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No. 1: Bill Gates

Forbes.com9/20/2007 6:00 PM ET

A mere billion isn't so rich anymore

It now takes at least $1.3 billion to make Forbes' annual list of the 400 most affluent Americans. The list's newbies include a roster of private-equity buyout kings; its youngest is a former Enron trader.

By Forbes.com

A billion dollars is no longer enough. The price of admission to this, the 25th-anniversary edition of the Forbes 400, is $1.3 billion, up $300 million from last year. The collective net worth of America's leading plutocrats rose $290 billion to $1.54 trillion.

Wall Street led the charge despite this summer's market jitters. Nearly half of the 45 new members made their fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. Money manager John Paulson joins the list after pocketing more than $1 billion short-selling subprime credit this summer.

Buying spots on the list

Leveraged buyout titans David Bonderman and James Coulter of Texas Pacific make their first appearance on the list, along with William Conway, Daniel D'Aniello and David Rubenstein of Carlyle. Blackstone (BX, news, msgs) billionaires Peter Peterson and Hamilton "Tony" James also join the Forbes 400 for the first time.

Other new members of the list include oilman Harold Hamm, who landed on the ranking after taking his Continental Resources (CLR, news, msgs) oil-and-gas operation public in May. Brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta scratched and clawed their way onto the list with their Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view fight fest. The Fertitta brothers also recently took their Station Casinos gambling company private with Forbes 400 member Tom Barrack for $9 billion in cash and assumed debt.

Twelve people return to the list after absences, including computer-memory mavens David Sun and John Tu, and John Catsimatidis, who made his fortune buying and holding an oil refinery and New York City real estate through his holding company, Red Apple.

The youngest member of the Forbes 400 this year is 33-year-old John Arnold, a former Enron trader who now runs hedge fund Centaurus Energy and has amassed a $1.5 billion fortune. The oldest member of the list is potato king John Simplot, who is worth $3.6 billion at age 98.

The biggest gainer this year was Kirk Kerkorian, who padded his fortune by $9 billion, to $18 billion, as shares of his MGM Mirage (MGM, news, msgs) casino outfit rose 135% over the past year. Kerkorian enters the top 10 along with Google's (GOOG, news, msgs) Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who are up $4.4 billion and $4.5 billion, respectively, and brothers Charles and David Koch, who added $5 billion apiece to their fortunes on surging energy and commodities prices. They replace four members of Wal-Mart Stores' (WMT, news, msgs) Walton family and Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs) co-founder Paul Allen. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)

Abigail Johnson

Abigail Johnson, the richest American businesswoman

Micky Arison

Micky Arison, the richest American in sports

Sam Zell

Sam Zell, the richest American in real estate

Seven members of last year's list have died, including media mogul Barbara Cox Anthony; she is replaced by her two children, James Kennedy and Blair Parry-Okeden. Other notable deaths include Wal-Mart scion Helen Walton, real-estate mogul Leona Helmsley and Cargill grain heir W. Duncan MacMillan.

Fifty people couldn't keep up. They include online-gambling titans Ruth Parasol and J. Russell DeLeon, whose PartyGaming (PYGMF, news, msgs) Internet poker company's stock has fallen 75% in the past 12 months. Also dropping off the list is caffeine king Howard Schultz, whose Starbucks (SBUX, news, msgs) stock has languished over the past year, and Campbell Soup (CPB, news, msgs) heir Dorrance Hill Hamilton, who had appeared on every Forbes 400 list since 1982.

The Forbes 400 -- the richest Americans
   

The very richest:

Top 5

Net worth

Source of wealth

How became rich

Bill Gates

$59 billion

Software -- Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs)

Self-made

Warren Buffett

$52 billion

Investing -- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, news, msgs)

Self-made

Sheldon Adelson

$28 billion

Gambling/leisure -- Las Vegas Sands (LVS, news, msgs)

Self-made

Larry Ellison

$26 billion

Software -- Oracle (ORCL, news, msgs)

Self-made

Sergey Brin / Larry Page (tie)

$18.5 billion

Technology -- Google (GOOG, news, msgs)

Self-made

See the full Forbes 400

The richest businesswomen:

Top 5

Net worth

Source of wealth

How became rich

Abigail Johnson

$15 billion

Finance

Self-made; some inherited

Oprah Winfrey

$2.5 billion

Media/entertainment

Self-made

Marilyn Carlson Nelson and family

$2.2 billion

Service industry

Self-made; some inherited

Margaret Magerko

$2 billion

Retailing

Self-made; some inherited

Margaret Whitman

$1.4 billion

Technology -- eBay (EBAY, news, msgs)

Self-made

The richest in sports:

Top 5

Net worth

Owns

How became rich

Micky Arison

$5.8 billion

Miami Heat

Inherited and growing

William Davidson

$4.5 billion

Detroit Pistons

Inherited and growing

Charles Dolan and family

$3.2 billion

Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks, New York Rangers

Self-made

Carl Pohlad

$3.1 billion

Minnesota Twins

Self-made

Glen Taylor

$2.7 billion

Minnesota Timberwolves

Self-made

More of the richest in sports

The richest in real estate:

Top 5

Net worth

Source of wealth

How became rich

Sam Zell

$6 billion

Hanover Compressor (HC, news, msgs)

Self-made

Paul Milstein and family

$4.5 billion

Various real estate

Self-made

Stephen Ross

$4.5 billion

Centerline Holding (CHC, news, msgs)

Self-made

Matthew Bucksbaum and family

$3.3 billion

General Growth Properties (GGP, news, msgs)

Self-made

John Sobrato and family

$3 billion

Various real estate

Self-made

More of the richest in real estate

This article was edited by Matthew Miller for Forbes.com.

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