The Richest Person in Every State

You’ll definitely know some of the names on this list. Others, you might want to get to know.

The Richest Person in Every State

Some of them – Bezos, Zuckerberg, Koch – are household names. Others are unassuming people fixated on keeping a low profile. An abnormally high percentage of them own professional sports teams.

The one thing they all have in common: They have a net worth, according to Forbes, that makes them the richest resident in their state. Here they are, in alphabetical order by state.

Note: State median household income figures are from 2016 and come from the U.S. Census Bureau. Per capita real gross domestic product figures are from 2017 (in chained 2009 dollars) and come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Alabama: Jimmy Rane

Estimated net worth: $950 million

Industry: Lumber

State population: 4.9 million

State median household income: $46,257

State’s per capita real GDP: $37,508

Rane grew Great Southern Wood Preserving into one of the biggest suppliers of decks, fences, and other treated lumber products by appearing in his company’s commercials as “The Yella Fella,” a cowboy alter ego. When Rane took over the family business it had $22,000 in annual sales; today, it has $1 billion in annual sales.

Alaska: Leonard Hyde, Jonathan Rubini and families

Estimated net worth: $310 million each

Industry: Real estate

State population: 739,795

State median income: $76,440

State’s per capita real GDP: $63,610

Hyde and his partner Rubini are real estate developers who control much of Anchorage’s skyline, including Alaska’s tallest building, the 21-story ConocoPhillips Tower.

Arizona: Mark Shoen

Estimated net worth: $3 billion

Industry: Moving and storage (U-Haul)

State population: 7 million

State median household income: $53,558

State’s per capita real GDP: $39,583

Shoen’s father Leonard founded U-Haul. Mark Shoen is the largest shareholder in U-Haul's parent company, Amerco.

Arkansas: Jim Walton

Estimated net worth: $40.3 billion

Industry: Retail (Walmart)

State population: 3 million

State median household income: $44,334

State’s per capita real GDP: $36,714

The youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Jim Walton and his family run Arvest Bank, which has $16 billion in assets. He and Sam Walton's other heirs own about half of Walmart's stock.

California: Mark Zuckerberg

Estimated net worth: $74 billion

Industry: Social media (Facebook)

State population: 39.5 million

State median household income: $67,739

State’s per capita real GDP: $60,359

Zuckerberg still owns 17 percent of Facebook’s stock. He and his wife Priscilla Chan plan to give away 99 percent of their Facebook holdings over the course of their lifetimes.

Colorado: Philip Anschutz

Estimated net worth: $12.7 billion

Industry: Multiple

State population: 5.6 million

State median household income: $65,685

State’s per capita real GDP: $54,026

Sports fans know him as owner of the Los Angeles Kings, a partial owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and owner of the building both teams play in. But Anschutz made his fortune the old-fashioned way, in oil, railroads, telecom, real estate and entertainment.

Connecticut: Ray Dalio

Estimated net worth: $17.4 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 3.6 million

State median household income: $73,433

State’s per capita real GDP: $62,633

Dalio started Bridgewater Associates in his two-bedroom New York apartment. Today it is one of the world's biggest hedge funds. And his Connecticut home is presumably much bigger than the apartment where he got his start.

Delaware: Robert Gore and Elizabeth Snyder

Estimated net worth: $750 million each

Industry: Fabric (Gore-Tex)

State population: 961,939

State median household income: $61,757

State’s per capita real GDP: $63,955

Yes, Gore inherited his family’s company. But he’s also responsible for much of its success. It was Gore who discovered the waterproof and windproof material now known as Gore-Tex. He shares the family fortune with his sister Elizabeth.

Florida: Thomas Peterffy

Estimated net worth: $25.7 billion

Industry: Finance/Investing

State population: 21 million

State median household income: $50,860

State’s per capita real GDP: $39,842

Peterffy came to America in 1965, when he was just 21. The Hungarian immigrant's family had lost its entire fortune to the Soviet regime. He started over and built Interactive Brokers, a specialized trading platform.

