Billionaires have become super rich from all sorts of things, including web hosting, video games, and Beanie Babies. But some paths are more likely than others to lead you to the ready Forbes 400 of the richest people in the United States.
In fact, nearly half of this elite club amassed their fortunes in one of just two industries: finance and investment or technology. Those two sectors dominated the list this year, just as they did in 2021.
Who are the richest investors
Making money for others is a great way to make money for yourself. Finance and investment moguls, including investors and those in money management, private equity, and hedge funds; they represent 108 billionaires in the 2022 ranking. That’s up from 103 last year.
Long-established members continue to reign supremeLike Charles Schwab, who founded the brokerage firm that bears his name in 1971, and Carl Icahn, the activist shareholder who has been buying big stakes in companies and fighting for change for more than 40 years.
Warren Buffett, who was part of the first Forbes 400 list in 1982, is the richest person in finances and investments, with an estimated net worth of $97 billion. These legends are listed among the richest in America today, along with others who made billions in ways that couldn’t even be imagined four decades ago. Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, and Gary Wang, 29, for example, co-founded cryptocurrency exchange FTX and are now the youngest members of the Forbes 400, and two of four crypto billionaires in the ranks.
Other newcomers to finance and investing include trading and investment billionaire Arthur Dantchik, investor and sports mogul Todd Boehly, fintech mogul Hayes Barnard, and private equity billionaires Stephen Deckoff, Carl Thoma, and Stephen Feinberg.
Warren Buffett is the richest investor in the United States.
Technologists are also millionaires
The second most common industry for Forbes 400 members is technology, with 65 billionaires, including six of the ten richest people in America: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; Oracle founder Larry Ellison; Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO.
Other notable tech billionaires include Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Bill Gates, who is worth an estimated $6.4 billion and MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, which has an estimated value of US$ 37.7 billionup from $58.5 billion last year, largely due to his accelerated philanthropic giving.
Tech newcomers this year include Rick Cohen, the billionaire behind C&S Wholesale Grocers and warehouse automation firm Symbotic; Leo Koguan, founder of IT provider SHI International; and Hua Shen, who became rich producing semiconductors.
Nearly every top 10 industry for members of The Forbes 400 this year was also in the top 10 last year. The one exception: the service industry, which includes billionaires like Carnival cruise line chairman Micky Arison and aircraft leasing pioneer Steven Udvar-Hazy. The service sector replaced health carewhich lost five billionaires in the 400 this year, including Noubar Afeyan, Robert Langer and Timothy Springer, three billionaires behind Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna.
These are the industries with the most Forbes 400 members in 2022 (net values are as of September 2, 2022):
FINANCES AND INVESTMENTS
108 billionaires
27% of the list
Collective net worth: $856 billion
Richest: Warren Buffett, $97 billion
TECHNOLOGY
65 billionaires
16.3% of the list
Collective net worth: $1.06 trillion
Richest: Jeff Bezos, $151 billion
Jeff Bezos is the tech mogul with the most millions.
FOOD DRINK
40 billionaires
10% of the list
Collective net worth: $274 billion
Richest: Jacqueline Mars and John Mars, $37 billion (each)
FASHION AND RETAIL
36 billionaires
9% of the list
Collective net worth: $437 billion
Richest: Jim Walton, $57.9 billion
MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
33 billionaires
8.3% of the list
Collective net worth: $302 billion
Richest: Michael Bloomberg, $76.8 billion
REAL ESTATE
24 billionaires
6% of the list
Collective net worth: $135 billion
Richest: Donald Bren, $17.4 billion
ENERGY
19 billionaires
4.8% of the list
Collective net worth: $135 billion
Richest: Harold Hamm, $21.1 billion
MANUFACTURING
15 billionaires
3.8% of the list
Collective net worth: $72 billion
Richest: Steven Rales, $7.9 billion
SPORTS
14 billionaires
3.5% of the list
Collective net worth: $93 billion
Richest: Jerry Jones, $16 billion
SERVICE
11 billionaires
2.8% of the list
Collective Net Worth: $52.7 billion
Richest: Tamara Gustavson, $8.1 billion
*Note originally published in Forbes USA.
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What are the two industries that contribute the most millionaires to the Forbes 400 list and why invest in them?