2 Illinois Billionaires Among Richest Americans: New Forbes List

ILLINOIS – With a net worth of $28 billion — up from $21.2 billion last year — Walmart heir Lukas Walton, grandson of founder Sam Walton, is once again the richest person in Illinois, thanks in part to the departure of Ken Griffin, who long held the "richest person" title before leaving Illinois a few years ago.

Patrick Ryan of Winnetka, with a net worth of $10.7 billion, is the second-richest person in Illinois. He's the CEO and founder of Ryan Specialty Group, a wholesale brokerage and specialty insurance firm, and served as CEO of Aon for more than four decades before leaving in 2008.

Several members of the Pritzker family, heirs to the Hyatt Hotels fortune — are also on the Forbes Billionaires list again, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, along with two relatives who made the list for the first time this year.

Chicago resident Matthew Pritzer is a new addition to the list, along with his sister, Liesel Pritzker Simmons, who lives in Massachusetts. According to Forbes, the siblings "sued their family for a chunk of its Hyatt Hotels fortune and received around $500 million apiece in 2005."

Also new to the list is in Illinois is Steve Lavin, CEO of Aurora-based meat-packing company OSI Group. He took over the company for his father, Sheldon Lavin, who previously appeared on the list before his death in May 2023.

Globally, there are now more billionaires than ever — 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021 — and they're richer than ever, according to Forbes.

Much of the gain comes from the United States, "which now boasts a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7 trillion," the outlet added.

Forbes said its net worth calculations use stock prices from March 8.

Illinois' billionaires list once again includes the likes of Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, and Beanie Babies founder Ty Warner.

Other Illinois billionaires on the list, and their rankings, according to Forbes, include:

• 409. Thomas Pritzker $6.7B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 424. Joe Mansueto $6.5B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 453. Neil Bluhm $6.3B, real estate, Chicago
• 486. Mark Walter $6B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 529. Ty Warner $5.6B, plush toys/real estate, Oak Brook
• 597. Justin Ishbia $5.1B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 809. Eric Lefkofsky $3.9B, technology (Groupon), Glencoe
• 809. Joseph Grendys $3.9 B, food and beverage, Chicago
• 809. Steve Lavin and family, $3.9B, food and beverage, Chicago
• 871. Penny Pritzker $3.7B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 920. J.B. Pritzker $3.5B, finance and investments, Springfield
• 991. Michael Polsky $3.3B, energy, Chicago
• 1062. Byron Trott $3.1B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 1062. Matthew Roszak $3.1B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 1104. Leonid Radvinsky $3B, technology, Chicago
• 1380. Steven Sarowitz 2.4B, technology, Highland Park
• 1496. Jennifer Pritzker $2.2B, finance and investments, Chicago
• 1545. Jerry Reinsdorf $2.1B, sports, Chicago
• 1851. Don Levin, $1.7B, manufacturing, Glenview
• 1851. Matthew Pritzker, $1.7B, diversified, Chicago
• 2287. Michael Krasny $1.3B, technology, Highland Park

Globally, Bernard Arnault and family topped the list of 400 with a net worth of $233 billion. Arnault oversees the LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.

For the second and third spot, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk — owner of the social media platform X — and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are neck and neck, with Musk at $195 billion and Bezos at $194 billion. In fourth is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at $177 billion, then in fifth is Oracle software development company founder Larry Ellison at $141 billion.

Cailin Loesch, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.