Georgia: Jim Kennedy

Estimated net worth: $9 billion

Industry: Media

State population: 10.4 million

State median household income: $53,559

State’s per capita real GDP: $45,925

The chairman of Cox Enterprises is the grandson of its founder, James M. Cox. Kennedy, however, started at the bottom of the company, working in a variety of positions, including reporter and ad salesman, in Cox's newspaper division after he graduated from the University of Denver in 1970.

Hawaii: Pierre Omidyar

Estimated net worth: $10.6 billion

Industry: Internet (eBay)

State population: 1.4 million

State median household income: $74,511

State’s per capita real GDP: $52,869

Omidyar said he never expected to make a dime off of eBay. He had started the site so his girlfriend could trade Pez dispensers. But five months after he cobbled together the code that became the online auction site, the company was valued at $3 billion.

Idaho: Frank VanderSloot

Estimated net worth: $3.4 billion

Industry: Nutrition/Wellness

State population: 1.7 million

State median household income: $51,807

State’s per capita real GDP: $36,441

VanderSloot is the founder and chief executive officer of Melaleuca, Inc., a wellness company. But his business background extends into radio and ranching as well. He was a national finance co-chair for Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, and is the 92nd biggest property owner in the U.S.

Illinois: Ken Griffin

Estimated net worth: $9 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 12.8 million

State median household income: $60,960

State’s per capita real GDP: $55,102

Griffin founded the investment firm Citadel in 1990 and still serves as its CEO. Griffin is also a philanthropist who has donated $500 million, including a $150 million gift to the financial aid program at Harvard in 2014.

Indiana: Carl Cook

Estimated net worth: $8.2 billion

Industry: Medical devices

State population: 6.7 million

State median household income: $52,314

State’s per capita real GDP: $46,427

Cook took over the Cook Group, a medical device maker, from his parents when his father died in 2011. Cook's parents started the company in their Indiana apartment in 1963. Cook met his wife, Marcy, when she was working in the company’s auditing department.

Iowa: Harry Stine

Estimated net worth: $3.2 billion

Industry: Agriculture

State population: 3.1 million

State median household income: $56,247

State’s per capita real GDP: $52,284

Stine became fascinated with seeds growing up on a farm, which led him to become what Forbes called a “seed genetics savant.” He made his fortune by licensing corn and soybean genetics to Monsanto, Syngenta and other multinationals.

Kansas: Charles Koch

Estimated net worth: $51.5 billion

Industry: Multiple

State population: 2.9 million

State median household income: $54,935

State’s per capita real GDP: $47,435

Koch and his brother David each own 42 percent of Koch Industries, but they are best known as the billionaire backers of conservative political causes. Among the familiar brands under the control of their companies are Stainmaster carpet, Lycra spandex, Quilted Northern toilet paper and Dixie Cup.

Kentucky: B. Wayne Hughes

Estimated net worth: $2.7 billion

Industry: Self storage

State population: 4.5 million

State median household income: $46,659

State’s per capita real GDP: $39,277

Since founding Public Storage in 1972, Hughes has seen the company grow to include 2,300 locations in the U.S. More recently, he founded American Homes 4 Rent, a real estate investment trust that rents out 50,000 single family houses in 22 states. His son and his daughter are billionaires as well.

Louisiana: Gayle Benson

Estimated net worth: $2.7 billion

Industry: Professional sports

State population: 4.7 million

State median household income: $45,146

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,372

Benson became the principal owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans after the death of her husband, Tom, in 2015. That made her the first woman to be a majority owner of franchises in both the NFL and NBA. Gayle Benson met Tom, her third husband, when she tried to solicit a donation for her church.

Maine: Susan Alfond

Estimated net worth: $1.6 billion

Industry: Shoes

State population: 1.3 million

State median household income: $53,079

State’s per capita real GDP: $39,521

Alfond and her three siblings inherited their wealth from their father, who founded Dexter Shoe Co. and sold it to Berkshire Hathaway in 1993.

