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With a net worth of $219 billion, Tesla CEO Elon Musk represented Texas at the tip-top of Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List, which measures the wealth of all 2,668 billionaires across the globe. Together, the world's billionaires hold a total of $4.7 trillion, $299 billion of which resides in Austin.
Joining Musk are eight other Austin-area entrepreneurs, with Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd dropping off the list in the new year, and dozens from across the state.
Forbes determined net worth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 11, 2022, but also provides real-time rankings.
No. 1 (+1) Elon Musk, $219 billion
(Bob Daemmrich)
Always neck and neck with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is currently worth $171 billion, the half-time Austin resident has multiplied his wealth more than 10-fold in the last four years. Between growing compies Tesla, which relocated its headquarters to Austin, and SpaceX, which is in South Texas, Musk also recently joined the board at Twitter after buying 9.2% of the company. This is the first time Musk has taken the top slot on Forbes' list.
No. 24 (+6) Michael Dell, $55.1 billion
A lifelong Texas resident and University of Texas alumnus, CEO and chairman of Dell Technologies Michael Dell’s fortune has more than doubled since 2020, when he was worth just $22.9 billion. In 2017, Dell donated $1 billion of his fortune to the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to help child poverty.
No. 369 (+82) Robert F. Smith, $6.7 billion
Founder of Vista Equity Partners, one of the best-performing firms of its kind, Robert F. Smith is the wealthiest Black man in America. Smith is also the first Black man to sign the Giving Pledge, promising to give away the majority of his wealth, which has more than doubled since 2016. Smith reached a $140 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in 2020 involving undeclared offshore accounts.
No. 637 (-15) Bert "Tito" Beveridge, $4.5 billion
Founder of the booming vodka brand, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Bert “Tito” Beveridge started the company with $90,000 spread across 19 credit cards in 1997. In 2022, Beveridge’s net worth is down slightly by $100 million.
No. 709 (+247) Thai Lee, $4.1 billion
The only female billionaire in Austin, CEO of $11.1 billion IT provider SHI International Thai Lee is soaring upwards in the global billionaire rankings. Since 2017, Lee’s wealth has increased two-and-a-half fold. Born in Thailand, raised in South Korea and starting her company in the U.S. in 1989, Lee also ranked sixth on Forbes’ Self Made Women list last year.
No. 1,012 (-4) Joseph Liemandt, $3 billion
Founder of the investment firm ESW Capital, Joseph Liemandts's wealth hasn’t budged above $3 billion in four years. A young prodigy, Liemandt first made the cover of Forbes magazine at 27 years old in 1996.
No. 1,096 (+78) John Paul DeJoria, $2.8 billion
The Patron Spirits Co. founder and John Paul Mitchell Systems hair care mogul John Paul DeJoria is catching back up after falling more than 500 spaces on the list last year. His fortune has been on a roller coaster since 2013 but he’s never failed to make the list.
No. 1,445 (-196) Jim Breyer, $2.1 billion
One of Facebook, now Meta’s, first venture investors, Breyer has some high-up connections, like his U.S. Senate minority leader brother-in-law Mitch McConnell. Breyer has invested in more than 40 companies like Etsy, Marvel and Legendary Entertainment, but credits his involvement with Facebook as his best business decision.
No. 1,729 (+21) David Booth, $1.7 billion
Making up a marginal amount of his 400-space fall from last year, Dimensional Fund Advisors cofounder David Booth told Forbes he began a decades-long experiment in applying academic theory to real-world investing in 1981.
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- Austin's four richest self-made women in America, Forbes - austonia ›
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Popular
(Laura Figi/Austonia)
So far, there have been 14 100-degree days in Austin this year, and that's been before the official start of summer is this week. Texas usually ranks as one of the hottest states in the U.S., outside of Arizona’s dry heat, while Austin easily ranks as one of the top 10 hottest cities.
Austin hit its all-time high temperature, 112 degrees, in September 2000 and again in August 2011, but if you think it’s hot here, try spending some time in these cities.
Death Valley, CA | Record temp: 134°
Less than 600 people live in Death Valley and for good reason—its long basin and elevation of 282 feet below sea level make it the record-holding hottest place on Earth. The aptly-named Death Valley had 154 days above 100 degrees in the summer of 2001 and rarely has more than two inches of rain per year. It’s typical for Death Valley to have 120-degree days or higher in the summer, which has never happened in Austin and is the highest temperature ever recorded in Texas.
Kairouan, Tunisia | Record temp: 122°
The capital city of Tunisia set a new record high temperature in December 2021 when it hit 122 degrees, smashing the previous record of 118 set in 1982. On average, the hottest months tend to fall between June-September and with 60% humidity or above, it makes it feel much hotter.
Phoenix, AZ | Record temp: 122°
Few places on Earth are hotter than Phoenix, which consistently tops the chart as the hottest city in the U.S. According to Accuweather, Phoenix reaches triple-digit temperatures on a near-daily basis from late May to mid September, which is well over 100 days out of the year. The city usually hits 90 degrees or higher for half of the year. Anyone living on the border of Arizona and California, like the Yuma or Lake Havasu area, is liable to see similarly sweltering heat.
Austin has much more temperature variability year over year—the city hit 100 degrees 12 times in 2021, 49 times in 2020 and 57 times in 2019. Like Austin though, Phoenix is known for extremely mild winters that rarely dip below 60 degrees.
Las Vegas, NV | Record temp: 118°
The fabulous Las Vegas shares a record temperature with Tucson, Arizona, and sits just over 100 miles from California’s Death Valley, so it shares some of its heat waves. Residents of Las Vegas spend over a third of the year, around 135 days, weathering heat that is above 90 degrees, though Austinites fall right behind with 123 days above the same threshold. Just an hour and a half south in Laughlin, the record high temperature reached 125 degrees.
Athens, Greece | Record temp: 116°
Athens leads the charge on Europe’s hottest country but you’ll still find that Austin is hotter on average: Athens has an average high temperature of 85 degrees in June, while Austin’s average is 92. However, Athens broke Austin’s record high-temperature last August when it reached 116 degrees, making the city so hot they had to start shutting archaeological sites down.
