Who are the Florida billionaires that made Forbes’ 2021 list? A former president is among them
So who hit No. 1 on Forbes’ World’s Billionaire List?
Is it Jeff Bezos, the Amazon wunderkind, the world’s most famous Miami Palmetto Senior High grad, at the top once again?
Or has Tesla founder Elon Musk, with his hopes to build tunnels under South Florida streets, done enough in the pandemic year to ride over the man who changed the retail industry?
Score a fourth-year at No. 1 for the 1982 Miami Herald Silver Knight winner. According to Forbes’ 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest people, released Tuesday, Bezos was the world’s richest human being last year, with a net worth of $177 billion.
Musk drove his electric cars to the No. 2 spot with $151 billion. Forbes took a snapshot of net worths on March 5, 2021, to determine its rankings.
Florida’s top billionaires
Florida also had a good showing on Forbes’ 2021 Billionaires list, with 70 billionaires from the Sunshine State qualifying — up at least 10 from the 2020 list.
One of these Floridians — newly-minted as such — may not have had the 2020 he had hoped for. But President Donald Trump, who declared his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach County his post-White House residence, dropped almost 300 slots in the global rankings, from No. 1001 to No. 1299, despite a $300 million bump in his net worth, to $2.4 billion, according to Forbes.
That puts Trump at No. 38 among richest Floridians.
The former U.S. president is behind familiar names like Bal Harbour’s Micky Arison, who owns the Miami Heat and is ranked No. 5 in Florida and No. 391 in the world.
Investor Dirk Ziff of North Palm Beach is No. 12 in Florida; No. 561 in the world and even with last year at $5 billion. And auto magnate and art collector Norman Braman of Indian Creek is at No. 30 in Florida on the 2021 list, No. 1,111 in the world and rising to $2.8 billion.
Four women made the Florida list:
▪ Carol Jenkins Barnett, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and Publix supermarket heir, of Lakeland: $2.5 billion. In 2017, she received the Chiles Advocacy Award, the state’s top honor for helping children. She was also a large donor to Drug Free Florida, which fought efforts to legalize medical marijuana.
▪ Charlotte Colket Weber, a philanthropist and Campbell’s Soup heir, of Hobe Sound: $1.7 billion
▪ Catherine Lozick, a philanthropist and Swagelok tubing heir of Fort Lauderdale: $1.6 billion
▪ Neerja Sethi, co-founder of Syntel IT consulting firm, of Fisher Island: $1.1 billion
Of Florida’s richest 70, seven people debuted on the list and three returned. A stellar 2020 on the stock market meant just 10 billionaire Florida residents saw their fortunes decline from last year.
Other Forbes findings
Forbes’ 2021 list of world billionaires grew to its largest ever with 2,755 names listed — 660 more than a year ago. “Of those, a record high 493 were new to the list — roughly one every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past came roaring back. A staggering 86% are richer than a year ago,” Forbes said.
Altogether these billionaires are worth $13.1 trillion — up from $8 trillion in 2020.
The United States still has the most billionaires, with 724, followed by China (including Hong Kong and Macao) with 698.
To compile its list, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 5 to calculate net worth. The list does not include private wealth that goes untracked in public databases. The Miami Herald relies on Forbes’ determinations.
Top 5 wealthiest Floridians
▪ Thomas Peterffy, of Palm Beach County, holds his title as Florida’s wealthiest person on Forbes’ 2021 list. He rises from last year’s net worth of $14.3 billion to $25 billion on this year’s list. Peterffy, the Hungary-raised founder of Interactive Brokers, an asset trading platform, is No. 65 overall.
▪ Carl Icahn ($15.8 billion) is at No. 2. Icahn, a Wall Street tycoon, moved his office to South Florida in 2019. He has a home in Indian Creek. Last week, Icahn named former General Electric Co. executive Aris Kekedjian CEO of his Sunny Isles-based Icahn LP.
▪ Shahid Khan ($8 billion) is No. 3. Khan, a Naples resident, owns the Jacksonville Jaguars football team and Flex-N-Gate automotive parts company.
▪ Paul Tudor Jones, is No. 4 and worth $7 billion. He is the founder of Tudor Investment Corp.
▪ Micky Arison, the chairman of Doral-based Carnival Corp., at No. 5, is at $6.7 billion on the 2021 list.
