The United States is home to nearly 22 million millionaires and 735 billionaires, according to a Forbes magazine estimate published in October. Within the category of extreme wealth, there are deca-billionaires and centi-billionaires — individuals or family trusts worth more than $10 billion and $100 billion, respectively. Some of these inherited their wealth, while others are self-made. And though nearly all went to college, not all completed their education.
To determine where America’s 25 richest people went to college, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed net worth statistics from Forbes’ The Real-Time Billionaire List, with net worth extracted as of Oct. 2, 2023. All information, including education and schooling information, came from Forbes. When the net worth mentioned is for the billionaire and his or her family, the education is for the billionaire named. The 25 richest billionaires have a combined net worth of nearly $2 trillion. (These are America’s richest billionaires and when they got that way.)
The poorest member of this elite group is Jim Simons, the MIT-trained cofounder of Long Island-based quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies (RenTech), who has amassed a net worth of $30.7 billion.
Who is the richest of the rich?
Elon Musk, the sometimes controversial business magnate, is associated with numerous high-profile companies he founded, cofounded, or acquired, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly known as Twitter). Musk’s net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023, stood at $255.4 billion, nearly 70% more than the second wealthiest American, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.(These are the 25 richest Americans of all time.)
Sixteen members of this “Club of 25” are self-made. Three of these ground-up magnates are investors: RenTech’s Simons; Stephen Schwarzman, president and CEO of Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager headquartered in New York City; and Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, the record-smashing Miami-based hedge fund that netted $16 billion in 2022.
It should be no surprise that founders of some of the largest Big Tech companies are featured prominently, including those of NVIDIA, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Facebook, Amazon.com, and SpaceX — with five of them centi-billionaires. Also, of the eight centi-billionaires, only one is not technology focused — Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, America’s fourth-wealthiest individual.
Four individuals on this list are college dropouts, but most hold a Bachelor of Arts degree. Seven hold post-graduate degrees. Six people on this list are Harvard University alums, five studied at Stanford, and five enrolled at Princeton, according to Forbes.
The youngest of these billionaires is 39-year-old Meta (formerly Facebook) co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Buffett is the oldest at 93.
The five women on this list are heiresses, widows, or ex-spouses, including MacKenzie Scott, who separated from a 25-year-marriage to Bezos in 2019 with a hefty payout. Miriam Adelson is the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021, and Alice Walton is the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Her brothers, Rob and Jim, are also on the list, though the three heirs attended different universities.
Here are America’s wealthiest billionaires and where they went to college.
25. Jim Simons
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $30.7 billion (#46 in world)
- Residence: East Setauket, New York
- Source of wealth: Hedge funds, Self Made
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Doctorate, University of California, Berkeley
24. Miriam Adelson & family
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $31.4 billion (#45 in world)
- Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Source of wealth: Casinos
- Higher education: Bachelor of Science, Hebrew University Jerusalem
23. Stephen Schwarzman
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $33.1 billion (#40 in world)
- Residence: New York, New York
- Source of wealth: Investments, Self Made
- Higher education: Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Bachelor of Arts/Science, Yale University
22. MacKenzie Scott
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $34.6 billion (#36 in world)
- Residence: Seattle, Washington
- Source of wealth: Amazon
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Princeton University
21. Ken Griffin
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $35.4 billion (#34 in world)
- Residence: Miami, Florida
- Source of wealth: Hedge funds, Self Made
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Harvard University
20. Phil Knight & family
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $38.7 billion (#30 in world)
- Residence: Hillsboro, Oregon
- Source of wealth: Nike, Self Made
- Higher education: Master of Business Administration, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Oregon
18. Jacqueline Mars
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $38.9 billion (#28 in world)
- Residence: The Plains, Virginia
- Source of wealth: Candy, pet food
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Bryn Mawr College
18. John Mars
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $38.9 billion (#28 in world)
- Residence: Jackson, Wyoming
- Source of wealth: Candy, pet food
- Higher education: Diploma, The Hotchkiss School; Bachelor of Arts/Science, Yale University
17. Jensen Huang
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $40.0 billion (#26 in world)
- Residence: Los Altos, California
- Source of wealth: Semiconductors, Self Made
- Higher education: Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Oregon State University; Master of Science in Engineering, Stanford University
16. Charles Koch & family
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $54.5 billion (#23 in world)
- Residence: Wichita, Kansas
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Master of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
15. Julia Koch & family
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $59.8 billion (#21 in world)
- Residence: New York, New York
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Central Arkansas
14. Alice Walton
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $65.1 billion (#19 in world)
- Residence: Fort Worth, Texas
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Trinity University
13. Rob Walton & family
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $66.1 billion (#18 in world)
- Residence: Bentonville, Arkansas
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Higher education: Doctor of Jurisprudence, Columbia University; Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Arkansas
12. Jim Walton & family
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $66.8 billion (#17 in world)
- Residence: Bentonville, Arkansas
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Arkansas
11. Michael Dell
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $70.7 billion (#16 in world)
- Residence: Austin, Texas
- Source of wealth: Dell Technologies, Self Made
- Higher education: Drop Out, The University of Texas at Austin
10. Michael Bloomberg
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $96.3 billion (#11 in world)
- Residence: New York, New York
- Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP, Self Made
- Higher education: Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Bachelor of Arts/Science, Johns Hopkins University
9. Steve Ballmer
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $97.8 billion (#10 in world)
- Residence: Hunts Point, Washington
- Source of wealth: Microsoft, Self Made
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Harvard University; Drop Out, Stanford University
8. Sergey Brin
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $107.6 billion (#9 in world)
- Residence: Los Altos, California
- Source of wealth: Google, Self Made
- Higher education: Master of Science, Stanford University; Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Maryland, College Park
6. Bill Gates
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $107.9 billion (#7 in world)
- Residence: Medina, Washington
- Source of wealth: Microsoft, Self Made
- Higher education: Drop Out, Harvard University
7. Mark Zuckerberg
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $107.8 billion (#8 in world)
- Residence: Palo Alto, California
- Source of wealth: Facebook, Self Made
- Higher education: Drop Out, Harvard University
5. Larry Page
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $112.1 billion (#6 in world)
- Residence: Palo Alto, California
- Source of wealth: Google, Self Made
- Higher education: Master of Science, Stanford University; Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Michigan
4. Warren Buffett
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $115.6 billion (#5 in world)
- Residence: Omaha, Nebraska
- Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway, Self Made
- Higher education: Master of Science, Columbia University; Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Nebraska Lincoln
3. Larry Ellison
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $135.6 billion (#4 in world)
- Residence: Woodside, California
- Source of wealth: Oracle, Self Made
- Higher education: Drop Out, University of Chicago; Drop Out, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
2. Jeff Bezos
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $151.9 billion (#3 in world)
- Residence: Medina, Washington
- Source of wealth: Amazon, Self Made
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, Princeton University
1. Elon Musk
- Net worth as of Oct. 2, 2023: $255.4 billion (#1 in world)
- Residence: Austin, Texas
- Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX, Self Made
- Higher education: Bachelor of Arts/Science, University of Pennsylvania
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