Richest Person In NJ Is Bergen County Man, New Forbes Analysis Says

NEW JERSEY — Rocco Commisso has bragging rights as the richest person in New Jersey, according to a recent ranking from Forbes.

Nearly all states have at least one billionaire, according to The Richest Person In Every State list — except Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia. Still, those states list someone who's close.

As for New Jersey, Commisso is a telecom titan with an estimated net worth of $8 billion (as of June 12). The 73-year-old lives in Saddle River, in Bergen County.

Nearly a third of the billionaires topped their states for the first time, according to Forbes.

The competition to make the list is the fiercest in four states, where than 60 percent of the 775 billionaires who live in the United States reside: California with 179 billionaires, New York with 130, Florida with 92, and Texas with 73.

Because of family ties, 54 people made the list. Their average age is 73, with Walmart heir Lukas Walton, 36, of Illinois, and Maryland-based Annette Lerner, 93, the widow of Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner, who died in February, bookending the list.

About two-thirds of these billionaires, as well as centimillionaires (people whose net worth is more than $100 million) are self-made, and the rest inherited their fortunes, according to Forbes.

More than half made their money in four industries: finance and investments, fashion and retail, food and beverage, and technology. But some are in more specific industries such as public storage.

As for the most well-known billionaires, Elon Musk, 51, is listed as the richest in Texas, with $230 billion. Michael Bloomberg, 81, of New York has $94.5 billion. Jeff Bezos has $149 billion and Warren Buffet has $117 billion.