Forbes 400 Richest Americans

It’s that time of year again and we’re not talking about the holidays. What we are excitedly referring to is the release of another Forbes list. This particular made-in-the-U.S.A. list will be of interest to haute South Floridians all along the Eastern shores. Forbes released their report of “The 400 Richest Americans 2009” late on Wednesday night, revealing that 15 of the country’s wealthier-than-thou live in Palm Beach (at least some of the time) and three reside on Florida’s Treasure Coast.

It comes as a surprise to no one that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett proudly claim spots one and two with a net worth of $50 billion and $40 billion respectively. Sitting pretty at number nine is David Koch with $16 billion, most likely enjoying his ranking from the comforts of his part time Palm Beach estate that is worth an estimated $37.2 million. John Kluge could be the oldest member on the list. The 95-year-old full time Palm Beach resident pulled in at spot number 35 with $6.5 billion. Other usual South Florida suspects, many of whom also make an appearance on Haute Living’s own Haute 100 list, include:

77 – Henry Kravis
97 – Leonard Lauder
110 – Stephen Ross
139 – Malcolm Glazer
154 – Wayne Huizenga
158 – Donald Trump
212 – Albert Ueltschi
230 – Isaac Perlmutter
236 – Michael Heisley
236 – Bill Koch
236 – Bob Kraft
272 – George Lindemann
277 – Daniel Abraham
371 – Jeffry Picower
399 – Dwight Schar

Even though the wealth magazine reported that when combined, the 400 richest Americans lost a collective $300 million during the previous 12 months, why don’t we focus on the good news, which is that when totaled together, America’s wealthiest are worth $1.27 trillion.

Via Page 2 Live