Main article: US economy
The richest people in the world
Main article: The richest people in the world
2025: Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos
By mid-May 2025, the richest American businessmen is Tesla founder Elon Musk - his fortune is $422.2 billion. This assessment is given by Forbes magazine.
Forbes maintains a real-time ranking of billionaires, which is updated daily based on market data. Unlike the annual list published in March, the online version reflects current capital changes thanks to complex algorithms. The basis for settlements is stock quotes of shares of public companies, exchange rates and the latest transaction data. For private assets, expert assessments based on company reports and registry data are applied.
The rating is particularly sensitive to sharp market fluctuations. For example, Elon Musk's capital could change by billions of dollars in a day due to spikes in Tesla or SpaceX shares. Similarly, the fortune of Jeff Bezos (by mid-May 2025 is $219.2 billion - the third indicator among American businessmen) directly depends on Amazon's quotes and the success of its space projects. Forbes also promptly reflects the effects of economic crises, sanctions or major transactions such as IPOs or the sale of business interests.
In addition to Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, the top three richest Americans by mid-May 2025 include Facebook founder (the company is recognized as extremist in Russia, its activities are prohibited) Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune is estimated at $219.2 billion. According to Forbes, after leaving the top 10 richest billionaires in 2023, Zuckerberg managed to climb from 16th place to fourth in 2024 and enter the top three in 2025.
Elon Musk has not occupied the first line of the rating since 2022. For 2024, it became richer by $147 billion[1]
2024
Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg
Record inequality: Top 10% of U.S. citizens account for half of all spending
At the end of 2024, the richest 10% of US citizens now account for half of all consumer spending, which is a record inequality on record, Bloomberg wrote.
2023: $5.8 million - the threshold for entering the number of the 1% richest people in the country
Getting into the top 1% of the rich in the United States is becoming more difficult. According to a study by Knight Frank, it now takes at least $5.8 million to enter the echelon of the richest people in the world's largest economy, which is almost 15% more than 12 months ago.
The top 1% of earners in the US own a bigger fortune than the entire middle class of the country.
2022
There are 22.71 million millionaires in the country
The richest Americans in every state
867 billionaires
2021
The richest 1% of citizens account for 35.1% of the population's assets
Richest Americans pay meager income taxes
An extensive archive of US Internal Revenue Office information on the 25 richest people in the United States was published in early June 2021.
The ProPublica report shows how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay a paltry income tax compared to their vast wealth - sometimes not even anything.
Taken together, it destroys the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: everyone pays their fair share, and the richest Americans pay the most.
From 2014 to 2018, the fortunes of these 25 people grew by $401 billion, according to Forbes. Over those five years, they paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That's a staggering amount, but its real tax rate is just 3.4%.
Richest Americans hide 20% of profits from tax
At the end of March 2021, the US National Bureau of Economic Research published a study according to which tax evasion in the United States is much higher than previously assumed. According to the authors of the report, more than 20% of the income of the richest Americans is not reflected in the documents of the tax service.
Random checks can reveal some cases of tax evasion, but the authors of the study believe that the Federal Tax Service easily overlooks income hidden in slightly more sophisticated ways, including in private companies and offshore structures. Collecting all unpaid income tax from the richest 1% would increase revenue to the US Treasury by $175 billion a year, they said.
While data on many forms of income, including wages, are automatically transferred to the Federal Tax Service and easily revealed in a basic audit, the profits of private enterprises and complex investment partnerships are more difficult to track. According to the authors, such a large-scale concealment of income means that wealth inequality can be even more pronounced than previously assumed.
Research economists believe that the Federal Tax Service should use "additional tools" to effectively combat tax evasion at high incomes, including attracting informants and applying specialized audits.
At the same time, the Federal Tax Service reports that the number of inspections of high-income taxpayers has fallen over the past decade, because funding for this unit has decreased significantly, like staffing.
 | Since 2010, we have lost 15,000 employees, - said the Commissioner of the Federal Tax Service. |  |
According to the Federal Reserve, in 2020, the wealth of the 1% of the richest people grew by about $4 trillion, which is more than a third of all new wealth. Meanwhile, the net wealth of the poorest half of US households grew by $471 billion, which is only 4% of the total increase in 2020.[2]
2020: 1st in the world in the number of billionaires - 614
2019: Richest families in the US
At the beginning of 2019, experts from the Institute for Policy Studies published their Billionaire Bonanza report, in which they concluded about the growth of inequality in the United States and about the increase in the concentration of wealth in the hands of a narrow circle of people. In particular, they compiled a list of the richest family clans in the United States.
