25 richest people in America and how they did it

- Estimated net worth: $31.3 billion
- State of residence: Illinois
- Source of wealth: Walmart

The grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Lukas inherited a substantial portion of his wealth from his father, John, who passed away in a plane crash in 2005. Lukas holds stakes in Walmart and owns and operates the climate-focused investment firm Builders Vision, worth more than $4 billion as of late 2023. Naturally, Lukas also chairs the Walton family's Environment Program Committee.

- Estimated net worth: $32.8 billion
- State of residence: Oregon
- Source of wealth: Nike

Before becoming the co-founder of sneaker giant Nike, Phil Knight had joined the University of Oregon track team. There, Knight became good friends with coach Bill Bowerman, who would later become his business partner. Soon after completing a business program, Knight borrowed $50 from his father to import high-quality running shoes from Japan at an affordable cost. The shoe mogul has undoubtedly come a long way from selling sneakers out of the trunk of his car in 1964, earning $8,000 in his first year. As of July 2024, the Nike brand is worth more than $109 billion.

- Estimated net worth: $37.1 billion
- State of residence: Washington
- Source of wealth: Amazon

After Mackenzie Scott and her ex-husband, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, divorced in 2019, Mackenzie inherited a 4% stake in Amazon's shares, valued at $38 billion.

The former couple met in 1992 when they both worked for D.E. Shaw, a New York hedge fund, and married the following year. It was Scott who encouraged Bezos to launch an online business. Since becoming one of the wealthiest women in the world, Scott has dedicated a large portion of her wealth to philanthropic initiatives.

- Estimated net worth: $37.5 billion
- State of residence: Wyoming
- Source of wealth: Candy, pet food

Alongside his sister Jacqueline, John Mars owns the Mars manufacturing company, which produces candy, chewing gum, and pet care products. In 2015, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

- Estimated net worth: $37.5 billion
- State of residence: Virginia
- Source of wealth: Candy, pet food

M&M's, Snickers, Skittles, and Milky Way are all products of Mars, the candymaker partially owned by Jacqueline Mars, who inherited the company from her family, which founded its first factory in 1911. Today, Mars oversees the candymaker's various products beyond candy, including chewing gum and pet care products.

- Estimated net worth: $37.3 billion
- State of residence: Florida
- Source of wealth: Hedge funds

Ken Griffin is the founder of Citadel, the Florida-based hedge fund where he's made the bulk of his fortune. During his undergraduate days at Harvard University, Griffin started investing and placed a satellite dish on the roof of his dorm to obtain real-time stock data.

- Estimated net worth: $37.8 billion
- State of residence: New York
- Source of wealth: Investments

After leaving financial services firm Lehman Brothers in the 1980s, Stephen Schwarzman partnered with his friend Pete Peterson to start another investment firm, Blackstone Group. Blackstone Group expanded and led to Schwarzman's success as a sought-after broker, providing advice to clients like the Department of the Treasury.

- Estimated net worth: $38.7 billion
- State of residence: Florida
- Source of wealth: Discount brokerage

In the 1970s and '80s, Hungarian-born Thomas Peterffy led the way in the then-nascent world of digital trading and launched his company, Interactive Brokers, in 1993. Though he stepped down from his role as CEO in 2019, Peterffy continues to chair Interactive Brokers, which is worth nearly $53 billion as of July 2024. According to a January 2024 report from Forbes, Peterffy also ranks among the top 20 landowners in the U.S., with substantial holdings in timberlands.

- Estimated net worth: $59.3 billion
- State of residence: Kansas
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries

Charles Koch is the chairman of Koch Industries, the far-reaching corporation involved in oil production, chemicals, commodity trading, and investing. He inherited Koch Industries from his father, Fred Koch, and co-owned the company with his brother David, who passed away at age 79 in 2019. The two brothers are known for their involvement in conservative politics and think tanks.

- Estimated net worth: $65.2 billion
- State of residence: New York
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries

Julia Koch and her three children were bequeathed a 42% stake in the business co-owned by her late husband, David Koch. Koch Industries refines oil and manufactures fertilizer and paper products. The couple, who met on a blind date in the early '90s, were philanthropists and collectively donated millions to Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Stanford Children's Hospital.

- Estimated net worth: $81.5 billion
- State of residence: Texas
- Source of wealth: Walmart

Alice Walton inherited Walmart from her father, Sam Walton, who established the company in Arkansas in 1962. Alice is known for her curation and support of the arts and is considered one of the richest women in the world, according to Forbes.

- Estimated net worth: $86.4 billion
- State of residence: Arkansas
- Source of wealth: Walmart

Rob Walton is the son of the late Sam Walton, who founded Walmart, the largest retailer in the world. After Sam passed away, Rob took over as Walmart's chairman in 1992. In June 2022, the Walmart heir and his family purchased the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion, the most expensive sale price for an American sports team. Walton outbid other groups who also bid well over $4 billion.

