The ultra-rich are getting ultra-richer.
On Sept. 15, Forbes released the 45th annual Forbes 400, a definitive listing of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States. Nearly 50 of them make their palatial homes in Florida, representing a total net worth of $743.6 billion, up from $716 billion in 2025 and $605 billion in 2024.
At the top of the heap, by a ridiculously wide margin, sits current Texan Elon Musk, with a net worth of $908 billion as of Sept. 4, up from $428 billion the year before thanks to SpaceX going public. Amazon founder and Biscayne Bay resident Jeff Bezos is a distant second, with $378 billion.
Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who owns a $173 million, 16-acre compound in Manalapan, 20 minutes away from Mar-a-Lago, came in 7th,
with $204 billion.
Several of the top gazillionaires on the Forbes 400 list are identified as Californians, but some have recently purchased homes in the Sunshine State, possibly in reaction to California's proposed wealth tax. Among them are Larry Page, the former CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company, who ranks No. 3 with an estimated net worth of $275 billion, and former Alphabet president Sergey Brin, who ranks No. 5 with $256 billion. Both made major Florida real estate purchases this year.
Meta founder and rumored new Florida resident Mark Zuckerberg, who ranked No. 6 with $212 billion, was also listed as a California resident. In early March, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, bought a $170 million property on Miami’s exclusive Billionaire Bunker, according to reports.
Several previous Florida billionaires fell off the list, which had a bottom threshold of $4.4 billion this year, and five new ones were added, including Rockstar energy drink founder Russell Savage.
Combined, the nation's 400 wealthiest people are worth a record-breaking $8 trillion thanks to skyrocketing tech sales, booms in AI sales and implementation, and other industries. Last year, the total was $5.6 trillion, Forbes said, up from $1.2 trillion in 2024.
How much is Elon Musk worth?
Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO and former adviser to President Donald Trump, was briefly the world's first trillionaire when SpaceX went public but has dropped back down to a net worth of $908 billion for the list.
Forbes' current profile for Musk shows him at $895.7 billion as of Sept. 15.
How much is Donald Trump worth?
President Donald Trump came in at No. 245 with a net worth of $7 billion, down from last year's ranking of No. 201 and a net worth of $7.3 billion.
"Donald Trump has presided over the most lucrative presidency in American history," Forbes said, "adding billions to his net worth, largely by cashing in on crypto."
Who are the top 10 richest Floridians in Forbes' 400 list?
There was quite a bit of shuffling around this year, with some billionaires falling off the list and others moving up. Here are the top ten:
No. 2: Jeff Bezos
- Net worth: $378 billion
- Age: 62
- Source: Founded Amazon
No. 7: Larry Ellison
- Net worth: $204 billion
- Age: 82
- Source: Founded Oracle
No. 15: Thomas Peterffy
- Net worth: $107.5 billion
- Age: 81
- Source: Chairman of Interactive Brokers
No. 20: Ken Griffin
- Net worth: $60.5 billion
- Age: 57
- Source: Founder of Citadel hedge fund firm
No. 39: David Tepper
- Net worth: $28.5 billion
- Age: 69
- Source: Founder & CEO of Miami-based Citadel hedge fund firm
No. 56: Stephen Ross
- Net worth: $21.5 billion
- Age: 86
- Source: Founded Related Ross, owns a stake in the Miami Dolphins and the Formula One Miami Grand Prix, among others
No. 68: Antonio Gracias
- Net worth: $17.1 billion
- Age: 55
- Source: Investments
No. 70: Shahid Khan
- Net worth: $16.5 billion
- Age: 76
- Source: Auto parts, owner of Jacksonville Jaguars
No. 90: J. Christopher Reyes, Jude Reyes
- Net worth: $14.3 billion each
- Age: J. Christopher Reyes is 72, Jude Reyes is 70
- Source: The brothers co-chair food distribution company Reyes Holdings
No. 96: Robert Duggan
- Net worth: $13.4 billion
- Age: 82
- Source: Pharmaceuticals
Who else in Florida made the Forbes 400 list?
- No. 109: Josh Harris, Cofounded Apollo Global Management, $12.4 billion
- No. 120: Terrence Pegula, gas and oil magnate, owns Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, $11.8 billion
- No. 128: Orlando Bravo, Wall Street dealmaker, $11.6 billion
- No. 121: Mickey Arison & family, Carnival Cruises chairman, $11.5 billion
- No. 146: Stephen Bisciotti, cofounded Allegis Group, $10.7 billion
- No. 153:Elisabeth DeLuca & family, widow of Subay cofounder, $10.2 billion
- No. 156: Jeff Greene, real estate and investments, $10.1 billion
- No. 175: Todd Boehly, cofounder of holding company Eldridge Industries, $9.2 billion
- No. 177: Igor Olenicoff, founded Olen Properties, $9.1 billion
- No. 181: Sami Mnaymneh, cofounder, CEO and co-executive chairman of H.I.G. Capital, $9 billion
- No. 196: James Clark, cofounded Netscape, $8.4 billion
- No. 199: Dirk Ziff, inherited from grandfather, cofounder of Ziff Davis publishing, $8.3 billion
- No. 211: Paul Tudor Jones II, hedge fund manager, $8.1 billion
- No. 245: Donald Trump, real estate magnate, President of the United States, $7 billion
- No. 251: Ronald Wanek, founder of Ashley Furniture, $6.9 billion
- No. 251: Charles B. Johnson, second largest shareholder in Franklin Resources, $6.9 billion
- No. 264: Tom Golisano, founded Paychex, $6.2 billion
- No. 269: Peter Cancro, owner and CEO of Jersey Mike's, $6.2 billion
- No. 269: John Henry, founded J.W. Henry & Co, owns Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe, $6.2 billion
- No. 277: Rakesh Gangwal, cofounder of IndiGo, former chairman of Southwest Airlines, $6.1 billion
- No. 287: Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, owner of Marvel Comics, $5.9 billion
- No. 287: Russell Savage, founded energy drink company Rockstar, $5.9 billion
- No. 287: Jeff Skoll, former eBay president, $5.9 billion
- No. 293: Robert Rich, Jr., head of frozen food company Rich Products, $5.8 billion
- No. 293: Reinhold Schmieding, founded Arthrex, $5.8 billion
- No. 336:Richard Schulze, founder and chairman emeritus of Best Buy, $5.1 billion
- No. 343: Todd Christopher, founder of Vogue International, $5 billion
- No. 343: Scott Kapnick, founder and CEO of HPS Investment Partners, $5 billion
- No. 343: David MacNeil, founded auto parts company WeatherTech, $5 billion
- No. 353: Robert "Woody" Johnson & family, founders of Johnson & Johnson, $4.9 billion
- No. 356: Abel Avellan, founder and CEO of satellite company AST SpaceMobile, $4.8 billion
- No. 356: C. Dean Metropoulos, investor, $4.8 billion
- No. 356: Daniel Och, founder of Och-Ziff Capital Management, $4.8 billion
- No. 356: Herbert "Herbie" Wertheim, optometrist, inventor and investor, $4.8 billion
- No. 367: Michael Jordan, possibly the greatest NBA player of all time, $4.7 billion
- No. 375: Michael Saylor, cofounder, Chairman of MicroStrategy, $4.6 billion
- No. 380: Edward Debartolo Jr., head of DeBartolo Holdings, $4.5 billion
How does Forbes rank rich people?
Forbes said its estimates on net worth are a snapshot of wealth based on stock prices, a variety of assets, and exchange rates from Sept. 4, 2026.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Nearly 50 Florida billionaires make Forbes 400 as wealth soars in 2026
