Forbes: 9 Hudson Valley Billionaires Among The Richest In America

America’s richest keep getting richer. The wealthiest Americans on the annual Forbes 400 list grew their combined net worth by just over 2 percent from the previous year, making them worth $2.96 trillion in 2019.

Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, is once again at the top of the list. His ex-wife, Mackenzie Bezos, who got 25 percent of the couple’s shares in Amazon as part of their divorce settlement, is now the 15th richest person in America, according to the list.

It's not surprising that a lot of the richest Americans live in New York. And some of those have strong ties in the Hudson Valley.

There's Mark Zuckerberg. No, he's not currently a Hudson Valley resident, but he grew up in Dobbs Ferry. He's on the list as the 4th richest American, after Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett.

According to Forbes, the minimum net worth to qualify for the list is $2.1 billion. The average wealth of those on the list increased by $200 million to $7.4 billion, Forbes writes.

With the vast amounts of wealth in the pockets of those on the exclusive list, Forbes notes that a number of high-profile billionaires such as Kylie Jenner and Michael Jordan, didn’t even make the list.

Setting aside Zuckerberg, the Hudson Valley Patch count starts with Michael Bloomberg, because he owns an estate in North Salem. He's No. 8, with a net worth of $53.4 billion.

High on the list as usual is hedge fund pioneer George Soros of Katonah, at No. 56 with $8.6 billion.

No. 75 is David Shaw, with $7.3 billion, who built a modern estate in Hastings-on-Hudson.

James Cox Chambers is No. 95, with $6.4 billion. One of the heirs to the Cox family fortune, he owns an organic farm in the Hudson Valley, lives in Palisades and is a Bard College trustee.

Ralph Lauren owns an estate in Bedford. He's No. 100, with $6.3 billion.

There are two in Scarsdale. David Siegel, a hedge funder, is at No.108 with $6.1 billion. Daniel Och, a hedge fund CEO, is No. 268, with $3.2 billion.

Thomas Secunda of Croton-on-Hudson, at Bloomberg LP, and with $2.7 billion, is No. 319. David Gottesman of Rye is listed at No. 363 with $2.3 billion.

The top 10 richest people in America for 2019 are:

• Jeff Bezos: $114 billion
• Bill Gates: $106 billion
• Warren Buffett: $80.8 billion
• Mark Zuckerberg: $69.6 billion
• Larry Ellison: $65 billion
• Larry Page: $55.5 billion
• Sergey Brin: $53.5 billion
• Michael Bloomberg: $53.4 billion
• Steve Ballmer: $51.7 billion
• Jim Walton: $51.6 billion

See the full list and read more via Forbes.

Editor's Note: David Shaw was left off the list in the original version of this report. Patch regrets the error.