Five Virginia Billionaires Make 2017 Forbes List

Virginia has five billionaires on the Forbes annual list of billionaires, which was released Monday. The Northern Virginia residents are included in the 2017 list of billionaires, which features a record 2,043 people.

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.

"It was a record year for the richest people on earth, as the number of billionaires jumped 13 percent to 2,043 from 1,810 last year, the first time ever that Forbes has pinned down more than 2,000 ten-figure-fortunes," according to Forbes. "Their total net worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a record. The change in the number of billionaires — up 233 since the 2016 list — was the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has been tracking billionaires globally."

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Here's the breakdown, according to Forbes, ranked from highest to lowest placings on the global list:

No. 26 Jacqueline Mars: Worth $27 billion; Jacqueline, John and Forrest Jr. (who died in July 2016 at age 84) inherited Mars Inc., headquartered in McLean, the secretive Virginia-based firm 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.

No. 474: Winnie Johnson-Marquart: Worth $3.8 billion; 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. has estimated sales of $9 billion and is best known for brands such as Ziploc, Glade, Drano and Pledge. Her brother Fisk leads the company; her sister Helen Johnson-Liepold runs Johnson Financial and Johnson Outdoors.

No. 815 William Conway Jr.: Worth $2.5 billion; 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.

No. 814 Daniel D'Aniello: Worth $2.5 billion; D'Aniello, of Vienna, is one of the co-founders of the $178 billion 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.

No. 1567 Steve Case: Worth $1.3 billion; 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.

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