These California Billionaires Are Among Richest In U.S.: Forbes (2024)

Forbes this week released its 2021 World's Billionaires List. Those on the list saw their fortunes increase by more than $5 trillion.

Posted Fri, Apr 9, 2021 at 1:09 pm PT

The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list jumped to an unprecedented 2,755 people, 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020.

Among those on the list, 86 percent are richer today than they were a year ago.

The numbers will likely spark outrage, writes Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane. “There’s no getting around a collective $5 trillion wealth surge during a pandemic, when most of the world felt scared, sick, besieged,” he wrote in a comprehensive essay titled “Operation Wealth Speed."

However, “the underlying trends offer a road map to greater prosperity for all,” he continued. “Like anything else salvaged from a once-a-century plague, we just need to be brave enough to harness it.”

A total of 188 billionaires on this year’s list hail from California. Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook, clocks in as the richest man in the state with a net worth of $97 billion, up $42.3 billion from last year's total of $54.7 billion. According to Forbes, that's enough money to make founder of Facebook the 5th richest man in the country.

For context, Zuckerberg has enough money to buy every Californian — all 39 million of them — an In-n-Out Double-Double with fries and a drink, every day for almost 10 months.

Here's a look at the top 25 other California billionaires on the list:

• Larry Page, co-founder of Google, with a net worth of $91.5 billion (up $40.6 from 2020)
• Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, with a net worth of $89 billion (up $39 billion from 2020)
• Laurene Powell Jobs (and family), businesswoman, executive and widow of Steve Jobs, with a net worth of $19 billion (up $2.6 billion from 2020)
• Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, with a net worth of $18.9 billion (up $5.7 billion from 2020)
• Robert Pera, founder of Ubiquiti Networks and owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, with a net worth of $18.3 billion (up $11.3 billion from 2020)
• Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook, with a net worth of $17.8 billion (up $8.5 billion from 2020)
• Donald Bren, chairman and owner of the Irvine Company, a real estate development company, with a net worth of $15.3 billion (down $200 million from 2020)
• Eric Yuan (and family), CEO And Founder of Zoom, with a net worth of $14.9 billion (up $9.4 billion from 2020)
• Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, with a net worth of $13.7 billion (up $9.6 billion from 2020)
• Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, with a net worth of $12.5 billion (up $9.9 billion from 2020)
• Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb, with a net worth of $12.4 billion (up $8.3 billion from 2020)
• John Doerr, investor and venture capitalist, with a net worth of $12.4 billion (up $5.1 billion from 2020)
• Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, with a net worth of $12.4 billion (up $8.3 billion from 2020)
• Gordon Moore, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel, with a net worth of $12.4 billion (up $2.3 billion from 2020)
• Bobby Murphy, co-founder of Snapchat, with a net worth of $11.9 billion (up $10 billion from 2020)
• Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, with a net worth of $11.8 billion (up $7.1 billion from 2020)
• Evan Spiegel, CEO and co-founder of Snapchat, with a net worth of $11.1 billion (up $9.2 billion from 2020)
• Charles Schwab, founder and chairman of Charles Schwab Corporation, with a net worth of $10.6 billion (up $3.9 billion from 2020)
• Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp, with a net worth of $9.9 billion (up $200 million from 2020)
• David Geffen, co-founder of Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DreamWorks, with a net worth of $9.5 billion (up $1.9 billion from 2020)
• David Sun, co-founder of Kingston Technology, with a net worth $9.1 billion (up $4.9 billion from 2020)
• John Tu, co-founder of Kingston Technology, with a net worth of $9.1 billion (up $4.9 billion from 2020)
• Steven Rales, film producer and chairman of Danaher Corporation, with a net worth of $8.9 billion (up $3.1 billion from 2020)
• David Cheriton, computer scientist and early Google investor, with a net worth of $8.8 billion (up $3.3 billion from 2020)

Click here to see the full list of California billionaires on Forbes.

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 5.

A record 493 people made their debut on this year’s list. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past made a reappearance, according to Forbes. This year’s list includes a record 328 female billionaires, up from 241 in 2020.

Soon-to-be-former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retained the top spot on this year’s list for the fourth consecutive year. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, will step down as CEO at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk soared to the No. 2 spot, up from No. 31 on last year’s ranking. Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.