Learn about the latest additions Forbes” Ranking of America’s Richest People.
go through Sarah YoungContributor
thing This year, it has become increasingly difficult to enter the Forbes 400 list of America’s richest people, with the minimum net worth required to be on the list reaching a record high of $2.9 billion. However, despite the high threshold, 18 people have accumulated enough wealth to join this elite group for the first time.
The most famous face to join the Top 400 this year: Michael Jordan, the first professional athlete to join the ranks. The basketball superstar earned approximately $90 million during his career, but it was his off-court actions that put him among the richest people in America. Because he gets a cut of every 10 Jordan Brand sneakers, shirts or socks sold by Nike—enough to bring him an estimated $260 million in (pre-tax) revenue in the past year alone. Big money is also coming from the Charlotte Hornets. In August, Jordan sold a majority stake in the NBA franchise at a valuation of $3 billion, 17 times what it was worth when he became majority owner in 2010.
The richest among the newly minted billionaires is Elisabeth DeLuca (worth an estimated $8.2 billion), the widow of Subway founder Fred DeLuca (who died in 2015). In August, private equity firm Roark Capital struck a deal to buy the sandwich giant in a deal reportedly worth more than $9 billion that could put about $3.4 billion after taxes in the pockets of DeLuca, who inherited her half. business reported that her husband died in 2015 Forbes‘ Report.
This year’s youngest newcomer is 38-year-old Josh Kushner. He is the son of real estate developer Charles Kushner and the younger brother of Jared Kushner, who served as his father-in-law, Donald Trump A senior adviser to President Donald Trump, he is the first member of his family to enter the Forbes 400. For that, he has Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm he founded in 2010 when he was 25 years old. Thrive, an early backer of startups such as Instagram, Spotify and Slack, raised $175 million in January at a valuation of $5.3 billion.
Seven of the new Forbes 400 companies on the list this year are from the financial and investment fields, the most among all industries. In addition to Kushner, there are Seth Boro, Scott Crabill and Holden Spaht — three of private equity firm Thoma Bravo Partners, who are worth an estimated $3.3 billion; Investor Rajiv Jain ($3.1 billion), who made a bold bet on Adani Group in March; Berkshire Hathaway Early backers of the company include Stewart Horejsi ($3 billion); and insurance magnate J. Hyatt Brown ($2.9 billion).
Others found their fortune elsewhere. William Goldring (worth $6 billion) made his fortune from booze; his Sazerac company owns the Buffalo Trace distillery and makes Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey. Power couple Eren Ozmen ($3.4 billion) and Fatih Ozmen ($3.3 billion) made their fortune in aerospace. Mississippi now has two Forbes 400 members: James Duff and Thomas Duff ($3 billion each), who co-own tire retailer Southern Tire Mart and through its Duff The Capital Investors holding company owns several other businesses. Only two newcomers to this year’s list are from the technology industry: Sanjit Biswas ($3.6 billion) and John Bicket ($3.5 billion) of San Francisco software company Samsara, which went public in 2021.
Here are the 18 new members of the Forbes 400
Net worth as of September 8, 2023
Elizabeth DeLuca and family
net worth: $8.2 billion | Age: 76 | Source of wealth: subway
Elizabeth DeLuca, the widow of Subway co-founder Fred DeLuca, inherited half of the sandwich company after his death in 2015. In August, Roark Capital agreed to acquire the chain in a deal reportedly worth more than $9 billion.
Annette Lerner and family
net worth: $6.5 billion | Age: 93 | Source of wealth: real estate
In 1952, she gave her husband, Ted, $250 to found Lerner Enterprises, a real estate company headquartered in Washington. After Lerner’s death in February, his estate is now owned by him and his children, including a Washington, D.C., real estate portfolio and the Washington Nationals baseball team.
William Goldring and family
net worth: $6 billion | Age: 80 | Source of wealth: Alcohol
The Louisiana native is chairman of Sazerac Corp., an alcoholic beverage maker that owns Buffalo Trace Distillery and the Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey brand.
