ALASKA, DELAWARE, AND WEST VIRGINIA ARE THE ONLY STATES THAT STILL DON'T HAVE A SINGLE BILLIONAIRE RESIDENT
- Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia aren't home to any billionaires, Forbes reported.
- California, in comparison, has nearly 200 billionaires.
- This is despite nearly 800 billionaires living in the US, per estimates.
Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia are the only states that still don't have a single billionaire resident, according to a new report by Forbes.
The outlet on Thursday released its latest ranking of the richest residents of every state. Many of the findings were unsurprising: Elon Musk claims the title for Texas, Mark Zuckerberg for California, and Michael Bloomberg for New York.
As of December, nearly 800 billionaires lived in the US, according to a report by investment-migration consultancy Henley & Partners.
But three states don't have any billionaires listing them as their primary residence.
Intuit CEO Brad Smith — no, not the Microsoft president of the same name — isn't far off, however. Forbes estimates that the West Virginia resident, who's also the president of Marshall University, was worth about $900 million as of March.
And Delaware's Elizabeth Snyder, whose family's manufacturing company developed and patented Gore-Tex, is worth about $800 million, per Forbes' estimates.
But Alaska is still a long way from having a billionaire resident.
The two richest people in the state, Jonathan Rubini and his family and Leonard Hyde and his family, are both worth around $400 million each, per Forbes' estimates. Rubini and Hyde cofounded JL Properties, a commercial real estate developer.
To be clear, Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia are among the least-populated states in the US. According to Census Bureau estimates for 2023, Alaska was the fourth-smallest state or district in the US by population, Delaware was seventh-smallest, and West Virginia was 13th-smallest.
And the states with the most billionaires — California, followed by New York and Florida, per Forbes' ranking — are three of the four most populous states. California has 197 billionaires, per Forbes data from March.
But there are many more factors that contribute to how many billionaires a state has than just its population. California has a swathe of multi-billion-dollar tech companies; New York is home to Wall Street and top law firms; and Florida is building its reputation as a hub for financial-services companies as well as a playground for the superrich.
And where the wealthy choose to live is changing, too. The pandemic has contributed to what Henley & Partners dubs a "millionaire remix," with more rich people living in cities including Texas state capital Austin, Scottsdale, Arizona, and West Palm Beach, Florida.
If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Microsoft Start.
2024-05-03T10:35:22Z dg43tfdfdgfd
