Danbury Billionaire Makes the 2014 Forbes 400 List

By Wendy Ann Mitchell (Patch Staff) & Barbara Heins (Patch Staff)

The annual Forbes 400 list is out and there aren’t too many surprises — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Oracle’s Larry Ellison are at the top of the country’s billionaire heap.

According to Forbes, which has been compiling the list since 1982, the stock market is the reason why the rich “just keep getting richer.” Forbes reports that in order to make the magazine’s Top 400 list, one’s net worth had to be $1.55 billion, up from $1.3 million in 2013. Given the level of the bottom rung of the list, Forbes reports that 113 billionaires “didn’t make the cut.” The aggregate wealth of the Top 400 list stands at a commanding $2.3 trillion.

In Connecticut, nine billionaires did make the cut — including one from Danbury.

Peter Buck, not to be confused with R.E.M.’s lead guitarist, is the co-founder of Subway Restaurants and ranked #239 on the Forbes list. According to Forbes Magazine, Buck enjoys his anonymity, and rarely is public about anything he does. Earlier this year he announced a $30 million donation to Danbury Hospital. In 2004, he donated a 23.1-carat ruby to the Smithsonian, naming the stone for his late wife, Carmen Lucia.

Buck accumulated his wealth by advising his friend’s son, Fred DeLuca (No. 235) that he should open a sub shop. Buck fronted the start-up capital get started. That sub shop is now known as Subway, the world’s largest restaurant chain. Buck owns half; DeLuca has the other half. Subway began in Milford, Conn. but now spans nationwide and from Afghanistan to Zambia with more than 42,000 locations.

Click here to see an aerial view of Buck’s stunning Danbury home.

The full Forbes story, can be found here.

Photo: Billionaire Peter Buck is the 239th wealthiest person in the U.S. Credit: Forbes

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