According to the annual Forbes 400 survey, Elon Musk is still the richest man in America with a fortune of $251 billion, leaving behind tech titans Jeff Bezos and Larry Ellison.
Like millions of Americans, the Tesla boss is no better off than he was last year, but he still has a fortune that’s about $90 billion larger than anyone else’s.
Despite paying $44 billion for Twitter last year, he has managed to maintain his fortune, thanks in part to the five-fold increase in the value of his rocket company SpaceX to $150 billion in the last four years.
But there is no room for former President Donald Trump, who disappears from the list with an estimated fortune of $2.6 billion, a full $300 million less than the top 400.
The former president shared a spot with his father Fred on the list’s first incarnation in 1982, but was reported to have lost $600 million last year due to a deluge of bills and the poor performance of his social media network, Truth Social .
There’s also no room for anyone from the Kardashian clan, although Kim has a fortune of $1.4 billion and younger sister Kylie earns $750 million from her cosmetic brands.
Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk remains the richest man in America with an estimated fortune of $252 billion
But the former richest man, ex-Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, 59, pictured with his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, has gained some ground in second place with $161 billion
Low-key Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, 79, comes in third with $158 billion
But Ivanka Trump’s brother-in-law Josh Kushner joins the list for the first time with $3.6 billion thanks to his venture capital firm Thrive Capital.
The business magazine’s annual list puts the total wealth of America’s top 400 at $4.5 trillion, the highest level so far in 2021.
Only 60 women are on the list, led by Walmart heiress Alice Walton, 73, with $64.9 billion, but the list does see its first professional athlete in the form of Michael Jordan, with a fortune of $3 billion, in part thanks to nine-figure annual royalty checks from Nike and his sale of shares in the NBA team Charlotte Hornets.
Back at the top, Musk has noted that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is on the rise with a fortune of $161 billion (up $10 billion last year).
Bezos, 59, was the world’s richest man for four years with a peak fortune of $201 billion before being overtaken by Musk in 2021.
His wife MacKenzie received a quarter of his Amazon shares in their divorce in 2019 and he is accused of leaving Amazon successor Andy Jassy to clean up his mess after stepping down as the company’s CEO in July 2021.
He remains an owner of the Washington Post and the aerospace company Blue Origin, with which he flew into orbit in 2021.
Bezos is fighting for third place: Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, 79, with $158 billion from his 40 percent stake in the company.
He also owns 15 million shares of electric car maker Tesla and 98% of Lana’l, the private island in Hawaii that he moved to in 2020.
Donald Trump shared a spot with his father Fred in the list’s first incarnation in 1982, but is off the list after losing $600 million last year due to a deluge of bills and the poor performance of his social media network Truth Social had lost.
“The Sage of Omaha” Warren Buffet, 93, is worth $121 billion after a lifetime of identifying good investments for his company, Berkshire Hathaway
Larry Page, 50, remains a board member and majority shareholder of Google’s parent company Alphabet
Google once threatened to eclipse Microsoft, but 67-year-old Bill Gates remains America’s sixth richest man with a fortune of $111 billion, while his rising rival Sergey Brin is $1 billion behind
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg accused Musk of withdrawing from the cage fight planned by the Tesla boss, while Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer is happy to be there
Michael Bloomberg, pictured with Prince William, found time to become mayor of New York and build a media empire
Alice Walton, 73, of the Walmart retail dynasty, is now America’s richest woman with a fortune of $66.5 billion
Walton is swapping places with Julia Koch, who inherited a $60 billion stake in Koch Industries
But technology isn’t the only path to wealth, and 93-year-old investor Warren Buffet comes fourth on the list with $121 billion from his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway.
The “Sage of Omaha” is the son of a US congressman, bought his first stocks at the age of 11 and filed his first tax returns at 13.
His Nebraska-born company wholly owns companies like Geico and Dairy Queen, as well as parts of Cocoa Cola, Kraft Heinz and Apple.
Reclusive Google co-founder Larry Page, 50, remains at the bottom of the top five with $144 billion, $21 billion more than last year.
He has been photographed only a few times since stepping down as CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet in 2019 and spent months in Fiji – mostly on the island of Tavarua – during the coronavirus pandemic.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was once the world’s richest man but is now ranked sixth on the American list, while Page’s Google co-founder Sergey Brin is ranked seventh.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg spent part of this year fending off a challenge from Musk, but his early investment in AI is helping him cement his $106 billion fortune.
Gates’ former right-hand man, ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, comes in ninth with $101 billion, and media titan Michael Bloomberg proves you don’t need an 11-figure fortune to get into the top ten by joining $96 billion sneaks into tenth place.
Michael Dell of the eponymous computer company has seen his fortune grow to $72 billion over five years, while the next three spots are held by members of the Walton family behind Walmart, including Alice at number 14.
Julia Koch comes with a $60 billion stake in Koch Industries that she inherited from her husband David, who died in August 2019 at age 79.
And her former father-in-law Charles Koch is close behind, receiving $55 billion from the sprawling manufacturing giant.
The biggest riser on the list is Taiwan-born Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang, who climbs 31 spots to 17th place thanks to huge demand from AI firms for his company’s computer chips.
Nike founder Phil Knight slips to 18th place, while siblings Jacqueline and John Mars take the next two spots thanks to their shares in the confectionery giant.
The top 20 includes MacKenzie Scott, Bezos’ former wife, who is worth $37 billion after donating more than $14 billion to charities since 2020.
Further down the list is Lukas Walton, at 37 the youngest in the top 400 and one of only four people under 40 to have made it.
The oldest is Dole Food Products billionaire David Murdock at 100, and the average age of the richest billionaires is 70.
Forbes 400: RICHEST AMERICANS FOR 2023 REVEALED
1 Elon Musk, 52, Texas, $251 billion Tesla, SpaceX
2 Jeff Bezos, 59, Washington $161 billion Amazon
3 Larry Ellison, 79, California, $158 billion Oracle
4 Warren Buffett, 93, Nebraska, $121 billion Berkshire Hathaway
5 Larry Page, 50, California, $114 billion Google
6 Bill Gates, 67, Washington, $111 billion Microsoft
7 Sergey Brin, 50, California, $110 billion at Google
8 Mark Zuckerberg, 39, California, $106 billion on Facebook
9 Steve Ballmer, 67, Washington $101 billion Microsoft
10 Michael Bloomberg, 81, New York $96.3 billion Bloomberg LP
11 Michael Dell, 58, Texas $71.5 billion Dell Technologies
12 Jim Walton and family, 75, Arkansas Walmart valued at $68.2 billion
13 Rob Walton and family, 78, Arkansas Walmart valued at $67.4 billion
14 Alice Walton, 73, Texas, Walmart valued at $66.5 billion
15 Julia Koch and family, 61, New York, $59.8 billion Koch Industries
16 Charles Koch and family, 87, Kansas, $54.5 billion Koch Industries
17 Jensen Huang, 60, California, $40.7 billion Nvidia
18 Jacqueline Mars, 83, Virginia, $38.9 billion Mars
18 John Mars, 87, Wyoming $38.9 billion Mars
20 MacKenzie Scott, 53, Washington, $37.1 billion at Amazon