Maryland: Ted Lerner and family

Estimated net worth: $5.1 billion

Industry: Real estate

State population: 6.1 million

State median household income: $78,945

State’s per capita real GDP: $56,375

Lerner is the managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals and the largest private landowner in the D.C. metropolitan area. He started his company with a $250 loan from his wife in 1952.

Massachusetts: Abigail Johnson

Estimated net worth: $16.9 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 6.9 million

State median household income: $75,297

State’s per capita real GDP: $66,500

Johnson is the third generation and the first woman to lead Fidelity Investments, which her grandfather founded in 1946. In addition to being the wealthiest resident of Massachusetts, she is one of the richest women in the world.

Michigan: Dan Gilbert

Estimated net worth: $6.3 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 10 million

State median household income: $52,492

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,201

In addition to founding Quicken Loans and operating the Cleveland Arena that bears the company's name, Gilbert is co-owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the owner of several minor league sports franchises. He also founded Rock Ventures and chairs JACK Entertainment, which opened its first casino in downtown Cleveland in 2012.

Minnesota: Glen Taylor

Estimated net worth: $2.8 billion

Industry: Printing

State population: 5.6 million

State median household income: $65,599

State’s per capita real GDP: $54,805

Taylor, a former member of the Minnesota Senate, owns the Star-Tribune newspaper. He is also the majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the owned of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx.

Taylor purchased Carlson Wedding Service, a print shop specializing in invitations that he worked for while he was in college. That company went on to become a multinational corporation with holdings in printing and electronics industries under Taylor’s ownership.

Mississippi: James and Thomas Duff

Estimated net worth: $1.2 billion each

Industry: Tires

State population: 3 million

State median household income: $41,754

State’s per capita real GDP: $32,447

The Duff brothers purchased a struggling tire company and turned it into the biggest truck tire dealer in the U.S. Southern Tire Mart now serves UPS, Penske and Ryder, and sells about 2 million tires per year.

Missouri: Pauline MacMillan Keinath

Estimated net worth: $7.2 billion

Industry: Food

State population: 6.1 million

State median household income: $51,746

State’s per capita real GDP: $43,036

Keinath’s 12 percent stake in Cargill is believed to be the largest stake in the world’s biggest food company. Cargill was founded by her great grandfather in 1865. Her family still holds about 90 percent of Cargill’s shares.

Montana: Dennis Washington

Estimated net worth: $5.9 billion

Industry: Construction and mining

State population: 1.1 million

State median household income: $50,027

State’s per capita real GDP: $39,833

After working construction jobs throughout his 20s, Cargill took a $30,000 loan and a single bulldozer when he was 30 in 1964 to start building his construction empire. In the 1970s, he expanded into mining and dam construction.

Nebraska: Warren Buffett

Estimated net worth: $85 billion

Industry: Investment (Berkshire Hathaway)

State population: 1.9 million

State median household income: $56,927

State’s per capita real GDP: $54,654

The "Oracle of Omaha" is arguably the most successful, and certainly best known, investors of all time. His Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 60 companies, including Geico, Duracell and Dairy Queen. Buffett bought his first stock when he was 11.

Nevada: Sheldon Adelson

Estimated net worth: $42.8 billion

Industry: Casinos

State population: 3 million

State median household income: $55,180

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,812

No surprise here: the richest person in Nevada made his fortune in gaming and casinos. But Adelson has also branched out into publishing, purchasing the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He also holds the record for biggest single donation to a U.S. presidential inauguration, giving $5 million to the Trump Inaugural Committee in 2017.

New Hampshire: Andrea Reimann-Ciardelli

Estimated net worth: $1.1 billion

Industry: Consumer goods

State population: 1.3 million

State median household income: $70,936

State’s per capita real GDP: $52,509

Reimann-Ciardelli sold her 11.1 percent stake in JAB Holding Co. for $1 billion in 2003. She is the German-born descendent of the company's founder. Today she lives in Hanover and runs the private Emily Landecker Foundation.

