The rich once again have grown richer. Even with lofty price of admission, there are 15 newcomers on the list
Jeff Bezos’s net worth shot up by $78.5 billion in the past year. He’s No 1 on the Forbes 400 list Image: Joshua Roberts / Reuters
It’s another record-breaking year for the richest Americans. For the first time since 1994, there is a new No 1, Jeff Bezos, the fi rst person ever to appear in the ranks who is worth more than $100 billion. The minimum net worth needed to make the list rose to $2.1 billion, the highest to date and $100 million more than last year. List members’ average net worth is $7.2 billion, up by 7.5 percent from a year ago, while their combined net worth rose to a record high of $2.9 trillion. Of that total wealth, half is held by the 45 richest people in the country.