These PA Billionaires Are Among Richest In The World: New Forbes List

PENNSYLVANIA — Twelve billionaires from Pennsylvania are part of a $16 trillion club — the estimated net worth of the ultra-wealthy named Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billionaires list released Tuesday.

The richest of them is Elon Musk, who is worth an estimated $342 billion. Musk divides his time between the Department of Government Efficiency, electric car maker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX, and artificial intelligence startup xAI, which he merged with his social media giant X last week. Musk added $147 billion to his fortune over the past year, Forbes said.

Rounding out the top five richest people in the world are three others from the United States, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg (estimated net worth $216 billion), Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($215 billion) and Oracle’s Larry Ellison ($192 billion); and French luxury goods kingpin Bernard Arnault ($178 billion).

The five richest people from Pennsylvania on the list are:

• Jeff Yass (estimated net worth $59 billion) is at No. 25 on the Forbes list after more than doubling his fortune. The former pro gambler and current trading and investments titan moved up 39 spots on the list since last year, when his estimated worth was $27.6 billion. He co-founded Susquehanna International Group.
• Arthur Dantchik (estimated net worth $14.6 billion), also a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, moved up to No. 153 on the list after also doubling his net worth over the past year. He was at No. 391 on last year's list.
• Victoria Mars (estimated net worth $10.7 billion) is at No. 236 on the list, up from No. 242 last year. Mars and her three sisters are heirs to the candy company Mars. Inc, which also sells pet food.
• Michael Rubin (estimated net worth $10.6 billion) is at No. 248 on the Forbes list, down from No. 173 last year. Rubin is a native of Bryn Mawr who sold his company GSI Commerse to eBay for 2.4 billion and is the CEO of Fanatics.
• Thomas Hagen and family (estimated net worth $8.2 billion) are at No. 369 on the Forbes list, down from No. 344 last year. Hagen, from Erie, is the chairman of Insurance company Erie Indemnity.

Other Pennsylvania billionaires who made the list include:

• Mitchell Morgan and family, worth $5.5 billion: Morgan is the founder, CEO, and owner of Conshohocken- based Morgan Properties.
• Edward Stack and family, worth $5.3 billion: Stack is the executive chairman and largest individual shareholder of Dick's Sporting Goods.
• Jeffrey Lurie and family, worth $5.3 billion: Lurie is the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Mary Alice Dorrance Malone worth $4.1 billion: Malone is a major Campbell's Soup Co. shareholder.
• John Middleton, worth $4.1 billion: Middleton sold his parent's tobacco company in 2007 for $2.9 billion in cash, and is also part-owner of the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Thomas Tull, worth $3.7 billion: Tull is a former film financier, and a founder of production company Legendary Entertainment.
• Maggie Hardy, worth $3.6 billion: Hardy is the owner and CEO of 84 Lumber.

Forbes used stock price and exchange rates from March 7, 2025, but monitors the real-time wealth of billionaires, which can result in shifts in rankings over time.

Forbes said the billionaire bonanza extends beyond the United States. A record 3,028 people around the globe made the list, 247 more than last year. They’re worth a combined $16.1 trillion, $2 trillion more than last year, and more than the GDP of every country in the world besides the United States and China, Forbes said.

The average fortune now stands at $5.3 billion, up $200 million from 2024.

The United States has a record 902 billionaires, more than anywhere else on the planet. They include 103 new billionaires, also a record among other nations with billionaires.

Two of the richest U.S. newcomers are Marilyn Simons (estimated net worth $31 billion), the widow of quantitative hedge fund manager Jim Simons, and Lyndal Stephens Greth ($25.8 billion), the daughter of oil and gas tycoon Autry Stephens, who died in August.

Simons and Stephens are two of just 406 women among the World’s Billionaires, only 13.4 percent of the list, up slightly from 13.3 percent last year. Nearly three-quarters inherited their fortunes. That includes the world’s richest woman, Walmart heir Alice Walton ($101 billion), who has overtaken French L’Oreal heir Francoise Bettencourt Meyers ($81.6 billion) for the top spot among women.

Only 15 percent of the new billionaires on the 2025 list are women, and nearly two-thirds of them inherited their wealth. The richest exception: 71-year-old Barbara Banke (estimated net worth $2.6 billion), who cofounded Jackson Family Wines, known for its Kendall-Jackson wines from Sonoma, with her late husband Jess Jackson, who died in 2011.

Celebrity newcomers include rock star Bruce Springsteen, worth an estimated $1.2 billion, movie star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ($1.1 billion), and comedian Jerry Seinfeld ($1.1 billion).

Few billionaires have had a better year than President Donald Trump—and not just because he retook the U.S. presidency. Before moving back into the White House, he padded his cash pile with a very lucrative move into crypto. Between that and his Trump Media & Technology Group going public just after Forbes locked in its 2024 rankings, the president’s net worth has more than doubled, from an estimated $2.3 billion to an estimated $5.1 billion.

For comparison, the average net worth of American households is about $1.06 million, while the median net worth is $192,900, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the most recent assessment available.