Forbes Billionaires: World’s Richest People List Released

[Cross-Posted from GOPTN]

Bill Gates still leads the pack of American billionaires on Forbes Magazine’s annual world’s richest list with a sizable net worth of $67 billion.  In this year’s rankings, he falls just behind Mexico’s Carlos Slim who saw his net worth grow from $69 billion to $73 billion in 2012.  Spanish clothier Amancio Ortega ($57 billion) and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett ($53.5 billion) round out the top four.  In total, 1426 people (and families) made the list – up 16% from last year.

For those that follow pop culture, or spend countless hours playing on social media sites, it might be worth mentioning that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped 31 spots as he saw his net worth drop from $ 13.3 billion to $17.5 billion largely as a result of taking his company public.  Before you lose any sleep over the wonder-nerd’s misfortune, just remember the guy’s still sitting on enough cash to buy half of the NFL.

As a native Tennessean, I was particularly interested in seeing how the Volunteer State was represented; and was quite proud to see five names on the list.  (No real surprises here…)

No. 262 – Thomas Frist Jr. and family, $4.8 billion. In the late 1960s, the Frist family was the driving force behind Hospital Corporation of America, which ultimately grew into the nation’s largest for-profit hospital company.

No. 490 – Martha Ingram and family, $2.9 billion. Ingram Industries is one of the nation’s largest private companies. Today, the company is focused primarily on the book distribution and shipping industries.

No. 704 – Frederick Smith, $2.1 billion. Smith is the founder, chairman and CEO of FedEx, which is headquartered in Memphis.

No. 792 – Brad Kelley, $1.9 billion. Kelley built Commonwealth Brands, a cigarette company, into a major brand before selling it for $1 billion. He is now involved in a number of business interests and is regarded as one of the largest private land holders in the U.S.

No. 831 – Jimmy Haslam, $1.8 billion. Haslam is the CEO of Pilot Flying J, the brother of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and the owner of the Cleveland Browns pro football team

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