4 North Carolina Billionaires Make Forbes’ 2018 List

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, four of them have North Carolina 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.

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Here are the North Carolina billionaires who made the Forbes list for 2018:

• James Goodnight, 75, is worth $9 billion and is ranked No. 172 on the list. He is the co-founder of analytical software firm SAS.
• John Sall, 69, is worth $4.5 billion and is ranked No. 466 on the list. He is the co-founder of analytical software firm SAS.
• Clemmie Spangler, Jr., 85, is worth $4.2 billion and is ranked No. 514 on the list. He is the owner of National Gypsum, which is the large private wallboard producer in the country.
• Dennis Gillings, 73, is worth $1.2 billion and is ranked N0. 1867 on the list. He is the founder and former CEO and chairman of clinical research company Quintiles Transnational.

The 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.

Photo -- NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 08: Businessman James Howard Goodnight attends the Cocktails To Celebrate The Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For on March 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Time Inc.)