Sangeet Biswas
net worth: US$3.6 billion | Age: 41 | Source of wealth: sensor system
His Samsara was a teenage engineer at Oracle, providing tools such as AI-powered dash cams, real-time driver coaching and route mapping for clients including oilfield services provider Liberty Energy, moving company PODS and pipeline giant Roto-Rooter.
Josh Kushner
net worth: US$3.6 billion | Age: 38 | Source of wealth: venture capital
Kushner, the youngest newcomer this year, founded venture capital firm Thrive Capital in 2010. He is the son of real estate developer Charles Kushner and the brother-in-law of Ivanka Trump, who is married to supermodel Karlie Kloss.
John Bickert
net worth: US$3.5 billion | Age: 43 | Source of wealth: sensor system
He co-founded Samsara with Biswas, a computer science graduate student at MIT.
Ellen Ozman
net worth: US$3.4 billion | Age: 65 | Source of wealth: aerospace
Ozman, a Turkish immigrant, put herself through business school by cleaning offices and selling baklava. Her company, Sierra Space, is preparing to launch next year the Dream Chaser, the only spacecraft currently capable of landing on a commercial runway.
Seth Borow
net worth: US$3.3 billion | Age: 48 | Source of wealth: private property rights
Scott Crabill
net worth: US$3.3 billion | Age: 53 | Source of wealth: private property rights
hortonspart
net worth: US$3.3 billion | Age: 49 | Source of wealth: private property rights
The three are managing partners at Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm with more than $120 billion in assets. Company namesakes Carl Thoma and Orlando Bravo are also members of the Forbes 400.
Fatih Ozman
net worth: US$3.3 billion | Age: 65 | Source of wealth: aerospace
Fatih Ozmen is the CEO of Sierra Nevada Corporation, which he co-owns with his wife, Eren Ozmen.
Rajiv Jain
net worth: US$3.1 billion | Age: 55 | Source of wealth: finance
Jain came to the United States from India in the early 1990s and worked for nearly 22 years at Swiss asset management company Vontobel after pursuing an MBA at the University of Miami. He co-founded GQG Partners in 2016. The company is listed in Australia and has $107 billion in assets under management. GQG made a big contrarian bet on troubled Indian conglomerate Adani Group, investing more than $6 billion in the company after a short seller in January accused the company of fraud and stock market manipulation. (Adani denies the accusations.)
Jeffrey Palmer
net worth: US$3.1 billion | Age: 73 | Source of wealth: real estate
Palmer was a Los Angeles developer who made a multibillion-dollar fortune building luxury residential towers in Southern California.
James Duff
net worth: US$3 billion | Age: 62 | Source of wealth: tires, diversified
Thomas Duff
net worth: US$3 billion | Age: 66 | Source of wealth: tires, diversified
The Duff brothers operate tire retailer Southern Tire Mart and Duff Capital Investors, and their investments include trucking company KLLM, construction company TL Wallace Construction and energy company DeepWell Energy Services.
Stuart Horatii and family
net worth: US$3 billion | Age: 86 | Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
Horejsi used profits from his family’s welding supply company in Kansas to start buying Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1980, when the stock price was as low as $295 a share. Berkshire’s Class A shares currently trade for more than $500,000.
Michael Jordan
net worth: US$3 billion | Age: 60 | Source of wealth: Charlotte Hornets, Endorsements
The basketball superstar scored one of the biggest wins of his business career in August when he sold a majority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, which he became the majority owner in 2010, at a valuation of $3 billion. 17 times the value. He still cashes in royalties from every pair of Jordan Brand sneakers, shirts or socks sold by Nike, enough to bring him an estimated $260 million (pre-tax) in the past year, nearly as much as his 16-year career. Three times his career earnings of approximately $90 million.
J. Hyatt Brown
net worth: $2.9 billion | Age: 86 | Source of wealth: Insurance
His Brown & Brown is the fifth largest insurance brokerage firm in the United States. He is chairman of the company, which his father co-founded in 1939.
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