Chesco's Two Billionaires Live In Paoli And Coatesville

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — The presumably richest person in Chester County lives in Coatesville, the second wealthiest in Paoli.

Campbell Soup Company heiress Mary Alice Dorrance Malone, of Coatesville, was listed as worth $3.7 billion in the most recent Forbes magazine listing of billionaires. Dorrance Malone is third in ranking among Philadelphia area billionaires, ranked in net worth behind Victoria Mars, Philadelphia candy and pet food billionaire who is worth $7.8 billion, and insurance billionaire Thomas Hagen, worth $4.3 billion, of Erie.

Dorrance Malone is the largest shareholder of Campbell Soup, the world's largest soup company. She's the granddaughter of John T. Dorrance, who early in the company's history developed the method for condensing the canned soups. Sources widely report Dorrance Malone breeds show horses on Iron Spring Farm, a 1,000 equestrian operation outside Coatesville.

Alfred P. West Jr., of Paoli, is worth $1.4 billion, according to Forbes. The Chairman and CEO of SEI Investments Company, West, in a March 25 podcast called The Intersection, discusses how he made the decision to take SEI public in 1981.

Forbes recently released its list of the world's billionaires, and a Haverford man is the wealthiest resident of Pennsylvania's 17 billionaires on the list. At the top with $12 billion is Haverford's Jeff Yass, a cofounder of Susquehanna International Group, one of Wall Street's largest and most successful trading firms, according to Forbes.

Read a story about Pennsylvania's billionaires here.

The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list jumped to an unprecedented 2,755 people, 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020.

Among those on the list, 86 percent are richer today than they were a year ago.

The numbers will likely spark outrage, writes Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane. “There’s no getting around a collective $5 trillion wealth surge during a pandemic, when most of the world felt scared, sick, besieged,” he wrote in a comprehensive essay titled “Operation Wealth Speed."

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 5.

A record 493 people made their debut on this year’s list. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past made a reappearance, according to Forbes. This year’s list includes a record 328 female billionaires, up from 241 in 2020.

Soon-to-be-former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retained the top spot on this year’s list for the fourth consecutive year. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, will step down as CEO at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk soared to the No. 2 spot, up from No. 31 on last year’s ranking. Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

View the full list of Pennsylvania's billionaires here.

See the full 2021 Forbes Billionaires List.

Forbes Pennsylvania billionaires list includes:

• Victoria Mars, candy and pet food, $7.8 billion, Philadelphia
• Thomas Hagen, insurance, $4.3 billion, Erie
• Mary Alice Dorrance Malone, Campbell Soup, $3.7 billion, Coatesville
• Michael Rubin, online retail, $3.5 billion, Bryn Mawr
• John Middleton, tobacco, $3.4 billion, Bryn Mawr
• Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles, $3 billion, Wynnewood
• Maggie Hardy Knox, building materials, $2.9 billion, Belle Vernon
• Jared Isaacman, payment processing, $2.3 billion, Easton
• Brian Roberts, Comcast, $1.9 billion, Philadelphia
• David Paul, medical devices, $1.6 billion, Audubon
• Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters, $1.4 billion, Philadelphia
• Edward Stack, Dick's Sporting Goods, $1.4 billion, Sewickley
• Alfred West Jr., money management, $1.4 billion, Paoli
• Richard Yuengling Jr., beer, $1.4 billion, Pottsville
• Alan Miller & family, healthcare services, $1.3 billion, Lower Merion
• Thomas Tull, movies and investments, $1.7 billion, Pittsburgh

Max Bennett contributed to this report.

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