5 Billionaires From MD Among Richest Americans: New Forbes List

MARYLAND — Billionaire Annette Lerner is the wealthiest person in Maryland, according to The Forbes 400, an annual ranking of America’s super rich released Tuesday.

Overall, the 400 richest billionaires in America are worth $4.5 trillion, tying a record set in 2021. Overall, they are about $500 billion richer than they were a year ago, in large part because of rebounding stock markets and an AI-driven tech boom, Forbes said.

Billionaires had to have a net worth at least $2.9 billion to be included on the prestigious list, up from $2.7 billion a year ago. Forbes said its net worth calculations use stock prices from Sept. 8.

Annette Lerner, 93, the richest person in Maryland, is worth an estimated $6.5 billion. Lerner, who ranks as the 161st richest person in the nation, lent $250 to her 26-year-old husband, Ted Lerner, in 1952 to start a real estate company, selling homes for developers.

Today, Lerner Enterprises is among the largest owners of real estate in the Washington, D.C. area. Ted Lerner died in February 2023, leaving Annette and their children as the heirs to the estate. Since 2006, the Lerners have owned the Washington Nationals baseball team. Ted passed control of the team to son Mark in 2018.

Other Maryland billionaires who made the cut:

Mitchell Rales, 67, real estate, $4.7 billion net worth, 244th richest in the nation.

• Mitchell Rales and his brother Steven acquired a real estate investment trust in 1983 and merged it into the firm Danaher. Rales was one of the primary partners to help Josh Harris purchase the Washington Commanders earlier this year.

Jim Davis, 63, staffing and recruitment, $4.4 billion net worth, 264th richest in the nation.

• Jim Davis cofounded Allegis Group, the largest staffing firm in the U.S.

Dan Snyder, 58, former Washington Commanders owner, $4.1 billion net worth, 278th richest in the nation.

• Dan Snyder initially made his fortune with a marketing business, Snyder Communications, that he started as a college dropout. He sold the Washington Commanders earlier this year to an ownership group led by Josh Harris for $6.05, the largest price ever paid for a North American sports franchise.

David Rubinstein, 74, private equity, $3.5 billion net worth, 326th richest in the nation.

• David Rubenstein is one of three billionaire founders of private equity firm Carlyle Group, which is approaching $400 billion in assets under management.

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, tops the list for a second year with an estimated net worth of $251 billion — $90 billion richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and No. 2 on the list, and $93 billion ahead of Oracle software development company founder Larry Ellison.

Forbes also tracked the charitable giving of every member of The Forbes 400, and scored each person on a scale of 1 (those who have given less than 1 percent of their wealth away so far) to 5 (those who have given at least 20 percent). The richest people in America are, so far, not all that generous. Two-thirds of them have given less than 5 percent of their wealth away so far; only 11 have donated 20 percent or more.

Earlier this year, Forbes released a list of the world’s billionaires, which included 11 Maryland residents.

Read more about Forbes' methodology.

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