7 Tampa Bay residents included on Forbes’ list of billionaires
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Seven Tampa Bay area residents are on the Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires for 2024.
The Bay area billionaire worth the most is Ronald Wanek, the St. Petersburg-based founder of Ashley Furniture worth $5.3 billion. The total puts him at No. 572 on the list of 2,781 billionaires world-wide, a record number.
Following Wanek is Robert Duggan, ranked 809 with a net worth of $3.9 billion. Duggan, described by Forbes as a serial entrepreneur, led the sale of biotech firm Pharmacyclics to AbbVie for $21 billion in cash and stock in 2015.
Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, is No. 991. DeBartolo runs DeBartolo Holdings in Tampa, a property development and investment firm, and has a net worth of $3.3 billion.
Todd Wanek, son of Ronald, has been CEO of Ashley Furniture since 2002 and ranks 1033rd on the Forbes list with a net worth of $3.2 billion.
Todd Christopher, founder of hair care products company Vogue International, is tied with Wanek at 1033. Christopher sold the company to Johnson & Johnson in 2016 for $3.3 billion.
The final two Bay-area members, Kenneth Feld of Palmetto and Thomas James of St. Petersburg, are tied at No. 1,238 with a net worth of $2.7 billion.
A full list of billionaires can be found at Forbes website.
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