The Richest People in America

 estimates of public fortunes are a snapshot of wealth on Aug. 25, 2010, the date we locked in net worths and rankings. We have not included dispersed fortunes (as in those of the Du Ponts) when individual net worths are below our minimum. But we do include wealth belonging to a member's immediate relatives if the wealth can ultimately be traced to one living individual; in that case, "& family" indicates that the number shown includes money belonging to more than one person.

Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images

1. Bill Gates

Net Worth: $54 billion

Source: Microsoft

Residence: Medina, Wash.

Age: 54

The software king is not the world's richest man but that's because he is the most generous person on the planet: To date he has cut checks totaling $28 billion. (Even so, Gates is still America's richest person, topping The Forbes 400 for the 17th straight year.) Most of his donations have passed through his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which now has a $33 billion endowment, including contributions from his buddy and bridge partner Warren Buffett. The foundation has given money for the prevention of 5 million deaths from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; now it's undertaking the eradication of polio. It is also fighting hunger by helping 400,000 farmers in Asia and Africa with rice varieties that resist cold, flooding and drought, and by giving 100,000 farmers on those two continents access to small-scale and cheap irrigation systems. As the foundation accelerates, Microsoft is stuck in neutral. Gates' stake in the company he cofounded is now worth $16 billion; its stock is flat over the last year, despite the release of a new Windows operating system and heavy investments in online advertising and games. Gates regularly sells shares in the software giant, pouring proceeds into investment outfit Cascade, which accounts for 70% of his wealth. Other investments include trash-collector Republic Services, investment firm Gamco, AutoNation and an inflation-hedging fund.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

2. Warren Buffett

Net Worth: $45 billion

Source: Berkshire Hathaway

Residence: Omaha, Neb.

Age: 80

Along with bridge partner Bill Gates, the Oracle of Omaha is coaxing America's richest to pledge half their fortunes to charity. "You keep making the list, I'll keep milking it." Buffett plans to give away 99% of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Buffett children, and it all has to be spent 10 years after he's gone. "Too often a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse and long-standing friends." Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway continues its capital stewardship excellence, beating the S&P by 15 percentage points over the past 12 months. Secret to success: emotional stability. "When you come to a conclusion, you have to really not care what other people say." Buffett faked breathing problems when he was 12 so he could move back to Omaha from Washington, D.C., where his father was a freshman congressman. He had read every book about investing in stocks in the Omaha Public Library by the time he was 12. He met value investor Benjamin Graham at Columbia; bought textile firm Berkshire Hathaway 1965, and transformed it into massive holding company: food, insurance, utilities, industrials. Buffett acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion in 2009.

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3. Larry Ellison

Net Worth: $27 billion

Source: Oracle

Residence: Woodside, Calif.

Age: 66

More at Forbes.com: America's Wealthiest

Youngest American Billionaires

Billionaires In The Making

The Oracle chief brazenly chastised Hewlett-Packard for ousting its former head Mark Hurd over his relationship with a marketing contractor. Then he turned around and hired Hurd weeks later to replace Oracle's co-president, Charles Phillips, who resigned at the same time. HP sued Hurd, prompting Ellison to say that HP was making it "virtually impossible" for the 2 companies to do business together. (The two parties recently settled). Oracle, which has acquired 66 companies over the years, figured out a way to turn a profit on its latest big buy, Sun Microsystems, in 2010. One of the highest-paid executives in the country, Ellison has gotten $960 million in compensation in the past 5 fiscal years, mostly from the exercise of stock options; he recently cut his salary to $1. Ellison's fortune is almost entirely tied up in Oracle; he also owns a $580 million stake in Web business-software outfit Netsuite and is one of the largest private land owners in celebrity haven Malibu, Calif. Ellison has 2 houses in the Bay Area: Japanese-style compound in Silicon Valley and bay-view mansion in San Francisco. An avid yachtsman, Ellison spent a decade and over $100 million on his quest for the America's Cup, which he finally won in February. He beat his Swiss rival Ernesto Bertarelli, thanks in part to a trimaran with a rigid main sail longer than a Boeing 747's wingspan. Now he's deciding where to take the next Cup, said to favor backyard, in San Francisco. He intends to give 95% of wealth to charity.

L. Matthew Bowler

4. Christy Walton & Family

Net Worth: $24 billion

Source: Wal-Mart

Residence: Jackson, Wy.

Age: 55

The widow of John Walton inherited her wealth after the former Green Beret and Vietnam war medic died in an airplane accident near his home in Wyoming 2005. She got an extra bump in her fortune because of her late husband's early investment in First Solar; shares up more than 400% since 2006 initial public offering. But bulk still comes from her shares in Wal-Mart, the retailer founded by her father-in-law Sam Walton and his brother James in 1962. Today Wal-Mart has sales of $405 billion, and employs more than 2.0 million people. The philanthropist supports museums, education and organic gardening.

John Choiasson/Getty Images

5. Charles Koch (tie)

Net Worth: $21.5 billion

Source: manufacturing, energy

Residence: Wichita, Kan.

Age: 74

Since inheriting control of the refining business of his dad, Frederick, in 1967, Charles Koch has expanded the Wichita conglomerate more than 100-fold to $100 billion in revenues; it is now the second-largest private company in the U.S. behind Cargill. Biggest deal to date: The $21 billion purchase of building-products maker Georgia Pacific right before the housing market crashed. Charles and brother David bought out sibs Frederick and William for $790 million in 1983. Each year Charles and David reinvest 90% of profits in the business, with enough left to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into their pet charities and causes, a mix of libertarian think tanks and New York City arts institutions. Most recently they angered California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by giving $1 million to help efforts to overturn the state's climate change regulations.

