intro: The rich are indeed getting richer, according to a new list of the richest person in each of the 50 states. As it turns out, the namest of the richest 10 people haven't changed at all, led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in Washington state. But their net worth values have ticked up. The top 10 are collectively worth a whopping $362 billion, 67 percent of the total wealth of the 50 folks in a list compiled by Wealth-X, a firm that researches ultra-high net worth individuals.
Among the reports showing an increase in the wealth gap is a Pew Research Center report that showed the mean net worth of households in the highest 7 percent of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28 percent during the first two years of the nation's economic recovery, while the net worth in the lower 93 percent dropped by 4 percent.
Infographic: See a Map of the Richest Person in Each State
The top two richest people in Wealth-X's list, Gates and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, happen to be the most generous people in the country.
Designating a residence can be tricky for the super-rich in this list, who are known to have multiple homes across the country if not the world. Wealth-X tries to solve this problem by tying each person to their primary place of business at times. For example, Kenneth Dart, $6.6 billion, chairman of Dart Container Corp., renounced his citizenship and is reportedly living out of the country, though Wealth-X lists him as the richest person in Michigan.
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Some folks on last year's list aren't present in 2013, such as Robert Earl Holding, owner of Sinclair Oil, who used to be the richest person in Utah. This year it's Blake Roney, chairman of Nu Skin Enterprises.
Sometimes wealth transfers don't go very far. Last year, Pauline Keinath, great-granddaughter of W. W. Cargill, was the richest person in Minnesota, according to Wealth-X. This year, it's Whitney MacMillan, her brother, who is CEO of Cargill Inc.
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There are nine new people in the list, in Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Utah. These nine are collectively worth $34 billion, which is 50 percent more than the combined net worth of the people in the same states last year.
Here is Wealth-X's list of the richest person in each of the 50 states:
quicklist:1 category: Washington media: 20716726 title: Bill Gates: $70.8 billion text: Microsoft chairman, co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Infographic: See a Map of Some of the Richest People in the Country
quicklist: 2 category: Nebraska media: 17762033 title: Warren Buffett: $59.8 billion text: Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
quicklist: 3 category: California media: 18005707 title: Lawrence Ellison: $46.4 billion text: CEO of Oracle Corp.
Infographic: See a Map of Some of the Richest People in the Country
quicklist: 4 category: Kansas media: 14933177 title: David Koch: $41.5 billion text: Executive vice president of Koch Industries
quicklist: 5 category: Arkansas media: 18005675 title: James Walton: $37.1 billion text: Chairman and CEO of Arvest Bank, son of Walmart founder, Sam Walton
quicklist: 6 category: Nevada media: title: Sheldon Adelson: $32.2 billion text: Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands
Infographic: See a Map of Some of the Richest People in the Country
quicklist: 7 category: New York media: 19418280 title: Michael Bloomberg: $21.4 billion text: New York City Mayor and owner of Bloomberg LP
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quicklist: 8 category: Virginia media: title: Forrest Mars, Jr.: $20.1 billion text: Part-owner of Mars candy company and grandson of the late Frank C. Mars
quicklist: 9 category: Massachusetts media: title: Abigail Johnson: $16.9 billion text: President, Fidelity Financial Services
quicklist: 10 category: Texas media: 14683023 title: Michael Dell: $16 billion text: CEO of Dell Inc.
Infographic: See a Map of Some of the Richest People in the Country
quicklist: 11 category: Oregon media: title: Philip Knight: $14.7 billion text: Chairman of Nike Inc.
quicklist: 12 category: Colorado media: title: Charles Ergen: $13.7 billion text:
Founder and chairman of DISH Network
quicklist: 13 category: Connecticut media: title: Raymond Dalio: $13.4 billion text:
Founder of Bridgewater Associates LP
quicklist: 14 category: Georgia media: title: Anne Cox Chambers: $11.4 billion text: Member of Cox Enterprises' board of directors, chairwoman of Atlanta Newspapers
quicklist: 15 category: New Hampshire media: title: Richard Cohen: $10 billion text: Chairman of C&S Wholesale Grocers
quicklist: 16 category: Oklahoma media: title: George Kaiser: $9.8 billion text: Chairman of BOK Financial
quicklist: 17 category: Pennsylvania media: title: Hansjorg Wyss: $9.2 billion text: Chairman of Swiss medical device manufacturer Synthes Holding AG
quicklist: 18 category: New Jersey media: title: David Tepper: $7.9 billion text: President and founder of Appaloosa Management
quicklist: 19 category: North Carolina media: title: James Goodnight: $7.4 billion text: CEO of SAS
quicklist: 20 category: Wisconsin media: title: John Menard, Jr.: $7.3 billion text: Founder and owner of home-improvement retailer Menard Inc.
