11 Colorado Billionaires Make Forbes' 2018 List

DENVER, CO — Jeff Bezos is at the top of Forbes' billionaires list for 2018, dethroning fellow Seattle-area billionaire Bill Gates, who has lost the top spot for only the sixth time since 1995. Among the elite club of billionaires on the 32nd annual list, 11 of them have Colorado ties.

The 2018 list has 2,208 members from 72 countries. With 585 Americans on the list, the United States leads the way with the most number of billionaires in the world, followed by China with 373 billionaires. The U.S. also had 18 newcomers featured on the 2018 list.

According to Forbes, Bezos is the first centi-billionaire at the top of the list, meaning he has a fortune of over a $100 billion. Forbes explains just how much wealth these billionaires have, being worth a combined $9.1 trillion. The top 20 people on the list alone are worth $1.2 trillion, 13 percent of the total fortune of all billionaires worldwide.

Here are 11 Colorado billionaires who made the Forbes list for 2018:

• Charles Ergen, 65, is worth $13.4 billion and is ranked 106th on the list. He is the cofounder and chairman of satellite TV provider DISH Network, and satellite communications firm EchoStar.
• Philip Anschutz, 78, is worth $13 billion and is ranked 108th on the list. Anschutz built fortunes in oil, railroads, telecom, real estate and entertainment.
• John Malone, 76, is worth $8.1 billion and is ranked 186th on the list. Nicknamed the Cable Cowboy, Malone made his fortune with cable television deals.
• James Packer, 50, is worth $4.1 billion and is ranked 527th on the list. He made his wealth through casinos.
• Pat Stryker, 61, is worth $3.3 billion and ranked 703rd on the list. She made her fortune from her grandgfather's medical equipment and software company.
• James Leprino, 80, is worth $3.1 billion and ranked 766th on the list. Leprino's family food empire is built on mozzarella cheese.
• Kenneth Tuchman, 58, is worth $1.5 billion and ranked 1,561st on the list. Tuchman's fortune was built through TeleTech Holdings, an outsourcing company.
• Gary Magness, 64, is worth $1.4 billion and ranked 1,650th on the list. He made his wealth through cable TV and investments.
• Brothers Cargill MacMillan, III, 58, and William MacMillan, 63, are each worth $1.3 billion and tied for number 1,756 on the list. The MacMillans are among 14 heirs to the Cargill agriculture business which is America's largest private company.

James Packer is new on the Colorado list this year. An Australian native, Packer lives in Aspen, so he's counted as a Colorado billionaire.

Last year's 10th-ranked Colorado billionaire, Janus Fund founder Thomas Bailey dropped off the list this year.

The top 10 billionaires on the list are:

• Jeff Bezos, 54, worth $112 billion
• Bill Gates, 92, worth $90 billion
• Warren Buffett, 87, worth $84 billion
• Bernard Arnault, 69, worth $72 billion
• Mark Zuckerberg, 33, worth $71 billion
• Amancio Ortega, 81, worth $70 billion
• Carlos Slim Helu, 78, worth $67.1 billion
• Charles Koch, 82, worth $60 billion
• David Koch, 77, worth $60 billion
• Larry Ellison, 73, worth $58.5 billion

The Forbes billionaires list provides a look at wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from Feb. 9, 2018. Forbes values assets like private companies, art, real estate and more. Read more about Forbes methodology here.
See the full list of billionaires here.

By Shannon Antinori, Patch National Staff

Image: Charlie Ergen, CEO of EchoStar, testifies before a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet during a hearing on 'The Status of Competition in the Multi-Channel Video Programming Distribution Marketplace' December 4, 2001 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)