For the third consecutive year the rich got richer. In the 24th annual edition of The Forbes 400, the collective net worth of the wealthiest in the US climbed $125 billion, to $1.13 trillion. All but 26 people on the roster are billionaires. Surging real estate and oil prices drove up several fortunes and helped pave the way for 33 new members (and nine retreads).
And figuring the top 400 are 42 from the Media/Entertainment category. The richest of them all are octogenerian sisters Anne Cox Chambers and Barbara Cox Anthony of Cox Enterprises both of net worth $12,500 million. Anne Cox Chambers is the daughter of James M. Cox, a newspaper publisher and senior Democratic political identity. With her sister Barbara Cox Anthony, she owns and controls her father’s business interests, through Cox Enterprises.
The year's biggest gainer was casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose net worth jumped $8.5 billion on a big bet he's making on the peninsula of Macau, China. Gambling is also the source of wealth for Ruth Parasol and Russell DeLeon, a husband-and-wife team who run their online casino, PartyGaming, from Gibraltar.
For every arrival, there is an exit. Eight members of last year's list died, including Wal-Mart heir John Walton, in a plane crash in June. He is replaced by his wife, Christy. Thirty-three fortunes simply couldn't keep pace with the rising minimum needed to get on the list, which this year was $900 million, a $150 million jump from 2004. Among the notables on whom the curtain descended: DreamWorks cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg.
