Bill Gates topped Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans for an 11th consecutive year, with a net worth of $48 billion. His fortune grew by two billion dollars over the previous 12 months.
Warren Buffett, chairman of the Berkshire Hathaway investment conglomerate, narrowed the distance considerably, adding five billion dollars to reach $41 billion. Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft alongside Gates, held third place despite a two-billion-dollar decline, finishing the year at $20 billion.
Five members of the Walton family, owners of the Wal-Mart retail chain, shared fourth place at $18 billion each. Michael Dell rose to ninth with $14 billion, passing Oracle founder Larry Ellison, whose fortune shrank by $4.3 billion to $13.7 billion.
The combined wealth of all 400 entrants reached $1 trillion, up $45 billion from the prior year. Qualifying required a minimum net worth of $750 million, and 78 percent of this year's entrants were billionaires.
Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page made their debut at number 43, each worth $4 billion following the company's public share offering. Disney chief executive Michael Eisner fell off the list after a year of shareholder unrest and weak financial results.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in September 2004, in its own words.