5 Colorado Billionaires On Forbes List Of Richest Americans

DENVER, CO – Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is at the top of yet another list of billionaires, this time the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. The list released Wednesday puts Bezos ahead of his Washington-area neighbor, Bill Gates, who had been at the top since 1994.

Bezos was also at the top of Forbes’ billionaires list, which was released in March. He dethroned Gates on that list as well.

The 400 richest Americans have a massive amount of wealth. According to Forbes, the minimum net worth needed to join the list in 2018 was $2.1 billion, the highest amount ever for admission. In all, Forbes says the net worth of the 400 was a record high of $2.9 trillion and half of that belongs to just the 45 richest people in the country.

In Colorado, five residents made it to the elite club. According to Forbes, the Colorado residents on the list are:

• Philip Anschutz, age 78, net worth $11.3B. Anschutz built fortunes in oil, railroads, telecom, real estate and entertainment.
• Charles Ergen, age 65, net worth $10.8B. He is the cofounder and chairman of satellite TV provider DISH Network, and satellite communications firm EchoStar. Ergen's rank dropped from first in Colorado when his fortune dropped from $13.4B in March.
• John Malone, age 77, net worth $7.5B. Nicknamed the Cable Cowboy, Malone made his fortune with cable television deals. Malone's fortune dropped from $8.1B in March, according to Forbes.
• James Leprino, age 80, net worth $4B. Leprino's family food empire is built on mozzarella cheese.
• Pat Strycher, age 62, net worth $2.3B. She made her fortune from her grandfather's medical equipment and software company.

Not on the list this time is former Aussie resident James Packer, 51, who formerly lived in Aspen. Packer is largest shareholder of international gambling concern Crown Resorts, but he had to step down from a leadership role due to "mental health issues," Forbes said. Packer's net worth dropped from $4.1B in March to $3.8B after he reportedly had to pay a settlement to his sister.

Some other notable points from Forbes’ reporting:

• 57 women were on the list
• Those with self-made fortunes vastly outnumber those with inherited wealth
• President Donald Trump dropped 11 spots on the list compared to 2017, coming in at No. 259; see the New York Times account of how Trump accumulated his wealth, which differs significantly from the president’s account.

Forbes’ takes a hard and thorough look at the wealth of those on the list to figure out just how much they’re worth. Reporters at Forbes conduct interviews, look over documents, assets and factor in debt in their calculations. (You can see a more detailed methodology here.)

The top 10 billionaires on the list are:

Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
Bill Gates (Microsoft)
Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Larry Ellison (software)
Larry Page (Google)
Charles Koch (Koch Industries)
David Koch (Koch Industries)
Sergey Brin (Google)
Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP)

>>>You can see the full list here.
>>>Click here to see Forbes’ full report on the list.

By Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff

Photo via Shutterstock