The Forbes 400: America’s Richest People in 2025

Today on Forbes, the 2025 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, facts and figures. Another year, another set of broken records for the 400 richest Americans. They're worth a record $6.6 trillion in all, after getting $1.2 trillion richer over the past 12 months. It now takes a record $3.8 billion to make the ranking, $500 million more than the minimum in 2024. The 2025 Forbes 400 list was released on Tuesday. There's a record at the top of the list, too. Elon Musk is the first person to ever break the $400 billion mark on the Forbes 400. He's the wealthiest person in America for the fourth straight year, worth a staggering $428 billion, after adding $184 billion to his fortune, thanks to a run-up in Tesla stock, which has climbed 56%, and 12 more months of increasing valuations of his privately-held rocket firm SpaceX and artificial intelligence outfit XAI. Musk is $152 billion ahead of second-place Larry Ellison, a sum greater than Warren Buffett's entire net worth. Still, Ellison, now worth $276 billion, is $101 billion richer this year, on the back of a 60% jump in the value of Oracle shares. He ranks second for the first time in 25 years. Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, is America's third-richest person, worth $253 billion, following a 42% rise in the stock of Facebook parent company Meta. Forbes calculated net worths using share prices from September 1, 2025. Much of America's great wealth remains concentrated at the very top of the very top. The 20 richest people in the country hold a collective $3 trillion, nearly half of all American billionaire wealth, up from $2.3 trillion a year ago. 15 of these 20 are now members of the $100 billion club, those whose fortunes span a dozen digits, up from 12 in 2024. The three new members to join the group are Alice, Rob, and Jim Walton, the three surviving children of Walmart co-founder Sam Walton, who passed away in 1992. Shares of the retail giant are up 26% since last year's ranking, helping Alice Walton retain her title as America's richest woman. With her net worth at $106 billion, she is the first centibillionaire woman on the list. The wealthiest self-made woman remains Diane Hendricks, owner of roofing materials distributor ABC Supply, whose net worth is $22.3 billion. In all, there are 62 women on this year's ranking, around 16% of the list and down from 67, or 17%, in 2024. Two women fell below the $3.8 billion cutoff, while another three passed away. All were replaced on the list by men, though nearly three-quarters of the women who remain among the top 400 are richer than a year ago. More than two-thirds of the list is richer than a year ago, though 89 billionaires' fortunes stagnated or declined. Among them is Bill Gates, who spent nearly three decades as the first or second richest person in America, until 2021. Gates, at number 14, now ranks outside the top 10 for the first time in 34 years, after transferring large sums in recent years to charity and to his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, who ranks number 33. The Forbes 400 remains overwhelmingly self-made. Overall, 71% built their own fortunes, rather than inheriting them, up from 67% last year. Despite the record-high barrier to entry, 14 super-rich Americans managed to steal a spot on this year's ranking for the first time. All are self-made. The richest newcomer is Edwin Chen, who is worth $18 billion thanks to an estimated 75% stake in artificial intelligence data labeling firm Surge AI. At age 37, he's the youngest member of the Forbes 400, and one of only four 30-somethings. The oldest listies are lumber and timber baron Archie Aldis Emerson, who celebrated his 96th birthday in April, and media tycoon Donald Newhouse, who turned 96 in August. Notable newcomers include Adam Farugi, who is the co-founder and CEO of marketing software and mobile game maker Applovin, Vlad Tenev of stock trading app Robinhood, and Travis Boersma of Dutch Bros Coffee. 22 people who fell off a previous Forbes 400 list managed to climb back into the ranks this year, including Charles Ergen of Dish Network and EchoStar, David Bozuki of gaming platform Roblox, and the Facebook-famous crypto-investing Winklevoss twins. For full coverage, and to see the whole list, check out Chase Peterson Whithorn's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.