quicklist: 21 category: Michigan media: title: Kenneth Dart: $6.6 billion text: Chairman of Dart Container Corp.
quicklist: 22 category: Florida media: title: Micky Arison: $5.9 billion text: Chairman and CEO of Carnival
quicklist: 23 category: Montana media: title: Dennis Washington: $5.6 billion text: Founder of The Washington Companies and co-founder of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation
quicklist: 24 category: Ohio media: title: Leslie Wexner: $5.2 billion text: Chairman and CEO of Limited Brands
quicklist: 25 category: Indiana media: title: Gayle Cook: $4.8 billion text: Member of board of directors of medical device firm Cook Group
quicklist: 26 category: Arizona media: title: Bruce Halle: $4.4 billion text: Founder of Discount Tires
quicklist: 27 category: Maryland media: title: Theodore Lerner: $4.1 billion text: Founder of real estate firm Lerner Enterprises
quicklist: 28 category: Illinois media: title: Samuel Zell: $3.8 billion text: Founder of Equity Residential
quicklist: 29 category: Minnesota media: title: Whitney MacMillan: $3.8 billion text: CEO of Cargill
quicklist: 30 category: Missouri media: title: John Morris: $3.8 billion text: Owner, Bass Pro Shops
quicklist: 31 category: Tennessee media: title: Thomas Frist, Jr.: $3.2 billion text: Founder of HCA, the Hospital Corporation of America
quicklist: 32 category: South Carolina media: title: Anita Zucker: $2.6 billion text: Chairwoman and CEO of chemical manufacturer InterTech Group
quicklist: 33 category: Kentucky media: title: Brad M. Kelley: $1.9 billion text: Former owner of Commonwealth Brands
quicklist: 34 category: Iowa media: title: Dennis Albaugh: $1.6 billion text: Founder of Albaugh Inc.
quicklist: 35 category: West Virginia media: title: James Justice II: $1.6 billion text: Owner of Southern Coal Corp.
quicklist: 36 category: Rhode Island media: title: Jonathan Nelson: $1.5 billion text: CEO of Providence Equity Partners
quicklist: 37 category: Alabama media: title: Marguerite Harbert: $1.5 billion text: Widow of the late construction and energy mogul, John Murdoch Harbert III
quicklist: 38 category: Louisiana media: title: Thomas Benson: $1.3 billion text: Owner of New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Hornets
quicklist: 39 category: South Dakota media: title: T. Denny Sanford: $1.3 billion text: Owner of First Premier Bank and board co-chair of Sanford Consortium
quicklist: 40 category: Idaho media: title: Frank VanderSloot: $1.2 billion text: CEO of Melaleuca
quicklist: 41 category: Vermont media: title: Robert Stiller: $1.1 billion text: Founder of Green Mountain Coffee
quicklist: 42 category: North Dakota media: title: Gary Tharaldson: $900 million text: Founder of the Tharaldson Companies
quicklist: 43 category: Delaware media: title: Robert W. Gore: $800 million text: Chairman, W.L. Gore & Associates
quicklist: 44 category: Maine media: title: Leon Gorman: $800 million text: Chairman of L.L. Bean
quicklist: 45 category: New Mexico media: title: John Yates: $800 million text: President and CEO of McKinley Capital Management LLC
quicklist: 46 category: Hawaii media: title: Jay Shidler: $700 million text: Founder of the real estate company The Shidler Group
quicklist: 47 category: Mississippi media: title: Jim Barksdale: $600 million text: Chairman of Barksdale Management Corp.
quicklist: 48 category: Utah media: title: Blake Roney: $600 million text: Chairman of Nu Skin Enterprises
quicklist: 49 category: Alaska media: title: Robert Gillam: $400 million text: President and CEO of McKinley Capital Management LLC
quicklist: 50 category: Wyoming media: title: John Martin: $300 million text: Chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences
Infographic: See a Map of Some of the Richest People in the Country