MARIA: THE FORBES 400 IS OUT,
RANKING THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN
AMERICA.
IT IS A RECORD-BREAKER, THE
TOTAL NET WORTH OF THIS ENTIRE
LIST TOPS $2.9 TRILLION.
COMING IN AT NUMBER FIVE, ORACLE
CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, LARRY
ELLISON.
AT NUMBER FOUR, FACEBOOK CEO
MARK ZUCKERBERG.
COMING IN FOURTH, WARREN BUFFET.
MICROSOFT FOUNDER BILL GATES IS
AT NUMBER TWO.
AFTER 24 YEARS AT NUMBER ONE.
COMING IN AT NUMBER ONE, DRUM
ROLL, PLEASE, AMAZON CEO JEFF
JOINING US NOW IS FORBES MEAD
JOINING US NOW IS FORBES MEDD
BEZOS IS NUMBER ONE.
JOINING US NOW IS FORBES MEDIA
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR OF
WEALTH LISA KROLL.
CHARACTERIZE THE LIST FOR US.
THEY
LYEY
LY RICH, THEYCONTINUE TO MAKE GI
LY RICH, THEYCONTINUE TO MAKE GS
>> IT'S THE RELENT ALSOLY RICH,
LY RICH, THEYCONTINUE TO MAKE G.
MARIA: JEFF BEZOS BLOWS
EVERYBODY AWAY.
>> HE'S THE STORY OF THE YEAR.
HE'S THE FIRST PERSON WITH A
FORTUNE OF OVER $100 BILLION TO
BE THE RANKS.
HE IS AT $160 BILLION.
THAT'S $215 MILLION A DAY.
HE'S LEFT EVERYBODY IN THE DUST.
>> THE FASCINATING ASPECT, BILL
GATES WOULD BE AT $100 BILLION
AND EVEN OVER IT IF HE HADN'T
GIVEN SO MUCH AWAY.
>> HE HAS GIVEN AWAY $35 BILLION
WHICH IS I A HUGE NUMBER.
IF YOU ADDED THAT IN, HE WOULD
BE HIGHER THAN EVERYBODY ELSE.
NOW BEZOS IS STILL $30 BILLION
MORE, EVEN IF GATES HADN'T GIVEN
--
MARIA: HE HAS A BIGGER DOLLAR
FIGURE GAIN.
>> HIS DOLLAR FIGURE GAIN IS
MORE THAN 397 PEOPLE ON THE
LIST.
ONLY BUFFET AND GATES ARE WORTH
MORE THAN HIS GAINS.
>> JEFF BEZOS SAID AT THE D.C.
ECONOMIC CLUB, HE SAID I'M RICH
BUT I ONLY OWN A PERCENTAGE OF
THE COMPANY.
I HELPED CREATE SO MUCH WEALTH
AND VALUE.
>> FOR SHAREHOLDERS.
>> THAT'S MADE HIM A TARGET.
THE BEZOS ACT, BERNIE SANDERS
LAUNCHED THAT.
I KNOW THERE WERE MORE WOMEN
THAT MADE THE LIST THIS YEAR.
MARIA: IT DEPRESSES ME, IT'S
MORE THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR, IT'S
NOT A RECORD HIGH.
IT CONTINUES TO BE A TINY, TINY
AMOUNT.
>> ONLY 11 OF THOSE 57 WOMEN
ACTUALLY MADE THE FORTUNES
THEMSELVES, WHEREAS ABOUT
TWO-THIRDS OF THE LIST IS
SELF-MADE.
IT'S JUST WE TRACK WOMEN
BILLIONAIRES WHO ARE STILL UP
AND COMING, THEY'RE ABOUT 30 --
THEY'RE ABOUT 30 OR SO TOTAL.
WE WATCH THEM ALL THE TIME.
WE'RE HOPING FOR BETTER NEWS.
WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAYS TO GO.
>> ANOTHER KIND OF INTERESTING
FINDING, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF
STORIES THE LAST COUPLE YEARS
SUGGESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT IS
USING POLITICAL OFFICE TO ENRICH
HIMSELF.
THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN
THE NUMBERS.
>> NO, NOT AT ALL.
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF ASSETS
THAT HAVE BENEFITED FROM THAT,
SUCH AS MAR-A-LAGO AND THE D.C.
HOTEL.
MOST OF THE BUSINESSES, PEOPLE
ARE DISTANCING THEMSELVES.
PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO BUY CONDOS
IN A TRUMP BUILDING.
IT'S BECOME TOO POLARIZING FOR
PEOPLE TO BACK HIS BUSINESSES.
MARIA: IT ACTUALLY HURT HIS
BUSINESS.
>> OVERALL.
MARIA: WHAT OVERALL DROVE THE
NET WORTH TO NEW HIGHS THIS
YEAR?
>> THE STOCK MARKET.
YOU SEE IT CONTINUING TO RISE
AND A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE
THEIR MONEY IN PARTICULAR
STOCKS, SO YOU SEE SOME MIXES.
MARK ZUCKERBERG IS DOWN.
HE'S OFF $10 BILLION.
BUT AS A GROUP, THESE PEOPLE
KEEP MARCHING UP.
IF THE MARKET CONTINUES TO DO
THIS WELL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO SEE
HUGE NUMBERS.
MARIA: IT'S A GOOD POINT YOU
MAKE ON DONALD TRUMP.
YOU DON'T REALLY HEAR THAT VERY
MUCH ANYWHERE.
>> IT BRINGS A LOT OF NEGATIVE
ATTENTION WHEN YOU'RE IN
POLITICS.
OBVIOUSLY HE BRINGS AS MUCH AS
ANY POLITICIAN, SO IT'S NOT
NECESSARILY GOOD FOR BUSINESS.
>> ON TOP OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
ARTICLE, HE'S WORTH $3 BILLION.
MARIA: $3.1 BILLION.
>> WORTH MORE THAN HE WAS LEFT
ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE.
>> THE MOST INTERESTING THING TO
ME IN THE ARTICLE WAS HOW MUCH
HE HAD GOTTEN WHEN HE WAS SUCH A
LITTLE KID.
WE KNEW HE HAD ALWAYS GOTTEN A
LOT OF THE STARTER FUNDS FROM
HIS FATHER AND --
>> HE STILL BUILT ON THAT,