00:00Today on Forbes, perfect streets.
00:04These 11 billionaires have never missed
00:06the Forbes 400 list.
00:09Over the 43 years that Forbes has published the Forbes 400,
00:12a total of 1,739 moguls, heirs, and celebrities
00:17have made the ranking of America's richest people.
00:20Economic booms, busts, good old-fashioned competition,
00:24and, of course, Father Time,
00:26have ensured that the list has never featured
00:28the exact same 400 people two years in a row.
00:32A few flashes in the pan only make the grade for a year.
00:36Many others spend a decade or two in the ranks
00:38before dropping off or passing away.
00:41But a lucky few, the legendary 11, have had staying power,
00:45managing to earn a spot on the Forbes 400
00:47every year since its 1982 inception.
00:51In all, they are worth an estimated $342.3 billion today,
00:56up from $3.8 billion all the way back in 1982
00:59when they first appeared on Forbes' ranking.
01:02That $3.8 billion in 1982 is equivalent
01:05to $12.2 billion in today's dollars.
01:09This means they have grown their wealth by some 8,900%,
01:13more than double the 4,200% growth of the S&P 500.
01:17The average age of the 11 is 88 years old.
01:21When Forbes first published the Forbes 400,
01:24Warren Buffett was the 52-year-old chairman
01:26of a $1.5 billion in assets Berkshire Hathaway.
01:30Back then, Forbes wrote, quote,
01:32"'Lives modestly,' estimated net worth $250 million."
01:38Four decades later, Berkshire's assets
01:40have surpassed $1 trillion,
01:43and Buffett is the fifth richest person in America
01:46and the wealthiest billionaire streaker
01:48never to miss the Forbes 400.
01:50His $150 billion net worth is 187 times his 1982 stash,
01:56even after adjusting for inflation.
01:59He'd be even richer, but for the fact
02:01that he's also America's most generous philanthropist.
02:05Only four of the 11 are self-made.
02:07In addition to Buffett, two retail and fashion tycoons
02:11earned their way onto the lists
02:12thanks to their world-renowned brands,
02:15Nike's Phil Knight and Lex Wexner,
02:18the disgraced L Brands founder behind Victoria's Secret
02:21and Bath & Body Works.
02:23The fourth self-made icon is Donald Brenn,
02:26the richest real estate developer in the nation,
02:28whose Irvine company owns 129 million square feet
02:32of real estate, mostly in Southern California.
02:35The remaining seven all got started
02:38with substantial help from their families,
02:40though all but one were able to turn millions into billions.
02:43Among them, the 17th richest person in America,
02:46Charles Koch, Leonard and Ron Lauder,
02:49sons of Este Lauder, and media giant Donald Newhouse,
02:53whose family has investments in Condé Nast,
02:55Warner Brothers Discovery, and social news site Reddit.
03:00Four other members of the inaugural 1982 ranking
03:02made the list in 2024,
03:04but fell off at least once along the way.
03:07Star Wars billionaire George Lucas dropped off in 1983
03:11due to a divorce settlement, but rejoined in 1996
03:14during the planning stage
03:15of the franchise's prequel trilogy.
03:18Former President Donald Trump disappeared from the ranks
03:21amid his 1990s bankruptcies, and again in 2021 and 2023,
03:26but is back among the top 400 this year,
03:28thanks largely to his truth social platform.
03:32Oil heir Sid Bass didn't make the cut in 2021,
03:35while FedEx founder Fred Smith
03:37spent a total of six years off the list.
03:40Many of the original 1982 Forbes 400 listees
03:43have since died.
03:45That includes comedian Bob Hope, who died in 2003,
03:48and had only made the list once,
03:50mobster Meyer Lansky, who died in 1983,
03:54Steve Jobs, who died in 2011,
03:57and shipping tycoon Daniel Ludwig, who died in 1992.
04:02Ludwig was the richest person in America in 1982,
04:05worth $2 billion, or 6.4 billion in today's dollars.
04:10Others who made the original minimum net worth
04:12of $100 million, which is the equivalent
04:14to $320 million today, including musician Yoko Ono
04:18and heir Timothy Mellon,
04:20have either transferred their fortunes to heirs
04:23or were simply overtaken in worth
04:24by the likes of tech moguls, social media stars,
04:27and crypto bulls.
04:30For full coverage and to see the whole 2024 Forbes 400 list,
04:34which we released last week,
04:36check out Sarah Young's piece on Forbes.com.
04:40This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:42Thanks for tuning in.
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