(NEXSTAR) – Though Oregon and Washington aren’t home to the majority of America’s richest people (California holds that title) or the wealthiest American (that’s Texas), they are home to some of the most well-known billionaires.
Nine billionaires — eight from Washington — landed on Forbes’ list of the 400 wealthiest people living in America.
The source of their wealth ranges from sporting goods to tech companies to coffee. Can you guess them all?
If you can’t, we have you covered.
Coming in second overall beyond Texas’ Elon Musk is Washington’s Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $151 billion. The founder of Blue Origin’s main source of wealth is, of course, Amazon, according to Forbes.
Behind Bezos on Forbes’ list was Washington’s Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft. His net worth of $106 billion put him third overall on Forbes’ list and second among residents of Washington and Oregon.
The only Oregonian to make the Forbes 400 was Phil Knight and his family. The founder of Nike has a net worth of $41.5 billion, down from $59.5 billion in 2021, according to Forbes.
Other notable names from the area include philanthropists MacKenzie Scott (and ex-wife of Bezos) and Melinda French Gates (ex-wife of Gates).
The majority of those making the list below have, at least partially, gained their wealth because of Microsoft. Besides Gates and French Gates, this includes former CEO Steve Ballmer; Charles Simonyi, the man behind software like Word and Excel; and Gabe Newell, who co-founded a video game company with a former Microsoft colleague.
Here are the nine Oregon and Washington billionaires that made Forbes’ list, their sources of wealth, and wealth at the time the list was released:
- Jeff Bezos (Amazon) – $151 billion
- Bill Gates (Microsoft) – $106 billion
- Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) – $83 billion
- Phil Knight & family (Nike) – $41.5 billion
- MacKenzie Scott (Amazon) – $37.7 billion
- Melinda French Gates (Microsoft) – $6.4 billion
- Charles Simonyi (Microsoft) – $5.3 billion
- Gabe Newell (video games) – $3.9 billion
- Howard Schultz (Starbucks) – $3.3 billion
Overall, Scott is the third-wealthiest woman on Forbes’ list, coming in behind Julia Koch, who, along with her three children, inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries after her husband David passed away in August 2019, and Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
More Washington residents landed in the top 10 wealthiest Americans than residents from any other state.
You can view Forbes’ full list and methodology here. This was the publication’s 41st edition of the Forbes 400.