Saturday, November 20, 2021

Elon Musk in Texas, Zuck in California: Here is the richest person in each U.S. state


·Senior Editor

Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos is no longer the richest person in the U.S. That honor now goes to Elon Musk.

Musk, the CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA), holds a net worth of a whopping $299 billion. Formerly a resident of California, Musk relocated to Texas this year, also making him the richest resident of the state. He stated that his reason for moving was due to Texas having no income tax while California’s is the highest in the country.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory on August 13, 2021 in Grünheide, Germany. (Photo by Patrick Pleul - Pool/Getty Images)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory on August 13, 2021 in Grünheide, Germany. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, with a net worth of $204 billion, Bezos is still the richest person in the state of Washington. The Amazon founder has garnered criticism over the years, especially after it was revealed that between 2014 and 2018, he paid a true tax rate of only 0.98%.

Taking the top spot formerly held by Musk in California is now Meta (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has a net worth of $127 billion.

There are some newer names to the list of the richest people in each U.S. state. Following the death of her husband Sheldon, Miriam Adelson became the richest person in the state of Nevada as the majority shareholder in Las Vegas Sands (LVS), a company that Sheldon formerly led. Adelson’s net worth is currently $27.2 billion.

Other new names include Philip Anschutz of Colorado ($14.5 billion); Mitchell Rales of Maryland ($9.14 billion); Rocco Commisso of New Jersey ($9.52 billion); Ron Corio of New Mexico ($1.1 billion); George Kaiser of Oklahoma ($10.6 billion); and Jeff Yass of Pennsylvania ($12 billion).

Some of the richest people in their respective states aren’t even billionaires. Such is the case of current West Virginia governor, Jim Justice II. The Republican politician lost his billionaire status after it was revealed he holds more than $850 million in debt to a now insolvent financial services company. His current net worth is estimated to be around $513.3 million.

Several sports team owners made the list. Gayle Benson, the owner of both the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans, is the richest person in Louisiana with a net worth of $3.8 billion. Glen Taylor, the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx, is the richest person in Minnesota with $2.7 billion to his name. And Daniel Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the richest person in Michigan with a net worth of $28.8 billion.

Nov 7, 2021; New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson smiles during the first quarter of their game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Caesars Superdome. (Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)
Nov 7, 2021; New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson smiles during the first quarter of their game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Caesars Superdome. (Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)

Founders and CEOs were the most common occupations among members of the list, however. Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-ABRK-B), is one of them. With a net worth of $103 billion, he’s the richest person in the state of Nebraska.

In Kansas, Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch is by far the richest resident with $60.6 billion to his name. Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson is Massachusetts’ richest resident with a net worth of $27.1 billion.

And in Oregon, Nike (NKE) Co-founder Phil Knight’s $64.2 billion makes him the richest person in the state.

Adriana Belmonte is a reporter and editor covering politics and health care policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at adriana@yahoofinance.com.

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