Staff Writer
Forbes
has recently released their 2015 billionaire list and there are some familiar
names. Bill Gates has returned to the top, taking first place on the list with
$79 billion. Former first place holder, Carlos Slim Helu, takes second with $77
billion. Despite dropping oil prices and the weakened value of the Euro, the
upper class seems unscathed. The billionaire list has reached a record of 1,826
participants with 290 newcomers, a quarter of which hailed from China, taking the
lead with the most newbie billionaires. America came in second with 51, then
Germany with 23.
The
most popular rookie of the billionaires has to be former basketball player,
Michael Jordan, taking the title of best paid athlete at a net worth of one
billion dollars. Aside from Jordan, other well-known billionaire newbies would
be the Uber co-founders, Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick (each valued at $5.3
billion), and their first employee, Ryan Graves (valued at $1.4 billion).
Another
famous billionaire company would be Snapchat, worth $19 billion and its
founders, Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel, are each worth $1.5 billion. Even the
Ferrero Group CEO, Maria Franca Fissolo, known for producing Nutella, is a
billionaire. She is the richest first timer on the Forbes List, acquiring a net
worth of $23.4 billion.
Finally,
Jim Goodnight, co-founder of SAS, had a place on the list. The 72 year old CEO
came from our own N.C. State University. Goodnight founded SAS in 1976 and now
his net worth is $7.5 billion.
