World’s richest: Palm Beach is home to 58 billionaires, says 2024 Forbes data

In all, the Palm Beach billionaires’ wealth for 2024 totals $494.7 billion, the analysis by the Palm Beach Daily News shows.

Billionaires landed on the Palm Beach list if they own real estate in town, whether it’s a primary home, a vacation house or an investment property. There may be more billionaires who own real estate in Palm Beach, but if so, their identities have so far remained cloaked behind the entities they used to buy their properties.  Others may not have met the criteria Forbes.com uses to determine eligibility, which figures in the value of their stock portfolios and other assets, including private companies, real estate and art collections.

The list of Palm Beach billionaires is missing one famous name that appeared on it last year. “Margaritaville” singer and businessman Jimmy Buffett , a longtime Palm Beach homeowner, died at age 76 in September, five months after Forbes said his wealth hit the $1 billion mark for the first time.

New to the Forbes list this year is Palm Beach resident Avram Glazer, who is part of the family that owns the Tampa Buccaneers and is majority owner of the Manchester United soccer team in the United Kingdom. His net worth is $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

On the latest list, Forbes named a record-setting 2,781 people across the globe whose wealth totaled at least $1 billion each, up from 2,640 last year.

Those on the Palm Beach list who saw their wealth rise over the past year are right in line with the vast majority of their global counterparts, the Forbes list shows. Of the billionaires on the global list, three-fourths experienced a year-over-year increase in wealth.

“What a year it’s been for the planet’s billionaires, whose fortunes continue to swell as global stock markets shrug off war, political unrest and lingering inflation,” says an article accompanying the new Forbes list.

Once again, Julia Koch and her family lead the Palm Beach list with an estimated net worth of $64.3 billion, up from $59 billion a year ago. Her late husband, David Koch of Koch Industries, had for years been identified as Palm Beach’s wealthiest billionaire until his death in 2019.

Private-equity mogul Stephen Schwarzman this year stepped into the No. 2 spot on the Palm Beach List. That rank was held last year by hedge-fund manager and securities titan Ken Griffin, who lives in Miami but owns the largest estate in Palm Beach.

Schwarzman’s year-over-year wealth rose from $27.8 billion last year to $38.8 billion this year, according to Forbes. Griffin’s fortune, meanwhile, grew from $35 billion a year ago to $36.4 billion, according to Forbes.

On the new global list, French fashion and cosmetics mogul Bernard Arnault and his family were ranked No. 1 with $233 billion, a position they first assumed in 2023. Tesla and Space X tycoon Elon Musk — and his $195 billion net worth — landed in the No. 2 slot among the world’s billionaires. That was slightly ahead of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who ranked No. 3 with a fortune of $194 billion.

Taking the fourth spot in the global ranking was Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg of Meta with $177 billion. And ranked No. 5 — with $147 billion — was Oracle Corp. software tycoon Larry Ellison, who owns an ocean-to-lake estate in Manalapan south of Palm Beach.

Among the celebrities on the global list is singer Taylor Swift, who for the first time has been ranked as a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion. Other celebrities on the overall list include NBA hall-of-famer Magic Johnson ($1.2 billion), filmmaker George Lucas ($5.5 billion), NBA legend Michael Jordan ($3.2 billion) and businesswoman and television personality Kim Kardashian ($1.7 billion).

Palm Beach’s wealthiest: Local billionaires on the 2024 Forbes’ ranking of the world’s richest

Here is the Palm Beach Daily News’ list of Palm Beach billionaires ranked by Forbes among the world’s richest people. All of the billionaires on this list are American unless otherwise noted. The list includes each billionaire’s rank on the global list, in descending order, and compares 2024 net-worth estimates to the ones Forbes published last year at this time. At the end of the list is a note about the methodology Forbes used to compile its rankings.

Julia Koch, 61 (widow of industrialist David Koch), and family, in 23rd place on the global list, with $64.3 billion, up from $59 billion in 2023.

Private equity titan Stephen Schwarzman, 77, in 34th place, with $38.8 billion, up from $27.8 billion.

Hedge-fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, 55, in 42nd place, with $36.4 billion, up from $35 billion.

Discount broker pioneer Thomas Peterffy, 79, in 44th place, with $34 billion, up from $25.3 billion.

Australian mining mogul Gina Rinehart, 70, in 56th place, with $30.8 billion, up from $27 billion.

Investments/finance executive Abigail Johnson, 62, in 58th place, with $29 billion, up from $21.6 billion.

Mortgage loan magnate and NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, 62, tied in 73rd place, with $26.2 billion, up from $18 billion.

Hedge-fund manager and NFL’s Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, 66, tied in 94th place, with $20.6 billion, up from $18.5 billion.

Cosmetics executive Leonard Lauder, 91, tied in 126th place, with $15.1 billion, down from $21 billion.

Financier Henry Kravis, 80, tied in 169th place, with $11.7 billion, up from $7.5 billion.

Businessman and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, 82, tied in 188th place, with $11.1 billion, up from $10.6 billion.

Real estate developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, 83, tied in 221st place, with $10.1 billion, down from $11.6 billion.

Discount brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab, 86, tied in 232nd place, with $9.8 billion, up from $9.2 billion.

Investments mogul Robert F. Smith, 61, tied in 266th place, with $9.2 billion, up from $8 billion.