- Estimated net worth: $87.7 billion
- State of residence: Arkansas
- Source of wealth: Walmart

Like his siblings Alice and Rob, Jim Walton inherited a share of Walmart from his father. Today, he runs Arvest Bank, an Arkansas-based financial services company.

- Estimated net worth: $106.2 billion
- State of residence: New York
- Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP

In 1981, Michael Bloomberg founded the financial information company Bloomberg LP. With revenues of more than $9 billion, the company would later develop Bloomberg News and services for financial trading. Bloomberg also had a political career as mayor of New York City between 2002 and 2013.

- Estimated net worth: $110.8 billion
- State of residence: Texas
- Source of wealth: Dell Technologies

Michael Dell's dream of developing and selling computers began in his dorm room at the University of Texas. Less than 10 years later, he became the founder and CEO of Dell. Dell's vision for computers was the ability for consumers to buy machines customized to their needs. Today, the computer technology company is valued at more than $103 billion.

- Estimated net worth: $115 billion
- State of residence: California
- Source of wealth: Semiconductors

NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang launched the graphics-chip manufacturer in 1993 and continues to serve as the company's CEO and president. He currently owns just over 3.5% of NVIDIA's shares, but as the popularity of artificial intelligence has soared, so, too, has the company's worth—NVIDIA chips are used in data centers and self-driving cars. Huang has donated tens of millions of dollars to Stanford University and Oregon State University, both of his alma maters, for the development of research centers.

- Estimated net worth: $129.8 billion
- State of residence: Nebraska
- Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway

Known in the investment world as the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett made a fortune investing in media, energy, and insurance through Berkshire Hathaway. The Nebraska native assumed control of the company in the 1960s. In 2006, Buffett announced he would be donating his fortune to charity.

- Estimated net worth: $133.7 billion
- State of residence: Washington
- Source of wealth: Microsoft

Business tycoon Steve Ballmer began his career at Microsoft and became the company's president in 1998, then CEO in 2000. He purchased the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise in 2014 for $2 billion.

- Estimated net worth: $134.5 billion
- State of residence: Washington
- Source of wealth: Microsoft

Along with Paul Allen, Bill Gates founded the technology company Microsoft in 1975. Years later, he stepped away from the company to pursue philanthropy with his wife. They later divorced, but the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation remains focused on improving global health care and eradicating poverty. The foundation has a trust of more than $75 billion.

- Estimated net worth: $148.9 billion
- State of residence: California
- Source of wealth: Google

Sergey Brin runs Alphabet, the conglomerate organization best known for owning Google. Brin co-founded Google in 1998 with Larry Page after they met at Stanford University. Google owns 90% of the search engine market, bolstered by nonsearch products like Google Chrome and Google Home.

- Estimated net worth: $155.7 billion
- State of residence: California
- Source of wealth: Google

Computer scientist Larry Page revolutionized the online search engine with the invention of Google alongside co-founder Sergey Brin. The two created the company in 1998 and later developed products such as Google Maps, the Pixel phone, and the Chromebook.

- Estimated net worth: $175.3 billion
- State of residence: Hawaii
- Source of wealth: Oracle

Larry Ellison founded the database management system Oracle in 1977. He remains a board member of the company, which has expanded into cloud technology and is the second-largest software development firm behind Microsoft. Ellison is also a prominent philanthropist in cancer research.

- Estimated net worth: $185.7 billion
- State of residence: California
- Source of wealth: Facebook

As the well-known story goes, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in his dorm room at Harvard University in 2004. 20 years later, the social media platform—now known as Meta and worth more than $1.3 trillion—has over 3 billion users and is credited with connecting people worldwide. It has also been at the center of several misinformation and political propaganda scandals, some of which have required Zuckerberg to testify before Congress. Zuckerberg remains the company's CEO and is expanding his interests in philanthropy.

- Estimated net worth: $215.9 billion
- State of residence: Washington
- Source of wealth: Amazon

The tech entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is the first man ever to be worth more than $100 billion. He created the e-commerce platform Amazon, which has an annual revenue of more than $177 billion. Bezos also owns the Washington Post and the aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin.

- Estimated net worth: $257.7 billion
- State of residence: Texas
- Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX

Elon Musk was born in South Africa and moved to California to pursue a Ph.D. in the mid-1990s. His first financial successes include the development of Zip2, an online city guide, and PayPal. In the early 2000s, he began developing electric cars with his company Tesla Motors. The Tesla Roadster starts at $200,000 and is the same car Musk sent to space with his SpaceX exploration program. In October 2022, he closed a controversial bid on the social media platform Twitter for a reported $44 billion and presently owns an estimated 79% of the company, which he has since rebranded to X.