The Full South Florida List
Broward County
▪ Nick Caporella, National Beverage chairman and CEO, of Plantation: $5.5 billion
▪ Catherine Lozick, philanthropist and Swagelok tubing heir, of Fort Lauderdale: $1.6 billion
▪ Igor Olenicoff, financier, of Lighthouse Point: $4.5 billion
Miami-Dade County
▪ Micky Arison, Carnival Corp. chairman, of Bal Harbour: $6.7 billion
▪ William Berkley, WR Berkley insurance firm founder and chairman and New York University board of trustees chairman, of Coconut Grove: $2.5 billion
▪ Norman Braman, Braman Motors founder, of Indian Creek: $2.8 billion
▪ Ryan Cohen, Chewy co-founder and GameStop transformation committee chairman, of Bal Harbour: $1.6 billion
▪ Bharat Desai, Syntel IT consulting firm co-founder, of Fisher Island: $1.5 billion
▪ Phillip Frost, OPKO Health chairman, of Miami Beach: $2.5 billion
▪ Rakesh Gangwal, IndiGo airline co-founder and former U.S. Airways CEO, of Indian Creek: $3.9 billion
▪ Carl Icahn, Icahn LP founder and chairman, of Indian Creek: $15.8 billion
▪ Eddie Lampert, ESL Investment founder, chairman, and CEO, of Miami Beach: $1.7 billion
▪ Jorge Mas, MasTec chairman, of Coconut Grove: $1.2 billion
▪ Sami Mnaymneh, H.I.G. Capital co-CEO, of Coral Gables: $4.5 billion
▪ Daniel Och, Och-Ziff Capital Management founder, chairman and former CEO, of Miami Beach: $3.6 billion
▪ Jon Oringer, Shutterstock founder, of Miami Beach: $1.4 billion. Oringer moved to Miami Beach last year as part of the wave of tech and finance professionals moving to South Florida and opening businesses or offices amid the pandemic.
▪ Jorge M. Perez, Related Group founder, chairman, and CEO: $1.7 billion
▪ Neerja Sethi, Syntel IT consulting firm co-founder, of Fisher Island: $1.1 billion
▪ Michael S. Smith, Freeport LNG chairman and CEO, of Miami Beach: $1.1 billion
▪ Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Capital Group chair, of Miami Beach: $3.7 billion
▪ Robert Toll, Toll Brothers co-founder, of Miami Beach: $1.2 billion
▪ Herbert Wertheim, optometrist and inventor, of Coral Gables: $3.7 billion
Monroe County
▪ Jimmy John Liautaud, Jimmy John’s founder, of Key Largo: $1.7 billion
▪ Robert Rich Jr., Rich Products Corporation chairman and heir, of Islamorada: $4.6 billion
Palm Beach County
▪ Leon Cooperman, chairman and CEO of Omega Advisor investment firm founder, of Boca Raton: $2.5 billion
▪ James Clark, Netscape founder, of Palm Beach: $2.8 billion
▪ Carl DeSantis, Rexall Sundown founder, of Delray Beach: $1.2 billion
▪ Jeff Greene, real estate investor and former gubernatorial candidate, of Palm Beach: $3.9 billion
▪ John Henry, John W. Henry & Company, Inc. investment firm founder and Boston Red Sox owner, of Boca Raton: $2.8 billion
▪ Michael Jordan, Charlotte Hornets majority owner and retired NBA player, of Jupiter: $1.6 billion
▪ Randal Kirk, biotech investor, of Manalapan: $2.2 billion
▪ William Koch, Oxbow Carbon founder and oil and gas fortune heir, of Palm Beach: $1.6 billion
▪ Henry Laufer, Renaissance Technologies board member, of Lake Worth: $2.1 billion
▪ Dean Metropolous, former Pabst Brewing Company owner, of Palm Beach: $2.6 billion
▪ Charles B. Johnson, Franklin Templeton Resources’ former CEO and San Francisco Giants owner, of Palm Beach: $4.9 billion
▪ Paul Tudor Jones, Tudor Investment Corp. founder, of Palm Beach: $7 billion
▪ Terry Pegula, East Resources founder and Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner, of Boca Raton: $5.4 billion
▪ Isaac Perlmutter, Marvel Entertainment chair, of Palm Beach: $6 billion
▪ Thomas Peterffy, Interactive Brokers founder and chairman, of Palm Beach: $25 billion
▪ Duke Reyes, Reyes Holdings food service co-chair, of Palm Beach: $1.2 billion
▪ Jude Reyes, Reyes Holdings food service co-chair, of Palm Beach: $5.5 billion
▪ Richard Sands, Constellation Brands beer, wine, and spirits group executive vice chair and heir, of Delray Beach: $2.1 billion
▪ Rob Sands, Constellation Brands beer, wine, and spirits group executive chair and heir, of Delray Beach: $2.1 billion
▪ Donald Trump, Trump Organization CEO and former president, of Palm Beach: $2 billion
▪ Russ Weiner, Rockstar energy drink founder, of Delray Beach: $3.7 billion
▪ William Wrigley Jr. II, Parallel cannabis firm CEO and Wrigley heir, of North Palm Beach: $3.3 billion
▪ Dirk Ziff, philanthropist and Ziff Davis media firm heir, of North Palm Beach: $5 billion.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