Medical equipment heiress Ronda Stryker, 69, tied in 312th place, with $8.2 billion, up from $6.9 billion.

Hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones II, 69, tied in 317th place, with $8.1 billion, up from $7.5 billion.

Real estate investor Jeff Greene, 69, tied in 354th place, with $7.5 billion, up from $7.2 billion.

Real estate mogul Neil Bluhm, 86, tied in 453rd place, with $6.3 billion, up from $6 billion.

Hedge-fund manager Chase Coleman III, 48, tied in 522nd place, with $5.7 billion, down from $8.5 billion.

Money manager Charles B. Johnson, 90, tied in 572nd place, with $5.3 billion, up from $5.1 billion.

Money manager Ron Baron, 80, tied in 597th place, with $5.1 billion, up from $5 billion.

Investments tycoon, inventor and optometrist Dr. Herbert Wertheim, 84, tied in 624th place, with $4.9 billion, up from $4.3 billion.

Cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder, 80, tied in 686th place, with $4.6 billion, unchanged since 2023.

Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and family, 72, tied in 686th place, with $4.6 billion, up from $4.4 billion.

Marvel Entertainment owner Isaac Perlmutter, 82, tied in 712th place, with $4.4 billion, up from $4 billion.

Logistics entrepreneur Bradley Jacobs, 68, tied in 775th place, with $4.1 billion, up from $3.7 billion.

Media and automotive heiress Katharine “Kathy” Rayner, 79, tied in 785th place, with $4 billion, down from $5.5 billion.

Media and automotive heiress Margaretta Taylor, 81, tied in 785th place, with $4 billion, down from $5.5 billion.

Philadelphia Phillies co-owner and tobacco heir John Middleton, 69, tied in 871st place, with $3.7 billion, up from $3.4 billion.

Hedge-fund manager John Paulson, 68, tied in 920th place, with $3.5 billion, up from $3 billion.

Casino and resort mogul Steve Wynn, 82, tied in 949th place, with $3.4 billion, up from $3.2 billion.

Johnson & Johnson heir and New York Jets owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson IV, 76, tied in 991st place, with $3.3 billion, down from $3.4 billion.

Cosmetics executive Jane Lauder, 51, tied in 991st place, with $3.3 billion, down from $5 billion.

Real estate mogul Charles Cohen, 72, tied in 1,104th place, with $3 billion, down from $3.7 billion.

Hedge-fund manager Glenn Dubin, 66, tied in 1,143rd place, with $2.9 billion, up from $2.7 billion.

Investor C. Dean Metropolous, 77, tied in 1,143rd place, with $2.9 billion, up from $2.6 billion.

Real estate magnate Dwight C. Schar, 82, tied in 1,286th place, with $2.6 billion, up from $1.9 billion.

Canadian liquor magnate Charles Bronfman, 92, tied in 1,330th place, with $2.5 billion, unchanged from 2023.

Private-equity specialist Scott Shleifer, 46, tied in 1,330th place, with $2.5 billion, down from $3.5 billion.

Canadian sports-franchise owner Larry Tanenbaum, 78, tied in 1330th place, with $2.5 billion, up from $2 billion.

SlimFast founder S. Daniel Abraham, 99, tied in 1,380th place, with $2.4 billion, down from $2.5 billion.

Cosmetics executive William Lauder, 63, tied in 1,438th place, with $2.3 billion, down from $3.4 billion.

Real estate developer and former President Donald Trump, 77, tied in 1,438th place, with $2.3 billion, down from $2.5 billion.

Fashion designer Tom Ford, 62, tied in 1,496^th place, with $2.2 billion, unchanged from 2023.

Homebuilder Paul Saville, 68, tied in 1,496th place, with $2.2 billion, up from $1.7 billion.

Hedge-fund manager James G. Dinan, 86, tied in 1,545th place, with $2.1 billion, up from $1.9 billion

Fashion and retail entrepreneur Aerin Lauder, 53, tied in 1,545th place, with $2.1 billion, down from $3.1 billion.

Insurance magnate and New York Giants co-owner Jonathan Tisch, 70, tied in 1,545th place, with $2.1 billion, up from $1.7 billion.

Industrialist, investor and education entrepreneur William “Bill” Koch, 83, tied in 1,623^rd place, with $2 billion, up from $1.6 billion.

Food and beverage distributor Duke Reyes, 67, tied in 1,694th place, with $1.9 billion, up from $1.5 billion.

Money manager Mario Gabelli, 82, tied in 1,764th place, with $1.8 billion, up from $1.7 billion.

Industrial equipment heir Mitchell Jacobson, 73, tied in 1764th place, with $1.8 billion, up from $1.3 billion.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer, 63, tied in 1851st place, with $1.7 billion (new to list in 2024)

Investor Nelson Peltz, 81, tied in 1,851st place, with $1.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion.

Canadian financier Gerald Schwartz, 82, tied in 2,046th place, with $1.5 billion, up from $1.2 billion.

Reebok founder Paul Fireman, 80, tied in 2287th place, with $1.3 billion, up from $1.1 billion.

Private-equity specialist J. Christopher Flowers, 66, tied in 2,410th place, with $1.2 billion, down from $1.4 billion.

Real estate asset manager Jane Goldman, 68, tied in 2,545th place, with $1.1 billion, down from $2.1 billion.

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