Gov. Pritzker Among 12 Illinois Billionaires On Forbes List

According to the money folks at Forbes, here in Illinois, 12 people were among the 400 richest in America in 2019, down from 13 in 2018

The best known billionaire in Illinois is Governor J.B. Pritzker. Pritzker comes in at number 250 on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans. The governor has an estimated net worth of $3.4 billion.

Anyone worried about J.B. Pritzker running out of money after spending $850,000 of his own dough on the continued refurbishment of the governor's mansion can breathe a sigh of relief. It looks like he still has a few bucks left.

To qualify for placement on the Forbes list, you must have a net worth of at least $2.1 billion. Forbes says the average wealth of those on the list increased by $200 million to $7.4 billion.

The Patch:

Here are the Illinois billionaires on the list, including several members of the Pritzker family:

• No 38: Ken Griffin, 51, $12.7 billion (hedge funds)
• No. 119: Sam Zell, 78, $5.5 billion (real estate, private equity)
• No. 187: Thomas Pritzker, 69, $4 billion (hotels, investments)
• No. 195: Neil Bluhm, 81, $3.9 billion (real estate)
• No. 195 (tie): Joe Mansueto, 63, $3.9 billion (investment research)
• No. 250: Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 54, $3.4 billion (hotels, investments)
• No. 261: Patrick Ryan, 82, $3.3 billion (insurance)
• No. 261 (tie): Mark Walter, 59, $3.3 billion (insurance)
• No. 296: Ty Warner, 75, $2.9 billion, (real estate, plush toys)
• No. 306: Eric Lefkofsky, 50, $2.8 billion (Groupon)
• No. 306 (tie): Penny Pritzker, 60, $2.8 billion (hotels, investments)
• No. 342: Joseph Grendys, 57, $2.5 billion (poultry processing)

If you're interested, here are America's top ten richest people:

Jeff Bezos: $114 billion
Bill Gates: $106 billion
Warren Buffett: $80.8 billion
Mark Zuckerberg: $69.6 billion
Larry Ellison: $65 billion
Larry Page: $55.5 billion
Sergey Brin: $53.5 billion
Michael Bloomberg: $53.4 billion
Steve Ballmer: $51.7 billion
Jim Walton: $51.6 billion