Palm Beachers Appear on Forbes’ Billionaire List

Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, released yesterday and including several people with ties to Palm Beach, reflected that almost half of the richest people on the planet saw their net worth shrink over the last year, as first reported by the Palm Beach Daily News.

However, most of the 41 billionaires with residential ties to Palm Beach managed to make it through the year with only relatively minor fluctuations in their net worth—and some even remained steady, according to an analysis of the Forbes data by the Palm Beach Daily News. 

Among those whose net worth remained stable was Palm Beach’s most famous snowbird, President Donald Trump. Trump’s estimated fortune remained flat at $3.1 billion, earning him the 715th spot on the global list.

Ten other Palm Beach billionaires also managed to avoid any shrinkage of their net worths in the past year, according to Forbes’ estimates.

Palm Beachers Appear on Forbes’ Billionaire List

The list shows that the grand total of the Palm Beachers’ fortunes is $250.5 billion.

In the past year, 12 of the Palm Beach billionaires saw decreases in their fortunes, while 18 others enjoyed boosts, according to Forbes.

Some Palm Beach billionaires did better than others. Hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin saw his estimated fortune soar from $9 billion last year to $11.7 billion this year. 

Although seasonal Palm Beacher David Koch led the list of billionaires tied to the island as usual, he took a hint of nearly $10 billion according to the Forbes data, dropping his net worth from $60 billion last year to $50.5 billion this year. He is ranked 11th on the global list, tied with his brother, Charles Koch, whom he runs Koch industries with.

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“In total, the ultra-rich are worth $8.7 trillion, down $400 billion from 2018,” wrote Lisa Kroll and Kerry Dolan, who oversee the global project for Forbes.

“Altogether, 11 (percent) of last year’s list members, or 247 people, dropped out of the ranks, the most since 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.”