Walton family: $169.7 billion
The Walton family is the richest clan in the United States with a fortune of $169.7 billion.
The source of their wealth is Walmart, which was founded in 1962 by Sam and Bud Walton.
Walmart's sales reach $500 billion in 2018, making it the largest retail chain in the world.
The state of the Walton family is divided between seven family members, including the children of one of the founders of the company - Rob, Jim and Alice.
Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world, her fortune reaches $44.9 billion.
Koch family: $107 billion
Koch Industries helped the Koch family make a fortune of $107 billion.
Brothers Charles and David Koch expanded their father's oil refining company, turning it into a conglomerate that generates approximately $100 billion in annual revenue.
David promised to donate over $1.2 billion to cancer research, hospitals, education and cultural institutes through the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, which he founded.
Mars family: $72bn
The Mars family's fortune reaches $72 billion and is based on the Mars Inc. empire, which owns brands such as M & Ms, Milky Way and Mars bars.
Six family members are on the Forbes 400 list. Brother and sister Jacqueline and John Mars own most of the fortune - $24 billion each. The remaining four family members own $6 billion each.
In addition, they run the Mars Foundation, a charitable foundation that donates money to education, environmental protection, culture and health care.
Stephen Badger, son of Jacqueline Mars, is chairman of Mars Inc.
Cargill-McMillan family: $38.8 billion
The Cargill-McMillan family's fortune reaches $38.8 billion. Its foundation was laid in 1865 when Cargill Inc.
At the beginning of 2019, 23 members of the Cargill-McMillan family own 88% of the company, which generates revenue of $108 billion per year.
Of the entire clan, 14 members are billionaires, nine are on the Forbes 400 list.
Edward Johnson family: $38.7 billion
The fortune of the family of Edward S. Johnson reaches $38.7 billion.
Edward S. Johnson founded the nation's second largest mutual fund, Fidelity, in 1946. Since then, it has been managed by three generations of Johnsons.
The family owns 49% of the company, which is managed by Edward Johnson's granddaughter, Abigail Johnson.
Cox family: $37.2 billion
The Cox family's fortune reaches $37.2 billion and is based on Cox Enterprises' income.
The company does business in various areas - cable and broadband broadcasting (Cox Communications), newspapers and radio stations (Cox Media Group), as well as the automotive industry. The company's profit reaches about $20 billion.
The grandchildren of the founder of the company, James Cox, divided his inheritance among themselves.
Pritzker family: $26.6 billion
The fortune of the Pritzker family reaches $26.6 billion.
A. N. Pritzker and his sons - Jay, Donald and Robert - established family capital, establishing the Hyatt Hotel chain and investing in holdings such as Marmon Group.
Eleven family members are billionaires, eight of them on Forbes' list of the 400 richest people.
Most of the 2000s. they spent in disputes regarding the inheritance, but in the end they were able to share the fortune.
Duncan family: $24.8 billion
The fortune of the Duncan family reaches $24.8 billion.
Dan L. Duncan founded Enterprise Products Partners, which produces natural gas and oil, in 1968, with only $10,000.
After his death in 2010, the company remained under the control of the family. His four children inherited an estate worth $10 billion. Since then, the family's fortune has more than doubled.
Lauder family: $22.4 billion
The Lauder family built their fortune on retail. to trade Their fortune reaches $22.4 billion.
In 1947, Esty Lauder received her first major skincare order worth $800 from Saks Fifth Avenue.
At the beginning of 2019, the company owns 30 make-up brands, including MAC and Clinique. In 2018, the company's sales amounted to $13.8 billion.
In addition, the Lauder family are active benefactors. Leonard Lauder donated $1 billion to art. In addition, the family owns a large number of real estate.
Johnson family: $18.2 billion
The fortune of the Johnson family reaches $18.2 billion.
S.C. Johnson, which produces detergents and other household chemicals, was founded in 1882 by Samuel Curtis Johnson, and then inherited by his son Herbert Fisk Johnson[3].
Herbert Fisk Johnson died in 1928, leaving no will.
Family members feuded, but the company was subsequently divided between his two children - Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr. and Henrietta Johnson Lewis.
2017: Richest man in every state
2014:1% of the wealthiest US citizens control 39% of the country's wealth
See also
Notes
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