77 FL Billionaires Are Among World’s Richest: Forbes 2022 List

FLORIDA — The billionaires of the world are worth a staggering $12.7 trillion — even though their fortunes took a hit in the economic chaos caused by the invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the pandemic, according to the recently released Forbes World's Billionaires List.

In Florida, four new billionaires joined the list from a year ago. And former president Donald Trump has added to his fortune, Forbes said. In October 2021 he announced his own social media platform, Truth Social, which brought in $430 million from investors.

Ryan Breslow, 27, of Miami, an e-commerce software businessman, is new to the list with a net worth of $2 billion. Also joining the elite are Paul Saville of Palm Beach, who leads Virginia-based NVR, one of the largest home builders in the country, worth $1.6 billion; Mike Repole, cofounder of sports drink BodyArmor, worth $1.5 billion; and David Hoffman, who is the biggest developer in Naples with 42 commercial properties, putting his worth at $1.3 billion.

More than 1,000 billionaires are richer than they were a year ago. And more than 200 people became billionaires over the past year as ordinary Americans grapple with record gas prices and rising food costs at the grocery store.

The number of billionaires on this year’s list slipped to 2,668 — 87 fewer than last year.

A total of 77 billionaires on this year's list hail from Florida. Thomas Peterffy is at the top, worth $21.2 billion. A digital trading pioneer, Peterffy chairs Interactive Brokers, which markets its specialized trading platform to sophisticated investors, Forbes said.

Other Florida billionaires on the list include:

• Carl Icahn, founder of Icahn Capital Management, $16.3 billion
• Micky Arison, Carnival Cruises chair, $6.5 billion
• Isaac Perlmutter, Marvel Comics chair, $5.1 billion
• William Wrigley Jr., Wrigley chewing gum, $3.5 billion
• Steve Wynn, casino and hotel magnate, $3.3 billion
• James Clark, cofounder of Netscape, $3.4 billion
• Donald Trump, $3 billion
• James France, NASCAR CEO, $1.8 billion
• Michael Jordan, former NBA player and Charlotte Hornets owner, $1.7 billion

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 11.

The United States still leads the world with 735 billionaires worth a collective $4.7 trillion. This includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tops the World’s Billionaires List for the first time.

Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fell to the second spot on this year’s list. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, stepped down as CEO in 2021 and is now executive chairman of the company.

Meanwhile, France’s Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates of Microsoft at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway.

U.S. billionaires could surrender more wealth should Congress pass a “Billionaire Minimum Tax” proposed in President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal.

Related: Proposed Biden Tax Could Cost 70 Florida Billionaires

Under the proposal, households worth more than $100 million would pay at least 20 percent in taxes on both income and “unrealized gains,” or the increase in an unsold investment’s value. Many wealthy people hold onto these investments for decades, meaning they’re never taxed, the administration said.

However, the bill’s prospects seem grim after Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin spoke out against it.

“You can’t tax something that’s not earned. Earned income is what we’re based on,” Manchin told The Hill. “There’s other ways to do it. Everybody has to pay their fair share.”

See the full 2022 Forbes Billionaires List.