New Jersey: John Overdeck

Estimated net worth: $5.5 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 9 million

State median household income: $76,126

State’s per capita real GDP: $56,776

Overdeck co-founded and co-chairs Two Sigma Investments, a hedge fund based in New York City. The fund uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop trading strategies. In 2011 he started the Overdeck Family Foundation, which funds education research and STEM initiatives.

New Mexico: Mack C. Chase

Estimated net worth: $700 million

Industry: Oil

State population: 2.1 million

State median household income: $46,748

State’s per capita real GDP: $41,619

New Mexico's richest resident is an old-fashioned oil tycoon who worked the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. Today he continues to work in the business and owns Chase Farms and Deerhorn Aviation. Chase was married for 63 years when his wife died in 2016.

New York: David Koch

Estimated net worth: $51.5 billion

Industry: Multiple

State population: 19.9 million

State median household income: $62,909

State’s per capita real GDP: $65,220

The other half of the Koch brothers – see Kansas, where you’ll find David’s brother, Charles. The brothers each own 42 percent of the company that bears their name but are best known for their funding of conservative political causes.

North Carolina: James Goodnight

Estimated net worth: $9.9 billion

Industry: Software

State population: 10.3 million

State median household income: $50,584

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,706

The professor-turned-billionaire made his fortune when he and other computer science faculty members left North Carolina State University in 1976 to co-found SAS Institute, an analytics software maker. The company stemmed from research in software analyzing agricultural data. Goodnight has been CEO of SAS since its founding.

North Dakota: Gary Tharaldson

Estimated net worth: $900 million

Industry: Hotels

State population: 755,393

State median household income: $60,656

State’s per capita real GDP: $64,911

His Tharaldson Companies started in 1982 with the purchase of a Super 8 motel in Valley City, North Dakota. Today the company is one of the biggest developers of new hotels.

Ohio: Les Wexner and family

Estimated net worth: $5.4 billion

Industry: Retail

State population: 11.7 million

State median household income: $52,334

State’s per capita real GDP: $48,188

Wexner started The Limited in 1963 with a $5,000 loan from his aunt after working in his family's clothing store. The store takes its name from Wexner's business model, which was to offer a limited line of merchandize with higher profit margins.

Oklahoma: Harold Hamm and family

Estimated net worth: $19.5 billion

Industry: Oil and gas

State population: 3.9 million

State median household income: $49,176

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,535

Hamm is best known for his role in the shale oil-exploration company Continental Resources. He started his career pumping gas and repairing cars but soon left to work on an oil patch. He founded his own company, Continental Resources, when he was just 21.

Oregon: Phil Knight and family

Estimated net worth: $30.7 billion

Industry: Sporting goods (Nike)

State population: 4.1 million

State median household income: $57,532

State’s per capita real GDP: $51,312

Knight was a middle distance runner at the University of Oregon, which may explain why he went on to found one of the biggest makers of athletic footwear. He was inspired to found Nike while taking classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

The company's modest beginnings include Knight selling shoes out of the trunk of his green Plymouth Valiant at track meets.

Pennsylvania: Victoria Mars

Estimated net worth: $6 billion

Industry: Multiple

State population: 12.8 million

State median household income: $56,907

State’s per capita real GDP: $51,841

The former chairman of Mars Inc. she is a fourth generation of the Mars family. She started her career in the family business as the assistant brand manager for Milky Way.

Rhode Island: Jonathan Nelson

Estimated net worth: $1.8 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 1.1 million

State median household income: $60,596

State’s per capita real GDP: $48,314

He founded Providence Equity Partners, a global private equity firm, in 1989. Nelson has kept a low profile despite his high net worth, prompting The New York Times to call him the "stealth mogul." His firm primarily invests in media and communications industries.

South Carolina: Anita Zucker

Estimated net worth: $2.5 billion

Industry: Chemicals

State population: 5 million

State median household income: $49,501

State’s per capita real GDP: $37,637

Zucker is CEO and chair of the private, family-owned chemical maker InterTech Group. The company was founded by her husband, Jerry, in 1982. Jerry Zucker died of a brain tumor in 2008 and left control of the company to his wife.

