6 Virginia 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, six of them have Virginia 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.

The state has one more billionaire from last year, Theodore Leonsis, owner of the Wizards, Capitals, Washington Mystics, and Capital One Arena. The names are familiar to the region and include candy heiress Jacqueline Mars, owner of M&Ms and other treats, as well as SC Johnson cleaning products heir Winnie Johnson-Marquart and AOL and Revolution founder Steve Case.

Here are the Virginia billionaires who made the Forbes list for 2018:

Jacqueline Mars, 78, is worth $23.6 billion and ranked at No. 34 on the list. Mars and her siblings inherited McLean-based Mars Inc., in 1999 when their father, Forrest Sr., died. Mars is known for candy (3 Musketeers, M&Ms, MilkyWay, etc.) but has many other brands outside the sweets area, including pet food and gum.

Winifred Johnson-Marquart, 58, is worth $3.7 billion and is ranked at No. 606 on the list. Johnson-Marquart, of Virginia Beach, is president of the Johnson Family Foundation and an heir to the SC Johnson family fortune. The foundation focuses on the environment and issues such as early education and infant mortality. The SC Johnson Co. is best known for brands such as Ziploc, Glade, Drano and Pledge.

William Conway Jr., 68, is worth $2.8 billion and ranked No. 859 on the list. Conway, of McLean, is one of three billionaires who founded and control the $178 billion private equity firm Carlyle Group. He serves as co-CEO along with David Rubenstein. Daniel D'Aniello is chairman. They took the firm public in 2012; Conway previously worked for MCI Communications as CFO.

Daniel D'Aniello, 71, is worth $2.8 billion and is also ranked No. 859. D'Aniello, of Vienna, is one of the co-founders of private equity firm Carlyle Group. Today he runs the day-to-day operations of the firm. Forbes notes D'Aniello's humble beginnings, growing up in Butler, Pennsylvania, working to help his single mom by bagging groceries. He attended Syracuse University on a scholarship and went on to earn an MBA from Harvard. D'Aniello has made charitable gifts to several universities, including Syracuse.

Steve Case, 59, is worth $1.3 billion and is ranked No. 1756 on the list. Case, of McLean, is the founder of AOL, and his investment company, Revolution, has funded startups like Washington, D.C.-based LivingSocial and Sweetgreen. Recent investments include DraftKings, a Boston-based online fantasy sports contest provider. In 1985, Case helped found Quantum Computer Services. He became CEO in 1991 and changed its name to America Online. AOL merged with Time Warner in 2001 in a $164 billion deal that was eventually deemed one of the worst mergers in history. Case chairs Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, a nonprofit he founded with his late brother, Dan.

Theodore Leonsis, 62, is worth $1 billion and is ranked No. 2124 on the list. Leonsis, of Great Falls, is the founder, majority owner and CEO of Monumental Sports, which owns several teams in Washington, D.C. Those include the NBA's Wizards, the NHL's Capitals, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and Capital One Arena.

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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: Jacqueline B. Mars at the 39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., in 2016. (Photo by Ron Sachs - Pool via Getty Images)