South Florida’s 2024 Forbes Billionaires: A Mix of Familiar Faces and New Entrants

The 2024 Forbes World’s Billionaires List sees a notable presence from South Florida, featuring a blend of recurring honorees and five local newcomers, including the CEO of a top public company and a seasoned homebuilder.

Forbes reported a record-breaking number of billionaires worldwide, totaling 2,781 individuals, marking an increase of 141 from the previous year and surpassing the 2021 record by 26. The collective wealth of these billionaires stands at an astounding $14.2 trillion, up by $2 trillion from 2023 and surpassing the previous record set in 2021 by $1.1 trillion.

South Florida’s billionaires represent a diverse array of industries, spanning from automotive to energy drinks. Palm Beach County leads the region with 21 billionaires, followed by Miami-Dade County with 17, and Broward County with four. Collectively, the 42 billionaires from South Florida boast a combined net worth of $470.8 billion, more than doubling the prior year’s figure of $233.9 billion among 35 local billionaires.

While Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos isn’t a newcomer to the Forbes list, his relocation from Seattle to Miami in 2023 elevated him to the status of the richest person in the Sunshine State and the wealthiest billionaire residing in South Florida, a title previously held by Citadel’s Ken Griffin, who moved both his residence and company headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022.

The youngest individuals on the local list are three 53-year-old residents, while the oldest is 91.

Here’s the list of South Floridians on the Forbes list, along with their net worth, age, city of residence, and company:

• 3. Jeff Bezos: $194 billion, 60, Indian Creek Village, Amazon.com
• 42. Ken Griffin $36.4 billion, 55, Miami, Citadel (hedge fund, securities and advisory)
• 24. Thomas Peterffy: $34 billion, 79, Palm Beach, Interactive Brokers
• 94. David Tepper: $20.6 billion, 66, Palm Beach, Appaloosa Management (hedge fund)
• 272. J. Christopher Reyes: $9 billion, 70, Jupiter, Reyes Holdings (food distribution)
• 272. Jude Reyes: $9 billion, 68, Palm Beach, Reyes Holdings (food distribution)
• 292. Orlando Bravo: $8.7 billion, 53, Miami Beach, Thoma Bravo (private equity)
• 304. Josh Harris: $8.4 billion, 59, Miami Beach, Apollo Global Management (private equity)
• 312. Elisabeth Delucca and family: $8.2 billion, 76, Pompano Beach, Subway (former owner)
• 317. Paul Tudor Jones, II.: $8.1 billion, 69, Palm Beach, Tudor Investment Corp. (hedge fund)
• 334. Igor Olenicoff: $7.7 billion, 81, Lighthouse Point, Olen Properties (real estate)
• 354. Jeff Greene: $7.5 billion, 69, Palm Beach, Florida Sunshine Investments (real estate, investments)
• 469. Dirk Ziff:  $6.2 billion, 60, North Palm Beach, Ziff Capital Partners (investments)
• 498. Carl Icahn: $5.9 billion, 88, Indian Creek Village, Icahn Capital Management (investments)
• 573. Charles B. Johnson: $5.3 billion, 90, Palm Beach, Franklin Templeton Investments
• 597. John Henry: $5.1 billion, 74, Boca Raton, Boston Globe, sports teams (owner)
• 597. Sami Mnaymneh: $5.1 billion, 62, Miami Beach, H.I.G. Capital (private equity)
• 624. Herbert Wertheim: $4.9 billion, 84, Coral Gables, Brain Power Inc. (investments)
• 648. Rakesh Gangwal: $4.8 billion, 70, Miami, InterGlobe Aviation
• 661. William Berkley: $4.7 billion, 77, Miami’s Coconut Grove, W. R. Berkley (insurance)
• 712. Isaac Perlmutter: $4.4 billion, 81, Palm Beach, Marvel Entertainment
• 734. Nick Caporella: $4.3 billion, 88, Plantation, National Beverage
• 756. Rajiv Jain: $4.2 billion, 56, Fort Lauderdale, GQG Partners (financial services)
• 835. Barry Sternlicht: $3.8 billion, 63, Miami, Starwood Capital Group (private equity)
• 835. James Clark: $3.8 billion, 80, Palm Beach, Netscape (investments)
• 896. Daniel Och: $3.6 billion, 63, Miami Beach, Och-Ziff Capital Management (hedge funds)
• 920. Norman Braman: $3.5 billion, 91, Miami, Braman Motorcars, (car dealership)
• 949. Steve Wynn: $3.4 billion, 82, Palm Beach, Wynn Resorts (casinos, hotels)
• 991. Robert Johnson: $3.3 billion, 76, Palm Beach, Johnson & Johnson, New York Jets (owner)
• 1,033. Robert Sands: $3.2 billion, 65, Delray Beach, Constellation Brands (alcohol)
• 1,033. Michael Jordan: $3.2 billion, 61, Jupiter, Charlotte Hornets (owner)
• 1,033. William Wrigley, Jr.: $3.2 billion, 60, North Palm Beach, Wrigley Management, Inc (chewing gum)
• 1,143. C. Dean Metropoulos: $2.9 billion, 77, Palm Beach, Metropoulos & Co. (investments)
• 1,428. Leonard Abess: $2.3 billion, new to list, 75, Miami, City National Bank of Florida (bank)
• 1,438. Donald J. Trump: $2.3 billion, 77, Mar-a-Lago, Trump Organization, Trump Media & Technology Group (real estate, social media platform)
• 1,694. Terry Taylor: $1.9 billion, new to list, 73, Palm Beach, Automotive Management Services (car dealerships)
• 2,046. Itzhak Ezratti and family: $1.5 billion, new to list, 71, Indian Creek Village, GL Homes (homebuilder)
• 2,287. Albert Nahmad: $1.3 billion, new to list, 83, Coral Gables, Watsco (air conditioning parts)
• 2,545. Scot French: $1.1 billion, new to list, 53, Bal Harbour, HPS Investment Partners (private equity)

The list is topped by Paris-based LVMH owner Bernard Arnault and family, followed by Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and X, formerly known as Twitter. Here are the top 10 richest individuals globally and their respective countries of residence:

1. Bernard Arnault and family: $233 billion, France
2. Elon Musk: $195 billion, U.S.
3. Jeff Bezos: $194 billion, U.S.
4. Mark Zuckerberg: $177 billion, U.S.
5. Larry Ellison: $141 billion, U.S.
6. Warren Buffett: $133 billion, U.S.
7. Bill Gates: $128 billion, U.S.
8. Steve Ballmer: $121 billion, U.S.
9. Mukesh Ambani: $116 billion, India
10. Larry Page: $114 billion, U.S.