One hundred years ago, the richest person in California likely would have been a railroad baron. In Texas, it would have been an oil tycoon, and in New York a banker.
Today, as the world gets smaller and technology moves faster, the way some of America’s richest people make their money seems to be less tied to geography. After all, the richest person in Minnesota, Glen Taylor, has a printing firm to thank for his billions, and Warren Buffett, the richest in Nebraska, is an investor extraordinaire.
Forbes just published our list of the Richest Person In Every State, a group of 53 people (due to ties) whose combined net worth is $832 billion. List members made their money from 14 different industries, with finance and investing accounting for fortunes in 10 of the 50 states.
These financiers include the aforementioned Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, who has a net worth of $85 billion; Florida’s Thomas Peterffy of digital trading firm Interactive Brokers, with $25.7 billion, and Connecticut’s Ray Dalio of hedge fund firm Bridgewater Associates, with a $17.4 billion fortune.
List members who made their money in fashion and retail accounted for the second largest contingency. The eight states with billionaires who have made money in this sector include Oregon, where Nike founder Phil Knight ran track at the University of Oregon, and Ohio, where Les Wexner’s L Brands is headquartered and where his parents started the family tradition of retail by opening a store named Leslie’s, after the now-billionaire.
In addition to Knight and Wexner, other retail fortunes on the list include those of siblings Alice Walton (Texas) and Jim Walton (Arkansas), both heirs to the Walmart fortune, worth an estimated $40 billion and $40.3 billion, respectively. Their brother-in-law Stanley Kroenke is no longer the richest in Missouri; this year he was overtaken by Pauline Macmillan Keinath, who is reported to be the largest shareholder of food and agriculture company Cargill.
While only four list members hail from the tech sector, they are some of the richest on the list. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, worth $132 billion, unseated Bill Gates as the wealthiest in the state of Washington. For the third year in a row, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg is the richest in California, with a recent net worth of $74 billion.
Forbes used closing stock prices from May 11 to calculate the fortunes for this list.
Here is a breakdown of the industries in which the Richest In Every State have their fortunes:
Finance and Investments: 10 states
Fashion and Retail: 8 states
Food and Beverage: 5 states
Service: 5 states5. Technology: 4 states5. Healthcare: 4 states7. Energy: 3 states
Diversified: 2 states
Manufacturing: 2 states
Automotive: 2 state
Real Estate: 2 states
Media and Entertainment: 1 state
Metal and Mining: 1 state
Sports: 1 states
Source :- Forbes