Eight Georgians made the 2016 list of Forbes Magazine’s 400 richest Americans.
Gains in the stock market and growth by tech firms contributed to the biggest changes on this year’s list, Forbes said this week. Microsoft founder Bill Gates came out on top with an estimated net worth of $81 billion, followed by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ($67 billion) and the Oracle of Omaha, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett ($65.5 billion).
Georgia’s Forbes 400 members include familiar leaders in media, hospitality, retail and pest control. The richest Georgians, according to Forbes, are:
No. 39: Jim Kennedy, $10.8 billion
Kennedy is chairman of Cox Enterprises, which is the parent company of Cox Communications and AutoTrader and has media holdings that include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB-TV Channel 2 and News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB.
No. 174 (tie): Don “Bubba” Cathy and Dan Cathy, $3.6 billion (each)
Don Cathy is an executive vice president of quick-service restaurant giant Chick-fil-A, whose brother, Dan, is the company’s chairman and CEO. Dan Cathy is also a key investor in the company that owns the Fayette County studio complex known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios and recently launched with partners a mixed-use community near the studio campus called Pinewood Forrest.
No. 174 (tie): Bernie Marcus, $3.6 billion
Marcus is a co-founder of Home Depot and the creator of the Georgia Aquarium and a number of philanthropic endeavors.
No. 214: Arthur Blank, $3.1 billion
Blank co-founded Home Depot with Marcus. He owns the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC pro soccer franchise, which will start its inaugural season next year.
No. 246 (tie): Gary Rollins and Randall Rollins, $2.7 billion (each)
The brothers are the heads of pest control giant Rollins Inc., which operates a number of brands including Orkin, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Western Pest Services and Critter Control.
No. 321: Ted Turner, $2.2 billion
Turner made his fortune in cable television (Turner Broadcasting) and was the founder of CNN. He sold the company to Time Warner about 20 years ago. Forbes said he is the second-largest individual landowner in the country, and he and restaurateur George McKerrow founded Ted’s Montana Grill more than a decade ago.
Source: Forbes
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