These Wisconsin Billionaires Are Among Richest In U.S.: Forbes

WISCONSIN—The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy, yet billionaires in Wisconsin and across the globe are significantly wealthier than they were a year ago, according to this year’s recently released Forbes World's Billionaires List.

The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list jumped to an unprecedented 2,755 people, 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020.

Among those on the list, 86 percent are richer today than they were a year ago.

A billionaire worth $14.2 billion could buy a 6-pack of cream puffs ($25 per pack) from the Wisconsin State Fair for 568 million people.

The numbers will likely spark outrage, writes Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane. “There’s no getting around a collective $5 trillion wealth surge during a pandemic, when most of the world felt scared, sick, besieged,” he wrote in a comprehensive essay titled “Operation Wealth Speed."

However, “the underlying trends offer a road map to greater prosperity for all,” he continued. “Like anything else salvaged from a once-a-century plague, we just need to be brave enough to harness it.”

A total of 8 billionaires on this year’s list hail from Wisconsin. John Menard Jr of Menard, Inc. leads the list of Wisconsin billionaires with a net worth of $14.2 billion.

Other Wisconsin billionaires on the list include:

• Herbert Kohler Jr & family, Kohler Co. $9.8 billion
• Diane Hendricks, ABC Supply, $8 billion
• Judy Faulkner, Epic Systems, $6 billion
• James Cargill II, Cargill, $3.6 billion
• S. Curtis Johnson, great-great-grandson of Samuel Curtis Johnson, who founded SC Johnson in 1886, $3.6 billion
• Helen Johnson-Leipold, heir to family-owned SC Johnson, $3.6 billion
• H. Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, $3.5 billion

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 5.

A record 493 people made their debut on this year’s list. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past made a reappearance, according to Forbes. This year’s list includes a record 328 female billionaires, up from 241 in 2020.

Soon-to-be-former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retained the top spot on this year’s list for the fourth consecutive year. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, will step down as CEO at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk soared to the No. 2 spot, up from No. 31 on last year’s ranking. Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

See the full 2021 Forbes Billionaires List.