America's Richest People 2000
NEW Y O R K, Sept. 21, 2000 -- Poor Bill Gates. Well, poorer, anyway.
The cofounder and chairman of Microsoft is still therichest American but not by nearly as much after the drubbing hiscompany’s stock has taken in the past year, Forbes magazine says inits annual ranking of the nation’s wealthiest people.
The vagaries of the stock market have pared-down Gates’ fortune — tallied at $85 billion last year — to $63 billion, Forbesreports. But Oracle CEO Lawrence J. Ellison — whose worth more than quadrupled in the past year — is close to overtaking Gates at the top of the wealthiest list.
Ellison, worth an estimated $58 billion, vaulted from No. 12 toNo. 2 in the ranking, leading a modest shakeup that saw a number oftechnology titans switch places on the list. Some new names alsojoined the ranking for the first time, including Palm Pilotcreators Jeffrey Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky, home furnishings divaMartha Stewart and professional wrestling’s Vince McMahon.
Rich Get Richer
Despite the arrival of new money, the ranking — featured in theOct. 9 issue of the magazine, arriving on newsstands Friday — mostlyoffers evidence that the richest Americans keep getting richer.
The total net worth of all the people on the list jumped 20percent to $1.2 trillion, nearly equal to the gross domesticproduct of Britain. Gates’ fortune alone tops the annual economicoutput of Peru.
The list’s average financial heavyweight is worth $3 billion, up$400 million from last year.
This year’s lineup includes 31 new billionaires, and three ofevery four on the list are worth at least $1 billion. Just to makeit into the ranking took a minimum net worth of $725 million, up$100 million from last year.
Nobody on Forbes’ list is hurting, but some had better yearsthan others and leapfrogged in the rankings. The most notable wereEllison, and Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, whose worth jumped from $15 billion to $26 billion, lifting him from 11th to fifth inthe ranking.
New Economy AdditionsOther up-and-comers include Broadcom co-founders Henry T.Nicholas and Henry Samueli ($10 billion each) and Sanjiv Sidhu,founder of software maker i2 ($9.8 billion).
The ranking includes fortune makers spread across the agespectrum, from Daniel Ziff, the 28-year-old heir who joined hisbrothers and turned a family publishing fortune into an even biggerinvestment portfolio, to Max Fisher, 92, who made his money in theoil business. Women account for 46 of the names on the list.
Of the 400 ranked, 137 inherited some or all of their wealth,Forbes said. But the remainder are self-made, and their average networth exceeds that of the heirs.
California is home to 107 of those on the list, once againmaking it the most popular address for the wealthy. New York Statewas second with 47, Texas was third with 34 and Florida andMassachusetts followed with 16 each.
Gates, who lives in Washington State, retained the top spot forthe seventh year in a row, with most of his wealth based on hisholding of Microsoft stock. But thanks to a run up in Oracle’s stockprice, Ellison’s stake in his company is actually worth more.What’s keeping Gates on top is the diversity of his portfolio,which also includes significant investments beyond Microsoft.
Next year, though, is an open-ended question. Ellison justnegotiated a deal to give up his CEO’s salary in exchange forOracle stock options.