REDWOOD CITY, CA — Beating out New York and Texas, California has proven golden as home to the nation’s greatest number of billionaires at 157, according to Forbes’ 33rd annual ranking of the world’s billionaires released Tuesday.

The ranking includes 2,153 people who have a combined wealth of $8.7 trillion.

Almost a third of these wealthy titans reside in the Silicon Valley, the tech capital of the world. Others are sprinkled around the state from San Francisco and the North Bay to Beverly Hills and Newport Beach in various industry.

Technology tops the industry choice for those accumulating wealth. Some are still involved with their companies. Others have retired with it, choosing to dabble in other things, buy an island or remain a stake/shareholder.

Some names on the list pop out like celebrities in their respective industries, such as Larry Page with Google at $50.8 billion and Elon Musk with Tesla at $22.3 billion. Charles Schwab, the financial broker, uses his $8.3 billion to reside in one of the wealthiest cities in the world in Woodside — a haven for tech moguls. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg took a top spot with $62.3 billion, just short of Larry Ellison’s $62.5 billion. Zuckerberg was joined by his fellow executive Sheryl Sandberg at $1.6 billion.

Among a fair share of venture capitalists sharing the list, Southern California held its own as the entertainment capital. Record and movie producer David Geffen appeared with $7.8 billion. Even legendary climber and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard made the cut with $1.5 billion.

Beyond California, Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, who is worth about $131 billion, topped the list for the second year in a row, followed by software magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates at $96.5 billion and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett at $82.5 billion.

Both the number of billionaires and their combined net worth is down this year, according to Forbes. Last year, 2,208 people made the list and had a combined wealth of $9.1 trillion. Forbes said this represents the first decrease in billionaires and their combined wealth since 2016, and only the second decrease in a decade.

A record 994 billionaires are worth less than they were a year ago, but last year, only 360 members of the elite class got poorer. The average net worth of this year’s billionaires is $4 billion, down from $4.1 billion in 2018. Of the total, 1,450 members are self-made.

“The billionaire ranks prove that even the world’s richest are not immune to economic forces and the volatility of world markets. Yet, even with strong headwinds, resourceful and relentless entrepreneurs find new ways to get rich,” Luisa Kroll, assistant managing editor of wealth at Forbes said in a news release.

Kerry A, Dolan, also an assistant managing editor of wealth at Forbes, noted regional trends.

“Of note this year was the large number of drop-offs in China, and the weakening of the euro vs. the dollar, which pushed down the dollar value of European fortunes,” Dolan said in the release.

In the United States, Bezos’ net worth increased from $19 billion, and Gates, who had been the wealthiest person in the world for the longest period of time, increased his fortune by $6.5 billion, from $90 billion in 2018. The gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 billionaires grew due to an increase in Amazon stock prices. Buffett’s net worth fell by $1.5 billion.

Rounding out the top five were Bernard Arnault of France and Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, with net worths of $76 billion and $64 billion, respectively.

President Donald Trump’s net worth is listed at $3.1 billion by Forbes, which placed him at No 715 on the list. Trump is the first billionaire president of the United States, and the core of his fortune is tied up in a half-dozen buildings in and around midtown Manhattan in New York City, according to Forbes.

New to the list is Kylie Jenner, 21, who is the youngest billionaire in the world and the youngest self-made billionaire of all time. Jenner, who ranked 2,057 on the list, owns 100 percent of Kylie Cosmetics, a company she founded three years ago and which did $360 million in sales last year. Most of the company’s revenue comes from e-commerce, but Kylie Cosmetics also has a deal with Ulta to put its products in the makeup retailer’s 1,163 U.S. stores.

Other Americans in the Top 20 were:

Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg LP, No. 9, with a net worth of $55.5 billion (up from 2018);
Charles Koch and David Koch, Koch Industries, No. 11, with a net worth of $50.5 billion (down from 2018);
Sergey Brin, Google, No. 14, with a net worth of $49.8 billion (up from 2018);
Jim Walton, Walmart, No. 16, with a net worth of $44.6 billion (down from 2018);
Alice Walton, Walmart, No. 17, with a net worth of $44.4 billion (down from 2018);
S. Robson Walton, Walmart, No 18, with a net worth of $44.3 billion (down from 2018);
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft, No. 19, with a net worth of $41.2 billion (up from 2018).

The top 20 billionaires have a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion, which is unchanged from last year. Their aggregate wealth represents about 14 percent of all billionaires. The minimum net worth in the Top 20 was $3.38 billion, $200 million less than 2018.

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Source Sue Wood, Patch Staff