While economic turmoil plagues millions of Americans, there is one elite group who have stayed safe from the storm this year.
The total wealth of billionaires and millionaires in the U.S. grew 12 per cent over the past year, hitting $1.53trillion.
They’re now rolling in the equivalent of the entire GDP of Canada.
The Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans contained few great surprises.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates remained the richest at the top of the list for the 18th year in a row, with $59billion, up $5billion.
Warren Buffet remained in second place, despite losing $6billion as the value of his shares in Berkshire Hathaway dropped. Buffet was the only person in the top 20 to see their wealth drop this year.
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Investor George Soros, at 81, entered the top ten list for the first time. His fortune of $22billion earned him a place at number seven. He added $7.8billion to his net worth this year, thanks to investments in gold and related securities as well as equities.
He switched to cash in the spring, allowing him to preserve his gains and miss market turmoil caused by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
Billion dollar man: Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway is number two on the 2011 Forbes Rich ListTHE RICH LIST 2011Bill Gates (Microsoft) $59 B
Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) $39 B
Larry Ellison (Oracle) $33 B
Charles Koch $25 B
David Koch $25 B
Christy Walton (Wal-Mart) $24.5
George Soros $22 B
Sheldon Adelson $21.5 B
Jim Walton (Wal-Mart) $21.1 B
Alice Walton (Wal-Mart) $20.9 B
He announced this summer that he would close his hedge fund and give money back to outside investors, focusing on managing investments for himself and his family instead.
Forbes said hedge funds are notoriously secretive and that after he shut his fund, Soros shared more information with the magazine about his wealth.
‘We always thought we were low on our estimates of him, but this time we had more details bringing him to No. 7,’ said Forbes senior wealth editor Luisa Kroll.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg added $10.6 billion to his fortune to make the biggest jump of the year into the top 20 at number 14.
He leads a new group of tech pioneers who are marching up the ranks.
He is one place ahead of Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who earned an extra $1.7 billion, but still slipped five spots to be tied at 15.
Zuckerberg, 27, is one of six in the top 400 to get rich from Facebook.
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 $3.5 billion.
Former Napster renegade and Facebook backer Sean Parker and Jim Breyer, the social network’s venture capitalist, are also on the list.
Three other techie tycoons made their debut on the 400, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, Groupon’s Eric Lefkofsky and Zynga’s Mark Pincus.
Also new to the list were Go Daddy’s Bob Parsons, Green Mountain Coffee’s Bob Stiller and energy tycoons Farris and Dan Wilks.
The annual Forbes list comes as President Barack Obama plans tax hikes for millionaires so they pay at least the same rate as middle-class Americans.
He calls this the ‘Buffet rule’ as the millionaire has been urging the President to increase taxes for the richest.
Buffet has pledged to give away 99 per cent of his fortune to philanthropic causes. ‘He is the most generous billionaire,’ said Ms Kroll, adding that $3billion of his decline could be attributed to charitable donations.
Unlike Buffett, Tea Party backers David and Charles Koch want Washington to tax them less as their cash pile increases.
The brothers' wealth from conglomerate Koch Industries them into fourth place with $25 billion each, each up $3.5 billion from last year.
At number three was Oracle founder Larry Ellison, whose wealth increased $6 billion to $33 billion.
Christy Walton, heir to Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's fortune, dropped to sixth place at $24.5 billion despite a $500 million increase in wealth.
Casino owner Sheldon Adelson was in eighth place with a fortune of $21.5 billion, up $6.8 billion.
Jim and Alice Walton, also of the Wal-Mart family, were ninth and 10th at $21.1 billion and $20.9 billion respectively. Jim Walton's fortune increased by $1 billion while Alice Walton enjoyed a $900 million.
To make the Forbes cut this year required a personal net worth of at least $1.05 billion.
