Top 5 richest Americans on Forbes 400 List: Who are they?

Forbes has released its 40th annual list of the 400 wealthiest people in the world, and the majority are Americans. 

According to the publication, the billionaires' net worths were calculated using stock prices and exchange rates from Sept. 3, 2021.

ELON MUSK TRAILS JEFF BEZOS AT TOP OF FORBES' 2021 BILLIONAIRES LIST

Nearly all are richer than they were a year ago, and the top 20 are together worth $1.8 trillion. 

Notably, the minimum net worth required to make the list was $2.9 billion, up from the previous $2.1 billion cutoff – knocking off 51 billionaires. 

MarketWatch reported last week that media mogul Oprah Winfrey was just shy of that amount and former President Donald Trump fell off the Forbes 400 rankings for the first time in 25 years.

So, who topped the list in the U.S.A.?

1. Jeff Bezos

Amazon.com, Inc. founder Jeff Bezos remains in the top spot for the fourth year running, with a net worth of $201 billion.

While the Blue Origin, LLC founder stepped down as CEO to become chairman in July, Amazon thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AMZN	AMAZON.COM INC.	207.89	+2.15	+1.05%

Bezos also owns The Washington Post.

2. Elon Musk

Telsa, Inc. co-founder and SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) founder Elon Musk came in second, with a net worth of $190.5 billion. 

Musk has promised to give more than half of his stake in Tesla as collateral for loans, and Forbes said it had discounted his stake to take the loans into account. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TSLA	TESLA INC.	357.09	+11.93	+3.46%

Musk stepped down as chairman of the electric car company in 2018 after making "false statements" that launched a probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SpaceX, however, is valued at $74 billion, Forbes said.

3. Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook, Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg was placed third, with a net worth of $134.5 billion.

His social network has been under scrutiny in recent months and a whistleblower who leaked internal documents to The Wall Street Journal delivered congressional testimony against the tech giant on Tuesday. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
FB	NO DATA AVAILABLE	-	-	-

Zuckerberg, the subject of the movie "The Social Network," took Facebook public in 2012 and owns around 12% of the company's stock, according to Forbes. 

In 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook stake over their lifetimes.

4. Bill Gates

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates was fourth, with a calculated net worth of $134 billion.

Gates stepped down from the Microsoft board in 2020 and has donated $35.8 billion of Microsoft stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MSFT	MICROSOFT CORP.	430.98	+7.52	+1.78%

Bill and Melinda Gates announced in May that they were ending their decades-long marriage, though the two will still co-chair the foundation.

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5. Larry Page

Google LLC co-founder Larry Page is fifth on the list, with a net worth of $123 billion. 

Page, CEO until 2005 and from 2011 until 2015, also became the CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet before he stepped down in December 2019. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GOOGL	ALPHABET INC.	171.49	+2.54	+1.50%

The reclusive billionaire remains a board member and a controlling shareholder, according to Forbes.