Meet 2025’s Richest People In Illinois (According To Forbes)

Wouldn't it be great to be reading this only to discover that I'm writing about you? Personally, I think the only thing better might be to find that I'm writing about me, but it turns out, sadly, that you and I are not likely to show up anywhere in this piece other than right here.

To become part of the Forbes 2025 list of the richest people on Earth, I quickly learned that you need at least a few billion dollars...and in checking my balance this morning I discovered that I'm woefully short of that. You may have a similar problem with your net worth.

Before we look at Illinois billionaires, here are the world's richest 5 people, along with their ages and estimated net worth:

1. Elon Musk, 53: $345.6 billion
2. Jeff Bezos, 61: $208.7 billion 
3. Mark Zuckerberg, 40: $202.6 billion 
4. Larry Ellison, 80: $177.6 billion 
5. Warren Buffett, 94: $166.3 billion 

Oh, well. Enough about those folks, let's talk about the richest people in the Land of Lincoln.

The Answer To The Question "Who Is Illinois' Richest Person?" Had Been The Same For Several Years...Until The Guy Who Was The Richest Decided To Move To Florida A Few Years Back

That would be hedge fund manager and Citadel CEO and co-founder Ken Griffin, who took his substantial wealth and moved on down to Florida. The interesting part of this move is that Ken Griffin, formerly Illinois' richest person, is now Florida's second-richest person, behind Jeff Bezos.

When Mr. Griffin decided to "outbound migrate" from Illinois, someone else moved up to take Illinois' number-one spot.

Before you guess, I'll give you one clue that might help. This person's wealth is the result of being a member of a certain highly successful family (not named Pritzker), and that family is the family behind:

Fun Fact: Every State In The United States Has At Least One Billionaire Except 3 States---Alaska, Delaware, And West Virginia

But enough about other states, let's get back to Illinois, and the person Forbes names as Illinois' richest person.

That would be a man named Lukas Walton, and at 38 years old, Mr. Walton is not only Illinois' richest person, but one of the youngest people on the entire Forbes list.

2025's Forbes list puts Lukas Walton's net worth in 2023 at $37.9 billion.

Now That You've Gotten A Look At Illinois' Richest Person, Let's Run Down The List Of The Other Illinois Billionaires That Made The Forbes 400 List

Normally, when you hear the term "wealth gap," it's used to describe the gulf between the very rich in this country and the very poor. Well, not in this case. Wealth gap here describes the difference in net worth between Illinois' richest person and the rest of Illinois' ultra-rich.

Here's the full top-ten list of Illinois' wealthiest, along with their occupations, and net worth:

1. Lukas Walton, Walmart, estimated net worth of $37.9 billion
2. Patrick Ryan, Insurance, estimated net worth of $12.3 billion
3. Neil Bluhm, real estate, estimated net worth of $7 billions
4. Thomas Pritzker, hotels/investments, estimated net worth of $6.8 billion
5. Joe Mansueto, investment research, estimated net worth of $6.7 billion
6. Ty Warner, plush toys/real estate, estimated net worth $6.6 billion
7. Justin Ishiba, private equity, estimated net worth $6.1 billion
8. Elizabeth Uihlein, packaging materials, estimated net worth $6 billion
9. Richard Uihlein, packaging materials, estimated net worth $6 billion
10. Mark Walter, finance/asset manager, estimated net worth $6 billion

Patch.com:

The United States has a record 902 billionaires, more than anywhere else on the planet. They include 103 new billionaires, also a record among other nations with billionaires.