Where Do The Richest Americans Reside?
Where Do The Richest Americans Reside? – evaluating Bill Gates’ and other prominent members of the new Forbes 400 list’s residences
Have you yet to review the most recent edition of “Forbes 400: The Full List of The Richest People in America”?
Surprise! Bill Gates, who has an estimated $81 billion in wealth, is placed first for the 23rd consecutive year. With a net worth of $65.5 billion, his pal Warren Buffett dropped to third place for the first time in 15 years.
CEOs of hot IT businesses appear to have been gaining wealth at a far faster rate than others thanks to skyrocketing stock prices of those companies. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com, acquired $20 billion, bringing his net worth to $67 billion and placing him second in terms of wealth in the United States.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg jumped into fourth place, his highest rank ever, with a net worth of $55.5 billion. However, Oracle founder Larry Ellison landed at No. 5 for the first time since 2007. His net worth is $49.3 billion.
Standing on the No. 6 spot is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CEO of the eponymous firm Bloomberg L.P., who has a net worth of $45 billion.
These six richest multi-billionaires have a combined $363.3 billion at their withdrawal, most of which is still held as stakes in the companies they founded. However, part of their fortune is vested in real estate. Mr. Gates, for one, owns a Washington mansion worth about $170 million, several horse ranches across the U.S. and shares in some luxury hotel chains through his private investment firm, Cascade.
Here, take a look at the residences the six richest moguls call home:
1. Bill GatesWorth: $81 billion Home: Medina, Washington
Mr. Gates, 60, spends most of his time at his 66,000-square-foot Medina, Washington, mansion, nicknamed Xanadu 2.0 after the title character’s estate in Citizen Kane. The mansion overlooks Lake Washington. It took Mr. Gates seven years and $63.2 million to build this house, which is filled with lots of high-tech features. He purchased the lot for $2 million in 1988, but it’s now worth an estimated $170 million, according to public records.
2. Jeff BezosWorth: $67 billion Home: Medina, Washington
Mr. Bezos, 52, in the process of building his e-commerce empire, scooped up a vast amount of real properties over the years, earning him the No. 26 spot on The Land Report’s list of America’s largest landowners last year. In terms of residences, he has a 165,000-acre ranch in West Texas, a waterfront house in Washington state, three linked apartments in Manhattan’s Century Tower, and a 12,000-square-foot Beverly Hills estate that boasts Tom Cruise as a neighbor, according to Forbes.
His home at Medina, Washington, close to Amazon’s headquarters, boasts 5.35 acres and about 29,000 square-foot of living space. Aside from the main home, there’s also a caretaker’s cottage and a 4,500-square-foot boathouse on Lake Washington.
3. Warren BuffettWorth: $65.5 billion Home: Omaha, Nebraska
Although the world’s most astute investor has numerous real estate holdings, Mr. Buffett, 86, is renowned for leading a modest life.
He paid $31,500 for the house on a corner in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1958. Since then, Mr. Buffett has resided there. The mansion, which was initially constructed in 1921, underwent a number of additions to become the man’s pleasant and comfortable 6,500 square foot residence. His net worth is approximately $65.5 billion.
CEOs of hot IT businesses appear to have been gaining wealth at a far faster rate than others thanks to skyrocketing stock prices of those companies. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com, acquired $20 billion, bringing his net worth to $67 billion and placing him second in terms of wealth in the United States.
4. Mark ZuckerbergWorth: $55.5 billion Home: Palo Alto, California
The youngest businessman with the most money invests the majority of it in philanthropic endeavors like education and health. His real estate holdings also include a 9.9 million pied-a-terre in San Francisco, next to Dolores Park, and his Palo Alto residence.
For $7 million, Mr. Zuckerberg, 32, bought his first Palo Alto home in the Craftsman style in 2011. In order to further maintain his solitude, he purchased four of the homes that surrounded his property in the years that followed for around $43.8 million. However, his intention to demolish and then rebuild those four houses has been put on hold.
5. Larry EllisonWorth: $49.3 billion Home: Woodside, California
Larry Ellison, 72, the executive chairman of Oracle, owns a sizable real estate holdings. He has acquired significant portions of entire neighborhoods in Malibu and the area of Lake Tahoe. According to published sources, he also owns a garden mansion in Kyoto, Japan, a $70-million Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, and 98% of Lanai, Hawaii’s sixth-largest island, which he paid $500 million for in 2012.
His $110 million mansion in Woodside, California, has a 2.3-acre artificial lake and is designed after 16th-century Japanese architecture.
6. Michael BloombergWorth: $45 billion Home: Manhattan, New York
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 74, has more than a dozen of properties worldwide. He spends most of his time at his Upper Estate Side townhouse, but he also owns estates in the Hamptons in New York, as well as in London, Bermuda, Colorado and Florida.
Mr. Bloomberg’s townhouse, located at 17 East 79th St., spans five stories with a limestone exterior. During his three terms as mayor, Mr. Bloomberg lived in the townhouse instead of Gracie Mansion. However, he apparently has a plan to turn it into a mega-mansion. Since 1989, he has been gradually buying up units at 19 East 79th St., the townhouse co-op that’s right next door to his current residence. Out of the six units in the white 1880 Greek-revival-style building, Bloomberg now owns five of them, according to The New York Observer.
