Get-rich-quick America - home to 268 billionaires
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The 400 richest Americans are
worth more than $1 trillion combined -- and that tops the gross
domestic product of China, Forbes magazine said Thursday.
Naturally, Bill Gates is still America's wealthiest, with a
net personal worth of $85 billion, up from $59 billion last
year. Microsoft Corp.'s <MSFT.O> founder and chairman, whose
net worth briefly touched $100 billion last April, still has
more money than the gross domestic product of the Philippines
($83.1 billion).
What's even more surprising about the Forbes 400 list of
the richest Americans, published in the edition dated Oct. 11,
is that it proves that the United States really is a country
where someone can get rich quick.
It took the legendary John D. Rockefeller 25 years to make
his first billion, but Gary Winnick (68th on the Forbes 400
with $3.2 billion) joined the billionaire's club just 18 months
after putting his money into the undersea fiber-optic cable
builder Global Crossing Ltd. <GBLX.O>
Jay Walker, founder of Internet commerce company
Priceline.com Inc. <PCLN.O>, who ranks 43rd with $4.1 billion,
became a billionaire nearly as fast, and Pierre Omidyar,
founder of Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. <EBAY.O> has vaulted
from nowhere into the 35th spot with $4.9 billion.
With a surging stock market driven by technology and
Internet companies, the number of billionaires swelled by 79 to
268 this year -- the first-year billionaires make up more than
half the Forbes list.
In 1982 there were just 13 billionaires in the United
States, and now there are about 5 million lowly millionaires.
Of the 60 new names on this year's list, 35 are billionaires
and 19 have fortunes derived from Web businesses.
Behind Gates is No. 2-ranked Paul Allen, who also got rich
via Microsoft stock and who has a net worth of $40 billion.
Investor Warren Buffett is third with $31 billion, while Steve
Ballmer, Microsoft's president, and Michael Dell, founder of
Dell Computer Corp.<DELL.O>, rank 4th and 5th.
The magazine grouped the rich into various categories to
make comparisons among people who made their money in the same
areas: Among the categories are: Microsoft Money, Cable Guys,
Hard Drivers, Kings Of The Code, Web Masters, Bandwidth Boys,
Media Moguls, You've Got Money, Financiers, Inheritors,
Landlords, Rag Traders, Optionaires, Jocks, Money Managers, Old
Money and Retailers.
One thing is certain, the indigent need not apply -- the
minimum to qualify for this year's list is $625 million, up
from $500 million last year.
REUTERS
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