Six Austin Residents Make Forbes Richest Billionaires List

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Austin wasn't left out of the latest compilation of the nation's richest billionaires by Forbes magazine this week, with a half-dozen entries led by perennial entrant Michael Dell.

Dell, the chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, is by far Austin's wealthiest man — enough to crack the top 20 of the overall list at No. 17. His reported net worth is akin to the gross domestic product of a small country, at $27.6 billion.

Other Austin residents making the rich list, in descending order of wealth, are:

• Robert Smith, founder of Vista Equity Partners, a software investments private equity firm. Net worth: $4.4 billion. U.S. rank: 163 (tied)
• Bert “Tito” Beveridge, founder of Tito’s Vodka. Net worth: $4 billion. U.S. rank: 179 (tied)
• Joseph Liemandt, founder of software company investment firm ESW Capital. Net worth: $3 billion. U.S. rank: 271 (tied)
• John Paul DeJoria, founder of Patron Spirits and co-founder of John Paul Michell Systems hair care. Net worth: $2.6 billion. U.S. rank: 316 (tied)
• Thai Lee, CEO of IT provider SHI International. Net worth: $2.3 billion. U.S. rank: 354 (tied)

The only woman on the local list, Lee is also on Forbes’ 2018 list of America’s self-made women. All told, 38 Texans made the Forbes 400 list. The richest Texan is another perennial entrant: Alice Walton of Fort Worth, heiress to the Walmart fortune. Her net worth makes Dell's look paltry in comparison, at an astounding $44.9 billion. That's not a typo. With her $45 million net worth, Walton is not only the richest Texan, but the richest woman in the world.

For the full list, check out the complete Forbes 400 list of American billionaires list here.

We've nothing more to add, except maybe this:

And the original musical sentiment:

Hey, it's ACL Fest time. What are you gonna do?

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