The assembled net worth of America's wealthiest people rose to $1.57 trillion in 2008, according to the Forbes 400

Forbes 400

The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by Forbes Magazine magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September, and 2010 marks the 29th issue. The 400 was started by Malcom Forbes in 1982 and treats those in the list like...

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Rising prices of oil and art paved the way for 31 new members and eight returnees, while volatile stock and housing markets forced 33 from the rankings.

With a net worth of $58 billion, Bill Gates remains the wealthiest man in America despite losing his crown to Warren Buffett for a few months in 2008. Buffett's shares in Berkshire Hathaway have fallen 15% since February 2008.

Forbes 400 (2008)

The following list is the ranking of America's wealthiest billionaires on September 17, 2008.

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	Has not changed from the list for 2008.
	Has increased from the list earlier 2008.
	Has decreased from the list for earlier 2008.

#	Name	Net worth Net worth In business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liabilities of an individual or a company. For a company, this is called shareholders' preference and may be referred to as book value. Net worth is stated as at a particular year in time...  (USD)	Sources of wealth
1	Bill Gates Bill Gates William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...	$58 billion	Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions... , Cascade Investments LLC
2	Warren Buffett Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...	$50 billion	Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
3		$22.5 billion	Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
4		$23.4 billion	Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
5		$23.3 billion	Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
6		$23.2 billion	Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
7	Christy Walton Christy Walton Christy Ruth Walton is the widow of John T. Walton, who was a son of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. After John's death in June 2005, she inherited his fortune of $15.7 billion....  & family	$23.2 billion	Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...  Inheritance
8		$20 billion	Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...
9		$19 billion	Koch Industries Koch Industries Koch Industries, Inc. , is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company...
10		$19 billion	Koch Industries Koch Industries Koch Industries, Inc. , is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company...
11		$17.3 billion	Dell Inc. Dell Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
12		$16 billion	Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
13		$15.9 billion	Google Google Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
14		$15.8 billion	Google Google Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
15		$14.7 billion	Las Vegas Sands Las Vegas Sands Las Vegas Sands Corp. is an integrated resort company based in Paradise, Nevada, USA.-History:Founded in 1988, the company was the owner and operator of the Sands Hotel, which was demolished in 1996 to make room for The Venetian, which opened in 1999....