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Forbes 400 2010 by Jordan at Investing Blog

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The Forbes 400 list is interesting as it shines a light into how the richest people in the world became, well, the richest people in the world. This post will serve as my observations about the list, and the people that make it up.

You’re not going to get on this list with any less than $1 billion. This year, the net worth of all the people on the list was above $1 billion for the fourth consecutive time. $1 billion isn’t chump change.

Intangible Products Still Top the List

Bill Gates, with his incredible wealth from the sale of software, is still #1 in 2010. The interesting thing about his product is that it’s just 1s and 0s, nothing more. You can’t exactly hold an operating system in your hand. Well, you could, but that’s the disk, not the data.

The Walton’s are Flippin’ Rich

Sam Walton, the guy who founded WalMart, put more people on the Forbes 400 than anyone else. There are a few Walton’s with more than $20 billion, and this year they added a ton of wealth not from capital appreciation, but from dividends. So, what happens when WalMart decides its best strategy is to return profits to shareholders rather than reinvest them? Pretty soon we could see the top 4 people share the same last name!

Healthy Mix of Private and Public Companies

You don’t have to take a company public to top the Forbes 400. The Koch brothers, both exceedingly wealthy, grew their father’s business into a billion dollar company without taking it public. A number of other private companies are on the list, too.

Bill Gates has more millions than the average 35 year old has dollar bills

Bill Gates at $53 billion has more millions than the median 35-44 year old has $1 bills. That’s incredible. If a 35 year old were to put $1.25 in a vending machine to buy a Coca-Cola, Bill Gates would have to stuff in a check for $1.25 million to spend the same percentage of his net worth. Unbelievable. (Based on data from my median net worth data post).

Media Is In!

Media companies are all over the top 100. From Bloomberg, to Google and Facebook, a number of people in the media and entertainment industries have really brought it home. Oprah, though at the bottom of the list, is back over a billion bucks again. Looking to get into business for yourself? Looks like media is a great place to start and end!

You Don’t Have to Be a Household Name

Clearly, corporations still outlive the average human. Some of the biggest companies on the New York Stock Exchange haven’t put anyone on the Forbes 400. Some of America’s richest aren’t even household names. I guess there is still some hope for privacy for the ultra-rich.

About Jordan

Jordan is the web master of www.investingblog.org, a site dedicated to skillful investing, news and recent trends. You can read the original article here.

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