Although the World Bank worries that 100 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic, those who live in extreme wealth weathered the storm just fine. The world's billionaires added $3.9 trillion to their collective fortunes between March and December 2020, bringing their combined net worth to $11.95 trillion, according to the Economic Times.
Some of America's richest people made their fortune as innovators, like Elon Musk with his electric cars and space rockets. Others were born into fortunes built by forebearers with names like Mars, Walton and Koch. Then there are people like Bill Gates, who spends most of his time and effort on giving money away through philanthropy, yet somehow, keeps getting richer.
Using data from Forbes' Real-Time Billionaire List, GOBankingRates identified the 25 richest people in America and ranked them in ascending order from least rich to richest. The list also includes their ages, net worths and the source of their fortunes.
One of the early pioneers of digital trading, Thomas Peterffy founded Interactive Brokers in 1993 and served as CEO until 2019. He's also a land baron who owns more than 500,000 acres of Florida timberland.
The son of Estee Lauder herself, Leonard Lauder ran the company that bears his mother's name for 30 years. He oversaw an era of brand acquisition and expansion into research and development.
In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, which then bought PayPal, making the entrepreneur the mind behind the most famous online auction marketplace and the most famous payment system. He now owns 5 percent and 6 percent of eBay and PayPal, respectively.
One of the only billionaires whose name makes you hungry, John Mars is the grandson of candy magnate Frank Mars. He and his two siblings inherited about a third of the famous sweets empire each.
John Mars' only living sibling is Jacqueline Mars. The company they inherited is famous for candy, but it's also a pet food giant with brands like Whiskas and Pedigree in its portfolio.
Richard Young / Shutterstock.com
Len Blavatnik
U.S. wealth rank: $31,600,000,000
Overall wealth rank: 20
Net worth: 46
Age: 64
Source of income: music, chemicals
Ukraine native Len Blavatnik sold his stake in a Russian oil company for $7 billion in 2013. Two years earlier in 2011, he purchased Warner Music for $3.3 billion.
Quicken Loans
Daniel Gilbert
U.S. wealth rank: 19
Overall wealth rank: 33
Net worth: $42,400,000,000
Age: 59
Source of income: Quicken Loans
Daniel Gilbert was just 22 years old when he founded the company that would become Quicken Loans in 1985. In 2020, it went public as Rocket Companies and is now the country's largest mortgage lender.
Richard Drew/AP
Michael Dell
U.S. wealth rank: 18
Overall wealth rank: 31
Net worth: $42,700,000,000
Age: 56
Source of income: Dell computers
Michael Dell struck it rich with the direct-order computer company that bears his name, and when Dell merged with EMT in 2016, the $60 billion deal was the largest tech acquisition in history. His side hustle is MSD Capital, which owns a portfolio of restaurants and hotels.
Clint Spaulding/WWD
Julia Koch
U.S. wealth rank: 16
Overall wealth rank: 27
Net worth: $44,900,000,000
Age: 58
Source of income: Koch Industries
Along with her three children, Julia Koch inherited roughly 42 percent of Koch Industries when her husband, David Koch, died in 2019. She previously worked in the fashion industry.
Gavin Peters / Wikimedia Commons
Charles Koch
U.S. wealth rank: 16
Overall wealth rank: 27
Net worth: $44,900,000,000
Age: 85
Source of income: Koch Industries
Charles Koch is known not only as a billionaire businessman, but as a heavyweight in the political donor class. Since 1967, he has served as chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, the company his father Fred Koch founded in 1940 after developing a new way to produce gasoline.
Ethan Miller / Getty Images
Phil Knight
U.S. wealth rank: 15
Overall wealth rank: 24
Net worth: $53,700,000,000
Age: 83
Source of income: Nike
Phil Knight co-founded Nike and oversaw its ascent to the pinnacle of the global athletic shoes and apparel industry. He formed what would become Nike with his old track coach with an investment of $500 each in 1964.
rblfmr / Shutterstock.com
Michael Bloomberg
U.S. wealth rank: 14
Overall wealth rank: 23
Net worth: $54,900,000,000
Age: 79
Source of income: Bloomberg LP
Michael Bloomberg built his enormous fortune from the ground up, starting his Wall Street career at the entry level before building a financial empire that was based on media and technology. His second act was a political career that included a long run as the mayor of New York City.
Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE
MacKenzie Scott
U.S. wealth rank: 13
Overall wealth rank: 22
Net worth: $58,400,000,000
Age: 51
Source of income: Amazon
Mackenzie Scott's 2019 divorce from Amazon boss Jeff Bezos made the author and former hedge fund employee one of the richest people on Earth. She immediately put her newfound wealth to good use, becoming one of the world's most prolific philanthropists in that short time alone.
