The first billionaire is believed to be the Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller in 1916, or perhaps Henry Ford in 1925. Fast forward a century to 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage, the record number was set with 660 people becoming billionaires globally, a 30% increase from the previous year. While the United States has the most billionaires compared to any other nation, Americans are somewhat divided over the billionaire class. According to data from the Pew Research Center, Americans have become more critical of billionaires between 2020 and 2021. Although support for individual billionaires like Elon Musk or Bill Gates is relatively strong, many Americans view the super-rich as a negative collective, rather than as individuals. Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is predicted to become the world's first trillionaire in 2026.
The wealthiest billionaires in the United States primarily concentrate in a few industries: finance, investment, and technology. Other prosperous sectors include food and beverages, fashion and retail, media, and entertainment. To determine who the wealthiest Americans are and how they achieved billionaire status, Stacker compiled a list of the richest billionaires who are residents of California, using data from Forbes. Billionaires ranked by net worth as of March 31, 2022. Forbes lists 184 billionaires in California.
Below is a list of the 20 richest family in California:
#1. Larry Page
– Net worth: $120.2 billion (#6 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Palo Alto, California
– Source of wealth: Google
#2. Sergey Brin
– Net worth: $115.4 billion (#8 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Los Altos, California
– Source of wealth: Google
#3. Mark Zuckerberg
– Net worth: $81.3 billion (#15 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Palo Alto, California
– Source of wealth: Facebook
#4. Jensen Huang
– Net worth: $25.7 billion (#60 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Los Altos, California
– Source of wealth: semiconductors
#5. Eric Schmidt
– Net worth: $23.6 billion (#69 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Atherton, California
– Source of wealth: Google
#6. Laurene Powell Jobs & family
– Net worth: $18.1 billion (#101 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Palo Alto, California
– Source of wealth: Apple, Disney
#7. Robert Pera
– Net worth: $17.0 billion (#111 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: San Jose, California
– Source of wealth: wireless networking gear
#8. Donald Bren
– Net worth: $16.2 billion (#118 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Newport Beach, California
– Source of wealth: real estate
#9. John Doerr
– Net worth: $13.9 billion (#136 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Woodside, California
– Source of wealth: venture capital
#10. Dustin Moskovitz
– Net worth: $13.9 billion (#138 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: San Francisco, California
– Source of wealth: Facebook
#11. Brian Chesky
– Net worth: $13.8 billion (#141 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: San Francisco, California
– Source of wealth: Airbnb
#12. Charles Schwab
– Net worth: $13.2 billion (#149 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Woodside, California
– Source of wealth: discount brokerage
#13. Joe Gebbia
– Net worth: $11.9 billion (#175 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: San Francisco, California
– Source of wealth: Airbnb
#14. David Cheriton
– Net worth: $11.8 billion (#176 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Palo Alto, California
– Source of wealth: Google
#15. Nathan Blecharczyk
– Net worth: $11.0 billion (#189 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: San Francisco, California
– Source of wealth: Airbnb
#16. Andreas von Bechtolsheim & family
– Net worth: $10.9 billion (#193 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Palo Alto, California
– Source of wealth: Google
#17. David Geffen
– Net worth: $10.8 billion (#194 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Beverly Hills, California
– Source of wealth: movies, record labels
#18. Gordon Moore
– Net worth: $10.5 billion (#198 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Woodside, California
– Source of wealth: Intel
#19. Jan Koum
– Net worth: $10.0 billion (#207 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Atherton, California
– Source of wealth: WhatsApp
#20. Patrick Collison
– Net worth: $9.5 billion (#218 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: San Francisco, California
– Source of wealth: payment software
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