These 12 Illinois Billionaires Land On New Forbes Richest List

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 make the Forbes 400 (a list of the 400 wealthiest Americans in 2023), I quickly learned that you need at least a few billion dollars (actually, you must have a net worth of at least $2.9 billion to be included in the list)...and in checking my balance this morning I discovered that I'm woefully short of that.

Oh, well. Enough about us, let's talk about the richest folks 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 Couple Of Years Ago

That would be hedge fund manager and Citadel CEO and co-founder Ken Griffin, who took his estimated wealth of $35.4 billion (by Forbes most recent 2023 estimate) and moved on down to Florida. The interesting part of this move is that Ken Griffin, formerly Illinois' richest person, is now Florida's richest person.

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 37 years old, Mr. Walton is not only Illinois' richest person, but also the youngest person on the entire Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans

The Forbes list pegs Lukas Walton's net worth in 2023 at $24.2 billion.

WCIA.com:

For Illinois, Lukas Walton is listed as the state’s wealthiest person. He has an estimated net worth of $24.2 billion. He ranks at the top of his state while his aunt, Alice Walton, ranks as the wealthiest woman in the U.S. She has a net worth of $66.5 billion, Forbes reports. They are both descendants of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

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 are the other Illinois billionaires, along with their age, occupations, and net worth:

• Patrick Ryan, 86, Insurance, $10.1 billion
• Neil Bluhm, 85, Real Estate, $6.3 billion
• Mark Walter, 63, Finance, Asset management, $5.7 billion
• Ty Warner, 79, Plush Toys, Real Estate, $5.7 billion
• Joe Mansueto, 67, Investment Research, $5.6 billion
• Thomas Pritzker, 73, Hotels, Investments, $5.6 billion
• Elizabeth Uihlein, 78, Packaging materials, $4.9 billion
• Richard Uihlein, 78, Packaging materials, $4.9 billion
• Eric Lefkofsky, 54, Groupon, Investments, $4.3 billion
• Joseph Grendys, 61, Poultry processing, $4.2 billion
• J.B. Pritzker, 58, Hotels, Investments, $3.5 billion
• Penny Pritzker, 64, Hotels, Investments, $3.3 billion

Oh, one more thing. There's another new addition (tied at #379) to the Forbes 400 Richest List who spent a good chunk of time in Illinois and made quite a name for himself: