These CO Billionaires Are Among World’s Richest: Forbes 2022 List

COLORADO — With sanctions targetting Russian oligarchs and the pandemic continuing to cause economic strife, the billionaires of the world have lost more than $400 billion, though they are still worth a collective $12.7 trillion, according to the recently released Forbes World's Billionaires List.

More than 1,000 billionaires are richer than they were a year ago, even as ordinary Americans grapple with record gas prices and rising food costs at the grocery store. And during the same year, more than 200 people became billionaires.

The number of billionaires on this year’s list slipped to 2,668 — 87 fewer than last year.

A total of 12 billionaires on this year’s list hail from Colorado. Philip Anschutz is at the top with a net worth of $11.1 billion. His fortune has come from more than 50 years in the oil, railroad, telecom, real estate and entertainment industries. Anschutz also owns the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and a third of the Los Angeles Lakers in addition to the Staples Center, the arena in which they play.

And on about 300,000 acres of land in Wyoming, he is working to build the world's largest wind farm.

Other Colorado billionaires on the list include:

• Charles Ergen, satellite TV, $8.7 billion
• John Malone, cable TV, $7.4 billion
• Mark Stevens, venture capital, $4.5 billion
• James Leprino, food and beverage, $3.6 billion
• Pat Stryker, healthcare, $3.1 billion
• Kenneth Tuchman, service, $2.8 billion
• Cargill MacMillan, Cargill, $1.6 billion
• William MacMillan, Cargill, $1.6 billion
• Stewart Butterfield, technology, $1.4 billion
• Gary Magness, media and entertainment, $1.4 billion
• Thomas Bailey, finance and investments, $1.2 billion

For context, Philip Anschutz's wealth is equivalent to nearly 62 million Vail lift tickets.

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 11.

The United States still leads the world with 735 billionaires worth a collective $4.7 trillion. This includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tops the World’s Billionaires List for the first time.

Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fell to the second spot on this year’s list. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, stepped down as CEO in 2021 and is now executive chairman of the company.

Meanwhile, France’s Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates of Microsoft at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway.

U.S. billionaires could surrender more wealth should Congress pass a “Billionaire Minimum Tax” proposed in President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal.

Under the proposal, households worth more than $100 million would pay at least 20 percent in taxes on both income and “unrealized gains,” or the increase in an unsold investment’s value. Many wealthy people hold onto these investments for decades, meaning they’re never taxed, the administration said.

However, the bill’s prospects seem grim after Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin spoke out against it.

“You can’t tax something that’s not earned. Earned income is what we’re based on,” Manchin told The Hill. “There’s other ways to do it. Everybody has to pay their fair share.”

See the full 2022 Forbes Billionaires List.