Bill Gates, the thirtysome-thing whiz who formed the world's biggest maker of computer software, is closing the gap on the richest person in America, 77-year-old entertainment mogul John Werner Kluge.
Kluge and Gates ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on Forbes' list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, the magazine said Sunday. The list appears in the Oct. 21 issue.Kluge, a German immigrant who founded Metromedia Co., is worth an estimated $5.9 billion, up $300 million from last year, the magazine said. He has ranked first for three years in a row.
William Henry Gates III, 35, the Harvard dropout who in 1975 formed Microsoft, has a net worth of about $4.8 billion, most of it from stock in the company, Forbes said. Last year, he ranked 16th with $2.5 billion.
The net worth of the top 400 hit $288 billion - the highest ever recorded by Forbes - despite a recession that the self-proclaimed "capitalist tool" says hurt billionaires as well as blue-collar workers.
The recession did make ex-moguls of some, mostly in real estate, where values have dropped and vacancies skyrocketed.
But a record 71 billionaires populate the list, up from 66 last year and 13 in the magazine's first ranking, in 1982.
Five Utahns made the list: James LeVoy Sorenson, 41, maker of medical devices, worth $700 million; Bruce Bastian, 43, WordPerfect, worth $600 million; Alan Ashton, 49, WordPerfect, worth $600 million; Leonard Samuel Skaggs Jr., 68, American Stores, worth $495 million; and Jon M. Huntsman, 54, plastics, worth $450 million.
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Forbes' richest Americans (in descending order of wealth)
Rank Billionaire Residence Net Worth
'91 '90 (billions)
1 1 John Werner Kluge Charlottesville, Va. $5.90
2 16 William Henry Gates III Seattle, Wash. 4.80
3 11 Sam Moore Walton Bentonville, Ark. 4.40
4 12 S. Robson Walton Bentonville, Ark. 4.40
5 13 John T. Walton San Diego, Calif. 4.40
6 14 Jim C. Walton Bentonville, Ark. 4.40
7 15 Alice L. Walton Rogers, Ark. 4.40
8 2 Warren Edward Buffet Omaha, Neb. 4.20
9 4 Henry Lea Hillman Pittsburgh, Pa. 3.30
10 50 Richard Marvin DeVos Ada, Mich. 2.90
Source: Forbes\