In May, Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates was given the title of richest person in the world by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. So it"s not exactly a surprise to learn that Gates is also on top of Forbes" famous annual list of the richest people in the United States.
The new Forbes 400 list has Gates" current net worth as $72 billion, well ahead of the number two person on the list, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet, who "only" has $58.5 billion. Forbes adds that Gates remains the richest person in the country even though he has given away $28 billion of his fortune, mostly to his own non-profit group the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who will retire sometime in the next year, is number 21 on Forbes" richest U.S. citizens list, down from 19th place in 2012, with a net worth of $18 billion. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is 26th on the list this year, down from 20th place in 2012, with $15.8 billion.
Other major tech company executives on Forbes" list this year include Jeff Bezos, in 12th place with $27.2 billion in net worth, along with Larry Page of Google in 13th place with $24.9 billion, and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 20th place (a big jump compared to his 36th place last year) with a net worth of $19 billion.
Source: Forbes | Image via Microsoft