17 Illinois Billionaires Make Forbes’ 2018 List

CHICAGO, IL — 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, 17 of them have Illinois 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 the Illinois billionaires who made the Forbes list for 2018:

• Ken Griffin, 49, is worth $9.1 billion and is ranked 172nd on the list. He is the founder and CEO of Citadel, a Chicago hedge fund firm.
• Sam Zell, 76, is worth $4.9 billion and is ranked No. 404 on the list. He chairs five public companies, including the nation's largest apartment REIT, and is based in Chicago.
• Thomas Pritzker, 67, is worth $4.1 billion, coming in at No. 527 on the list. He's executive chairman of the Chicago-based Hyatt Hotel chain.
• J.B. Pritzker, 53, is worth $3.5 billion and is No. 652 on the list. He's another heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune and runs the private equity firm Pritzker Group with his brother. He's also running in the Democratic primary for governor.
• Neil Bluhm, 80, is worth $3.2 billion and is No. 729 on the list. He's a Chicago-based, self-made real estate tycoon and owns a number of casinos throughout the midwest.
• Jean (Gigi) Pritzker, 55, is worth $3 billion and is No. 791 on the list. Another Hyatt Hotel hair, she is now a movie producer in Los Angeles after leaving Chicago.
• Joseph Grendys, 56, comes in at No. 822 and is worth $2.9 billion. The Chicago-based businessman runs poultry processing company Koch Foods.
• Penny Pritzker, 58, is worth $2.8 billion and ranks at No. 859. One of 11 billionaires in the Hyatt Hotel-owning family, she worked for the Obama administration as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
• Mark Walter, 57, is worth $2.8 billion and ties for No. 859 on the list. He is the CEO of Chicago investment firm Guggenheim Partners.
• Ty Warner, 73, comes in at No. 887 with a net worth of $2.7 billion. The Oak Brook-based creator of Beanie Babies, he also has a large hotel portfolio including the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.
• Patrick Ryan, 80, is worth $2.6 billion and is No. 924 on the list. The Winnetka billionaire is the CEO and founder of brokerage and specialty insurance firm the Ryan Specialty Group.
• Joe Mansueto, 61, has a net worth of $2.5 billion and is No. 965 on the Forbes list. The Chicago resident started with financial information company Morningstar in 1984 before stepping down as CEO in January 2017. He is now on the board of Whole Foods.
• Eric Lefkofsky, 48, is worth $2.1 billion and is No. 1,103 on the list. He made his fortune as the founder of Groupon. The Glencoe billionaire remains chairman of Groupon but also runs healthcare startup Tempus, which uses data to treat cancer.
• Jennifer Pritzker, 67, is worth $1.9 billion and is No. 1,284 on the list. The Chicago-based Hyatt heir is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and is the world's only known transgender billionaire. She is also the founder and CEO of private wealth management firm Tawani Enterprises.
• Nicholas Pritzker, 74, is worth $1.5 billion and ranks No. 1,561 on the list. He spent years leading Chicago-based Hyatt's new development efforts and still owns 1 percent of Hyatt stock. "He has shifted his attention and investment dollars to causes like clean energy, marijuana legalization and criminal justice reform," according to Forbes.
• Michael Krasny, 64, is worth $1.4 billion and comes in at No. 1,650 on the list. Based in Highland Park, he is the founder of Computer Discount Warehouse. The company was bought out by Dearborn Partners in 2007.
• Jerry Reinsdorf, 82, is worth $1.4 and ties for No. 1,650 on the Forbes list. He made a fortune in sports, owning a share in the Chiago White Sox, and Chicago Bulls.

he top 10 billionaires on the list are:

• Jeff Bezos, 54, worth $112 billion
• Bill Gates, 62, 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. You can also check out the list of Illinois billionaires for 2017.

Photo: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin/Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for The New York Times