9 VA Billionaires Are Among World’s Richest: Forbes 2022 List

VIRGINIA — The billionaires of the world are worth an astounding $12.7 trillion in total — even though their fortunes took a hit in the economic turmoil caused by the invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing effects of the pandemic, according to the recently released Forbes World's Billionaires List.

In Virginia, one new billionaire joined the list from a year ago. Richard Fairbank, the chairman and CEO of Capital One Financial, a U.S. bank known for its credit cards, made it on the list with a net worth of $1.1 billion.

More than 1,000 billionaires are richer than they were a year ago. And more than 200 people became billionaires over the past year as ordinary Americans grapple with record gas prices and rising food costs at the grocery store.

The number of billionaires on this year’s list slipped to 2,668 — 87 fewer than last year.

A total of nine billionaires on this year’s list hail from Virginia.

Jacqueline Mars — granddaughter of the founder of Mars Inc. candy company and worth $31.7 billion — is perennially at the top of Virginia's richest residents. She worked for the company for nearly 20 years and served on the board until 2016. Her son Stephen Badger is on Mars' board of directors. Her brother, John, owns an estimated third of Mars; her late brother Forrest Jr's. four daughters own the rest.

Virginia billionaires on the list are:

• Jacqueline Mars, daughter of Forrest Mars, Sr., and granddaughter of Frank C. Mars, founders of candy company Mars Inc., $31.7 billion.
• Pamela Mars, heir to the Mars Inc. fortune, $7.9 billion
• Daniel D'Aniello, co-founder and non-executive chairman emeritus of the board of The Carlyle Group, $4.2 billion
• William Conway Jr., co-founder and non-executive co-chairman of the board of The Carlyle Group, $3.8 billion
• Winifred J. Marquart, heir to family-owned SC Johnson, the privately held cleaning products company, $3.3 billion
• Michael Saylor, CEO of business analytics software firm MicroStrategy, $1.6 billion
• Steve Case, AOL cofounder and cofounder of the investment firm Revolution, $1.5 billion
• George Pedersen, cofounder of ManTech International, $1.2 billion
• Richard Fairbank, the chairman and CEO of Capital One Financial, $1.1 billion

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 11.

The United States still leads the world with 735 billionaires worth a collective $4.7 trillion. This includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tops the World’s Billionaires List for the first time.

Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fell to the second spot on this year’s list. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, stepped down as CEO in 2021 and is now executive chairman of the company.

Meanwhile, France’s Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates of Microsoft at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway.

U.S. billionaires could surrender more wealth should Congress pass a “Billionaire Minimum Tax” proposed in President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal.

Related: Proposed Biden Tax Could Cost Virginia Billionaires

Under the proposal, households worth more than $100 million would pay at least 20 percent in taxes on both income and “unrealized gains,” or the increase in an unsold investment’s value. Many wealthy people hold onto these investments for decades, meaning they’re never taxed, the administration said.

However, the bill’s prospects seem grim after Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin spoke out against it.

“You can’t tax something that’s not earned. Earned income is what we’re based on,” Manchin told The Hill. “There’s other ways to do it. Everybody has to pay their fair share.”

See the full 2022 Forbes Billionaires List.