WESLEY HITT / Flickr.com
Rob Walton
U.S. wealth rank: 12
Overall wealth rank: 19
Net worth: $68,100,000,000
Age: 77
Source of income: Walmart
The oldest son of legendary Walmart founder Sam Walton, Rob Walton took the mantle when the elder Walton died in 1992. Rob Walton and the rest of Sam Walton's heirs together own half of the stock of the company their father founded.
WESLEY HITT / Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Jim Walton
U.S. wealth rank: 11
Overall wealth rank: 18
Net worth: $68,400,000,000
Age: 73
Source of income: Walmart
Sam Walton's youngest son is Jim Walton, who turned his seat on the company's board over to his own son, Steuart, in 2016. Instead, he serves as chairman of Arvest Bank, which--along with its $20 billion in assets--belongs to his family, as well.
Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com/REX/Shutterstock
Alice Walton
U.S. wealth rank: 10
Overall wealth rank: 17
Net worth: $68,600,000,000
Age: 72
Source of income: Walmart
The renegade of the Walmart heirs, Alice Walton is Sam Walton's only daughter. Unlike her siblings, company life was not for her. She pursued a career as an art curator and museum founder, instead.
Francois Durand / Getty Images
Steve Ballmer
U.S. wealth rank: 9
Overall wealth rank: 11
Net worth: $81,300,000,000
Age: 65
Source of income: Microsoft
Stanford dropout Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30. As CEO from 2000-2014, he shepherded the company through the dot-com bust, the rise of Google, and Apple's most transformative era of innovation.
Kimberly White / Getty Images
Larry Ellison
U.S. wealth rank: 8
Overall wealth rank: 10
Net worth: $86,800,000,000
Age: 77
Source of income: software
Larry Ellison still owns more than one-third of Oracle, the software giant he co-founded. He also sits on the board of Tesla, a position he has held since 2018 when he bought 3 million shares of Elon Musk's company.
James Duncan Davidson / Flickr.com
Sergey Brin
U.S. wealth rank: 7
Overall wealth rank: 9
Net worth: $89,300,000,000
Age: $89,300,000,000
Source of income: Google
Sergey Brin is no longer the president of Google's parent company Alphabet, but he remains a member of the board and a controlling shareholder. Along with Larry Page, he co-founded Google in 1998 while studying at Stanford.
Kimberly White / Getty Images
Larry Page
U.S. wealth rank: 6
Overall wealth rank: 8
Net worth: $92,000,000,000
Age: 48
Source of income: Google
Like Sergey Brin, Larry Page was pursuing an advanced computer science degree at Stanford when he co-founded Google in 1998. He was instrumental in developing the PageRank algorithm that made it possible to search the early Internet. Although he stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, he remains a controlling shareholder.
Daniel Zuchnik / WireImage
Warren Buffett
U.S. wealth rank: 5
Overall wealth rank: 7
Net worth: $93,200,000,000
Age: 91
Source of income: Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns dozens of companies and brands, many of which, like Duracell and Geico, are household names. He also happens to be one of the most successful stock investors of all time.
David Ramos / Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg
U.S. wealth rank: 4
Overall wealth rank: 5
Net worth: $100,100,000,000
Age: 37
Source of income: Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook into the world's biggest social network, but he also used the company to acquire an astonishing collection of other companies. Most recently, Zuckerberg became the youngest person ever to cross $100 billion in personal wealth when Facebook-owned Instagram launched Reels as a competitor to TikTok in 2020.
JStone / Shutterstock.com
Bill Gates
U.S. wealth rank: 3
Overall wealth rank: 4
Net worth: $123,600,000,000
Age: 66
Source of income: Microsoft
Bill Gates spent the first part of his life amassing one of the world's greatest fortunes and now seems intent on giving it away. Although he rose to power, prominence, and wealth as the founder of Microsoft, he is now best known for his philanthropic efforts through the world's largest charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
Elon Musk
U.S. wealth rank: 2
Overall wealth rank: 2
Net worth: $173,700,000,000
Age: 50
Source of income: Tesla, SpaceX
Elon Musk has spent the last few months bouncing in and out of the No. 1 spot among the world's richest billionaires. He had an epic 2020, as Tesla shares soared like SpaceX rockets. Most recently Musk was in the news for placing an enormous bet on Bitcoin.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Jeff Bezos
U.S. wealth rank: 1
Overall wealth rank: 1
Net worth: $192,400,000,000
Age: 57
Source of income: Amazon
Among the world's four centibillionaires--that's 11 zeros in front of a one--Jeff Bezos is the richest of them all. In 2020, Bezos became the face of pandemic profiteering. The billionaire class in general got much richer during the crisis, but none more so than Bezos.
