealth has soared with the value of the Wal-Mart shares she inherited, pushing her net worth to $38 billion.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$6 billion

Age: 74

David, along with brother Charles, is a co-owner and the executive vice president of Koch Industries, the second largest privately-held company in the world. The brothers have added $5 billion in new acquisitions to their empire since last year.

David is a major donor to the Republican Party. He also had the David H. Koch Plaza dedicated to himself in September at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$6 billion

Age: 78

Charles is a co-owner and executive vice president at Koch Industries, the second largest privately-held company in the world, along with his younger brother David. The brothers have added $5 billion in new acquisitions to their empire since last year.

Charles is also a major donor to the Republican Party, and he and his brother have been accused of "trying to buy the country."

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$9 billion

Age: 70

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison stepped down from his position as CEO this year. His wealth has climbed to $50 billion, which is a $9 billion increase since 2013.

Ellison did not even graduate from college, but that did not stop him from doing incredibly well for himself. In addition to all of his fancy toys, Ellison owns a 97% stake in the Hawaiian island of Lanai.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$8.5 billion

Age: 84

Warren Buffett’s fortune continued to climb despite him being one of the most generous billionaires in the world. He can thank the success of his company Berkshire Hathaway, as well as his position as the company's primary shareholder and CEO.

He is known as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ with his company being the largest shareholder of Coca-Cola.

Source: Forbes

Change from last year: +$9 billion

Age: 58

Bill Gates is the founder and owner of Microsoft. He famously dropped out of Harvard after conceiving the company.

His wealth is from shares in Microsoft, but also from Cascade — a private company that doesn’t report it’s earnings. It’s estimated that Cascade has made Gates as much as $6 billion in the past 6 months.

Gates is also known for his incredible philanthropy and has given away $30 billion to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 2000.

Source: Forbes

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