Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates tops Forbes magazine's annual list of the country's 400 richest people for the fourth consecutive year, again followed by venerable investor Warren Buffett.
As Microsoft stock rose, Gates' net worth more than doubled to $39.8 billion last year - a rate of $400 million per week - while Buffett gained $6 billion to climb to $21 billion, Forbes said in its Oct. 13 issue.The list includes three Utah residents: Jon Huntsman, the chemical and plastics magnate, worth approximately $3 billion; medical devices manufacturer James L. Sorenson, worth some $2 billion, and Robert Earl Holding, who made his fortune in real estate and gas stations, worth about $780 million.
The list also provides more ammunition for Ted Turner. The media mogul's vow to pressure the wealthy into being more charitable comes as the ranks of America's billionaires are swelling.
There are 170 billionaires on the list, up from 135 last year. In 1982, the first year of the Forbes 400, there were only 13 billionaires in the United States.
High-tech industry captains continue to elbow their way into the highest rankings. Of the list's top five, only Buffett did not make his fortune in a computer-related field.
Rounding out the top five are Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen ($17 billion), Oracle Corp. chairman Larry Ellison ($9.2 billion) and Intel Corp. chairman Gordon Moore ($8.8 billion). Microsoft and Oracle are the world's top two software makers, while Intel is the top producer of computer chips.
Other high-tech billionaires on the list include 32-year-old Dell Computer Corp. chairman Michael Dell, who at $5.5 billion is richer than Gates was at that age, and Hewlett-Packard Co. founder William Hewlett ($4.1 billion).
More people - 18 of the 31 new entrants - are also climbing onto the list in decidedly low-tech businesses, Forbes said. They include hog farmer Wendell Murphy ($1 billion) and parking lot mogul Monroe Carell Jr. ($600 million).
Among some of the more celebrated names, Donald Trump returned to the billionaires' club at $1.4 billion, but told the magazine the number is really $3.7 billion. He had a negative net worth of $900 million in 1990.
Oprah Winfrey, who Forbes said two years ago was on pace to become America's first black billionaire, moved up 51 spots to 349th at $550 million. She is the only black person on the list.
Forbes said Gates, 41, ranks as the world's richest individual, including royalty. The magazine does not include royalty in its world's-richest rankings, which were released during the summer, but estimates the Sultan of Brunei is the richest royal, at $38 billion.
Some of those who fell off the list include Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and entrepreneur Charles Feeney, who made his fortune on duty-free airport shops. Feeney gave away nearly all of his $4 billion fortune. That could save Turner one phone call.