Bill Gates named richest American for 23rd straight year

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has retained the top spot on The Forbes 400 list for the 23rd consecutive year

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has retained the top spot on The Forbes 400 list for the 23rd consecutive year. The Silicon Valley icon’s net worth rose to $81 billion this year, up by $5 billion over 2015.

The billionaires on Forbes’ 2016 ranking of the 400 richest people in America, ‘The Forbes 400’ have a combined total net worth of $2.4 trillion, Forbes said in a statement on Tuesday. Their combined net worth was $2.34 trillion last year.

Immigrants comprised 10.5 percent (42 billionaires) on The Forbes 400 list, including five ranks held by Indian-origin naturalized citizens. These include Romesh T Wadhwani (No. 222; $3 billion), Bharat and Neerja Sethi Desai (No. 274; $2.5 billion), Rakesh Gangwal (No. 321; $2.2 billion), John Kapoor (No. 335, $2.1 bn), and Kavitark Ram Shriram (No. 361, $1.9 billion).

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (No. 2), worth $67 billion, is the biggest gainer on the list riding on the 56 percent surge in Amazon's share price. The 'Oracle of Omaha', Warren Buffett (No. 3) surrenders the runner-up spot that he has held for 15 years, despite his net worth of $65.5 billion in the 2016 list.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg (No. 4), worth $55.5 billion, made it into the top 5 for the first time. Rounding out the top 5 is Larry Ellison (No. 5), worth $49.3 billion, up $1.8 billion from last year; Ellison drops from the number 3 rank for the first time since 2007.

The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member hit $6 billion, compared to $5.8 billion last year. The minimum net worth needed to make this year’s list remains at $1.7 billion, unchanged from 2015.

“The theme of the 2016 Forbes 400 package is the success of immigrants and the thriving American dream. There are a record number of Forbes 400 list members born outside the U.S., and that’s a positive trend in terms of entrepreneurship and job growth,” Forbes said in its media release.

According to Forbes’ new methodology introduced in 2014, rich list members are ranked by just how self-made they truly are. For the methodology and complete ranking, click here