12 Illinois Billionaires Among Forbes 400 Richest In America

ILLINOIS — America’s richest keep getting richer. The wealthiest Americans on the annual Forbes 400 list grew their combined net worth by just over 2 percent from the previous year, making them worth $2.96 trillion in 2019.

Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, is once again at the top of the list. His ex-wife, Mackenzie Bezos, who got 25 percent of the couple’s shares in Amazon as part of their divorce settlement, is now the 15th richest person in America, according to the list.

In Illinois, 12 people were among the 400 richest in America in 2019, down from 13 in 2018.

According to Forbes, the minimum net worth to qualify for the list is $2.1 billion. The average wealth of those on the list increased by $200 million to $7.4 billion, Forbes writes.

With the vast amounts of wealth in the pockets of those on the exclusive list, Forbes notes that a number of high-profile billionaires such as Kylie Jenner and Michael Jordan, didn’t even make the list.

Here are the Illinois billionaires on the list, including several members of the Pritzker family:

• No 38: Ken Griffin, 51, $12.7 billion (hedge funds)
• No. 119: Sam Zell, 78, $5.5 billion (real estate, private equity)
• No. 187: Thomas Pritzker, 69, $4 billion (hotels, investments)
• No. 195: Neil Bluhm, 81, $3.9 billion (real estate)
• No. 195 (tie): Joe Mansueto, 63, $3.9 billion (investment research)
• No. 250: Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 54, $3.4 billion (hotels, investments)
• No. 261: Patrick Ryan, 82, $3.3 billion (insurance)
• No. 261 (tie): Mark Walter, 59, $3.3 billion (insurance)
• No. 296: Ty Warner, 75, $2.9 billion, (real estate, plush toys)
• No. 306: Eric Lefkofsky, 50, $2.8 billion (Groupon)
• No. 306 (tie): Penny Pritzker, 60, $2.8 billion (hotels, investments)
• No. 342: Joseph Grendys, 57, $2.5 billion (poultry processing)

The top 10 richest people in America for 2019 are:

Jeff Bezos: $114 billion
Bill Gates: $106 billion
Warren Buffett: $80.8 billion
Mark Zuckerberg: $69.6 billion
Larry Ellison: $65 billion
Larry Page: $55.5 billion
Sergey Brin: $53.5 billion
Michael Bloomberg: $53.4 billion
Steve Ballmer: $51.7 billion
Jim Walton: $51.6 billion

See the full list and read more via Forbes.