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

5. David Koch (tie)

Net Worth: $21.5 billion

Source: manufacturing, energy

Residence: New York, N.Y.

Age: 70

More gregarious than his brother Charles, David Koch may have made his shrewdest decision in 1983 when he kept his stock in Koch Industries instead of selling out like his brothers William and Frederick, who got about $790 million for their stakes. Since then the company has expanded rapidly and now is worth more than $50 billion; it has interests in pipelines, refineries, Lycra, Dixie Cups. David, who was the Libertarian Party's candidate for vice president in 1980, restricts his political activities now mostly to supporting conservative think tanks and activist organizations. Most recently he and Charles angered California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by giving $1 million to help efforts to overturn the state's climate change regulations. From his home base in New York City he runs Koch's chemical technology group. He and his wife, Julia, are also active on the charity circuit and have given or pledged $600 million, mostly to cancer research and the arts since 2000; he sits on 26 nonprofit boards.

AP Photo/April L. Brown

7. Jim Walton

Net Worth: $20.1 billion

Source: Wal-Mart

Residence: Bentonville, Ark.

Age: 62

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Jim is currently chairman and chief executive of family's Arvest Bank; also chairs local newspaper company Community Publishers. Sam Walton's youngest son has served on Wal-Mart's board of directors since brother John's death in 2005. While Wal-Mart's shares are nearly flat over the past year, the 3 children of the founder collected $1.2 billion in dividends. A former clerk, Sam Walton (d.1992) founded Bentonville store with brother James 1962; today Wal-Mart has sales of $405 billion, employs more than 2.1 million people.

8. Alice Walton

Net Worth: $20 billion

Source: Wal-Mart

Residence: Fort Worth, Texas

More at Forbes.com: America's Wealthiest

Youngest American Billionaires

Billionaires In The Making

Age: 61

Alice is building Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992), she was an equity analyst after college and later formed investment bank Llama Co. and led the creation of Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. While Wal-Mart's shares are nearly flat over the past year, the 3 children of the founder collected $1.2 billion in dividends. A former clerk, Sam Walton (d.1992) founded Bentonville store with brother James 1962; today Wal-Mart has sales of $405 billion, employs more than 2.1 million people. The horse lover also runs Texas' Rocking W Ranch.

Donald Bowers/Getty Images

9. S. Robson Walton

Net Worth: $19.7 billion

Source: Wal-Mart

Residence: Bentonville, Ark.

Age: 66

S. Robson has been chairman of Wal-Mart since his father's death in 1992. Columbia Law grad joined Wal-Mart in 1969. Positions held: senior vice president, secretary and general counsel, and vice chairman. Today Wal-Mart has sales of $405 billion, employs more than 2.1 million people. While its shares are nearly flat over past year, the 3 children of the founder collected $1.2 billion in dividends.

AP Photo/Marc A. Hermann

10. Michael Bloomberg

Net Worth: $18 billion

Source: Bloomberg LP

Residence: New York, N.Y.

Age: 68

America's richest politician Michael Bloomberg's campaign spending record of $109 million was just surpassed by Meg Whitman in September. He is serving his third term, set to expire in 2013, after successfully campaigning for extended term limits in 2008. The Boston-born son of a Russian immigrant accountant is registered as an Independent, but he is a social liberal; in a recent address, he said: "I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-gay rights. I'm pro-immigration, I'm pro-gun control. I believe in Darwin." Outside of politics, Mayor Mike owns an 88% stake in Bloomberg LP, the data analytics firm he founded in 1982 after being fired from Salomon Brothers ("Living well is the best revenge," he recently said of his multi-billion dollar turnaround). While other financial media firms have been cutting jobs and selling titles, Bloomberg is on a growth spurt. Firm, which operates about 290,000 data terminals, has increased its employee head count by 25% over the last three years; picked up BusinessWeek for less than $5 million. Overall revenues are up an estimated 10% this year to $6.9 billion, thanks in part to the company's expansion into the legal data field. Bloomberg has given over $1.4 billion to charities over the years; causes include anti-smoking, public health and the arts. In a letter accompanying his pledge to donate the bulk of his net worth along with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and other billionaires, he explained why he chooses to give money now rather than bequeath his fortune: "Why wait? Why deny financial aid to this generation? Why deny a possible cure for a disease to this generation?"

Courtesy of Google

11. Sergey Brin (tie)

Net Worth: $15 billion

Source: Google

Residence: San Francisco, Calif.

Age: 37

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Google cofounder Sergey Brin saw company stock dip slightly over the past year amid renewed onslaught from Microsoft. Feeling pressure as Internet ad sector matures. Brin focuses on raising margins with Instant Search and building new businesses in communications. He emigrated from Russia at age 6. Son and grandson of mathematicians on his father's side, mother was a research scientist at NASA. He met co-founder Larry Page in computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford and dropped out in 1998 to start Google from a friend's garage. The two share a 767 jet. Brin is also an investor in Airship Ventures and private space travel company Space Adventures. Brin has become a benefactor for research into Parkinson's disease, after finding out he has a genetic mutation increasing the odds he'll get it. (His wife, Anne Wojcicki, is the cofounder of personal genetics company 23andMe, through which he learned of his condition). Brin practices diving, yoga and acrobatics to lower odds he'll develop the disease.

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