Bill Gates may be sitting atop the Rich List throne for an 18th consecutive year, but the Microsoft founder will have one eye on a new wave of technology moguls raking in the cash.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is leading this younger pack, jumping to 14th after adding $10.6billion to his fortune, while LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, Groupon's Eric Lefkofsky and Zynga's Mark Pincus all made their debuts in the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Pincus, 45, has a $2billion fortune, placing him 212th, while 44-year-old Hoffman and 42-year-old Lefkofsky, are each in 293th with $1.5billion in the bank.
Young guns: Mark Zuckerberg is only 17 but already has a $17.5billion wealth, while former roommate Dustin Moskovitz is the youngest billionaire in the world (he is eight days younger than Zuckerberg)Zuckerberg's rise this year puts him one place ahead of Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who earned an extra $1.7billion, but still slipped five spots to be tied at 15.
Zuckerberg, 27, is one of six in the rankings to get rich from Facebook.
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They include the world's youngest billionaire, Zuckerberg's former roommate Dustin Moskovitz, who is eight days younger than the Facebook pioneer. He is number 91 with $3.5billion.
Former Napster renegade and Facebook backer Sean Parker, 31, and Jim Breyer, the social network's venture capitalist, are also on the list.
Technology wealth: Groupon's Eric Lefkofsky is a new billionaire while Sean Parker is still riding high with a $2.1billion fortune made off the back of Facebook New billionaires: Zynga’s Mark Pincus, left, and LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, right, entered the Rich List this yearTop dogs: Bill Gates is No.1 on the list for an 18th consecutive year (on $59billion), while Warren Buffett, the last man other than Gates to come first is in second again, on a mere $39billion HEADER HERE
1. Bill Gates (Microsoft) $59 B
2. Warren Buffett $39 B
3. Larry Ellison (Oracle) $33 B
4. Charles Koch $25 B
4. David Koch $25 B
6. Christy Walton (Wal-Mart) $24.5
7. George Soros $22 B
8. Sheldon Adelson $21.5 B
9. Jim Walton (Wal-Mart) $21.1 B
10. Alice Walton (Wal-Mart) $20.9 B
11. S. Robson Walton (Wal-Mart) $20.5 B
12. Michael Bloomberg $19.5 B
13. Jeff Bezos (Amazon) $19.1 B
14. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) $17.5 B
15. Sergey Brin (Google) $16.7 B
15. Larry Page (Google) $16.7 B
17. John Paulson (Hedge funds) $15.5 B
18. Michael Dell (Dell) $15 B
19. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) $13.9 B
20. Forrest Mars (Candy) $13.8 B
Their ages contrast sharply with 81-year-old Warren Buffett, who is No.2 and was the last person other than Gates to come first in 1993.
The business magnate's fortune tumbled $6billion last year, making him the biggest loser, but don't shed any tears – he's still worth $39billion.
Gates, 55, is way out ahead on $59billion.
The list also paints another picture: that while the rest of the country is suffering, the rich just keep getting richer.
Despite the faltering economy, the targets of President Obama’s planned tax hikes for billionaires and millionaires are now worth a staggering $1.53 trillion – nearly the entire GDP of Canada.
And their total wealth is up 12 per cent over the past 12 months.
Also new to the list were Go Daddy’s Bob Parsons, Green Mountain Coffee’s Bob Stiller and energy tycoons Farris and Dan Wilks.
To make the Forbes cut this year required a personal net worth of at least $1.05billion.
