5 Short Hills Men Named Among N.J.’s Richest In 2016

Short Hills, NJ - Essex County is home to dozens of Fortune 500 companies and plenty of entrepreneurs. It’s also home to some of New Jersey’s richest residents.

Business publication NJbiz.com released its annual ranking of the 50 wealthiest New Jerseyans on Monday, with 10 calling Essex County home.

According to the data compilation, the outlet went through public documents like Securities & Exchange Commission filings as well as other news reports.

See the full report here.

According to the report, Essex County residents include:

• # 48 - Brad Honigfeld – Livingston - Net worth: $275 million - Franchising
• #46 - Larry Pantirer – Short Hills - Net worth: $300 million – Real estate
• #36 - David Halpern – Livingston - Net worth: $500 million - Real estate development
• #26 - David Mandelbaum – Livingston - Net worth: $810 million - Real estate
• #22 - Charles Kushner – Livingston - Net worth: $1.1 billion - Real estate development
• #16 and #17 - Basil and Brian Maher - Basil, Chatham; Brian, Short Hills - Net worth: $1.4 billion – Shipping
• #10 and #11 - Zygmunt and Mark Wilf - Zygmunt, Springfield; Mark, Livingston - Net worth: $1.7 billion - Real estate
• #5 - John Overdeck - Short Hills - Net worth: $3.1 billion – Investing
• #4 - Leon Cooperman - Short Hills - Net worth: $3.2 billion - Hedge funds
• #3 - Peter R. Kellogg - Short Hills - Net worth: $3.4 billion – Investments

The 2016 ranking of Essex County’s wealthiest was exclusively male; not a single woman was listed among the top 50.

However, the 2016 list was missing a former high-profile Essex County resident, hedge fund magnate David Tepper, who moved from Livingston to Florida in March.

Tepper’s relocation could save him hundreds of millions of dollars in state taxes within a few years, Bloomberg News stated.

Family and quality-of-life considerations also played a role for Tepper, who recently separated from his wife in New Jersey.

• See related article: NJ's 'Richest Man' Moves To Florida: Taxes, Family Reasons Cited

INCOME GAP

While Essex County’s reputed wealthiest are making big reported gains, the NJbiz ranking comes at a time when many Essex County residents are facing severe economic issues.

According to the 2015 New Jersey Point-In-Time Count, there are about 1,723 homeless individuals living in Essex County – around 17 percent of the statewide total.

• See related article: Essex County Has The Most Homeless Residents In New Jersey

Statewide, the issues are equally as pronounced, according to some reports.

Last year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition released a study that asserted many New Jersey residents are having trouble paying their rent. The numbers are so out of whack that a person working at the state minimum wage of $8.38 would need to work 100 hours a week to be able to afford a “modest, 1-bedroom apartment,” the study stated.

• See related article: Study: NJ Residents Can't Afford Their Rents

New Jersey’s foreclosure rate of one in every 471 housing units was the second-highest in America, real estate information provider RealtyTrac stated in November of 2015.

• See related article: Essex County Towns Have Among Worst Foreclosure Rates In N.J. - Is Your Town Here?

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Photo: Pictures of Money, Flickr Commons