South Dakota: T. Denny Sanford

Estimated net worth: $2.5 billion

Industry: Finance

State population: 869,666

State median household income: $54,467

State’s per capita real GDP: $48,004

Sanford owns First PREMIER Bank and First PREMIER Bankcard, two of the biggest issuers of credit cards in the U.S. The company issues low-limit credit cards with higher fees and interest rates to people with bad credit. "We provide a lifeline for credit-impaired people," Sanford told Forbes magazine.

Tennessee: Thomas Frist Jr. and family

Estimated net worth: $9.7 billion

Industry: Hospitals

State population: 6.7 million

State median household income: $48,547

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,348

Frist is a physician who co-founded Hospital Corporation of America. The leveraged buyout of the company in 2006 for $21 billion stands as one of the biggest leveraged buyouts and private-equity led initial public offerings of all time.

Texas: Alice Walton

Estimated net worth: $40 billion

Industry: Retail (Walmart)

State population: 28.3 million

State median household income: $56,565

State’s per capita real GDP: $53,737

Walton is the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton and is routinely ranked first or second on the Forbes list of richest women in the world, often flip-flopping with Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. In his 1992 autobiography, Sam Walton said Alice was "the most like me — a maverick — but even more volatile than I am."

Utah: Gail Miller

Estimated net worth: $1.4 billion

Industry: Car dealerships

State population: 3.1 million

State median household income: $65,977

State’s per capita real GDP: $45,493

The widow of Larry H. Miller now controls his businesses, including the Utah Jazz and the Larry H. Miller Group. The Miller Group includes 54 car dealerships, a chain of movie theaters, and the NBA’s Utah Jazz. Larry H. Miller died in 2009.

Vermont: John Abele

Estimated net worth: $630 million

Industry: Health care

State population: 623,657

State median household income: $57,677

State’s per capita real GDP: $44,831

The co-founder and a director of Boston Scientific, a medical device company, started his career at a light fixture company in the midwest. After working for a small medical company in greater Boston, he left to co-found Boston Scientific with Peter Nicholas.

Virginia: Jacqueline Mars

Estimated net worth: $23.8 billion

Industry: Multiple

State population: 8.5 million

State median household income: $68,114

State’s per capita real GDP: $52,124

Mars is the granddaughter of the founder of the candy company that bears her family name. She retired from the company in 2001 after having served as Food Product Group president since she started her career in 1982. She currently owns a working organic farm and is a trustee of the U.S. Equestrian Team.

Washington: Jeff Bezos

Estimated net worth: $132 billion

Industry: Internet (Amazon)

State population: 7.4 million

State median household income: $67,106

State’s per capita real GDP: $59,333

We're guessing you've heard of him. Bezos left the hedge fund he worked for in New York and wrote the business plan for Amazon on a cross-country drive to Seattle, where the company is headquartered and Bezos lives.

West Virginia: Jim Justice II

Estimated net worth: $1.9 billion

Industry: Coal/Agriculture

State population: 1.8 million

State median household income: $43,385

State’s per capita real GDP: $37,353

Justice is not only the richest person living in West Virginia. He's also the state's governor. Justice made his fortune in coal and agriculture and famously switched parties to run as a Democrat against the Republican nominee. Seven months after he took office he switched parties again with an announcement at a rally for President Trump.

Wisconsin: John Menard Jr.

Estimated net worth: $10.5 billion

Industry: Home improvement

State population: 5.8 million

State median household income: $56,811

State’s per capita real GDP: $48,666

The father of NASCAR driver Paul Menard made his fortune as the owner of Menards, a chain of home improvement stores in the midwest. The chain has grown from the original store he opened in 1972 to 287 today.

Wyoming: John Mars

Estimated net worth: $23.8 billion

Industry: Multiple

State population: 579,315

State median household income: $59,882

State’s per capita real GDP: $61,091

Mars and his sister Jaqueline each own a third of the Mars candy company, putting them in a tie for 32nd richest people in the world. He moved to Wyoming from Virginia in 2010.