Forbes 400

Forbes creates a list every year of the four hundred richest Americans. The minimum net worth to be one of the 400 is $2.1 billion. Ernie Garcia III (yesterday's post) is the youngest of those who are on the list for the first time.

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Wealth like that raises the big question: how did they get so rich? In 2014, Forbes started rating each one with a "self made" score of one to ten. One means their money came from someone else, inherited or given, and they had no part in earning it. Ten means that they started out poor or low middle class and raised their own fortune.

Jeff Bezos is #1 on the Forbes 400, with a fortune of over one hundred billion dollars. His ex-wife is on the list for the first time, after receiving a divorce settlement of one-quarter of Jeff's Amazon stock.

Surprising fact: a total of 221 American billionaires failed to make the list.

from The Forbes 400