World?s Richest Dozen Includes Walton Family
by March 31, 2003 12:00 am 81 views
Collectively, the Walton family of Bentonville, heirs to the retail fortune amassed by its late patriarch Sam M. Walton, would rate No. 1 on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s wealthiest people at $82.5 billion.
But since the magazine lists the family members individually, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates gets that honor at $40.7 billion. The Waltons ranked Nos. 7-11 with $16.5 billion each.
Of the people who made the year’s cut, 50 percent saw their net worth fall, 23 percent saw it rise and 19 percent held steady. The billionaires’ average net worth dipped from $3.2 billion to $3.1 billion.
In 2001, Forbes’ list said there were 538 billionaires in the United States. That dropped 8 percent in 2002 to 497 billionaires. This year, the richest ranks fell 55 percent to 222 total. Their collective wealth, according to the magazine, is $706.2 billion.
The only Walton who was rated on Forbes’ additonal list of “10 Most Powerful Billionaires” was Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Forbes said that list is weighted by political connections, size and scope of business interests and investments, media coverage, philanthropic pursuits and net worth.