Majority of billionaires in Palm Beach got richer ... but some, including Trump, did not

The mega-wealthy, for the most part, got mega-wealthier over the past year in tony Palm Beach, a town that can count at least 58 billionaires among its property owners, according to an exclusive Palm Beach Daily News analysis of the list of the world’s wealthiest people released by Forbes.com.

But some saw their wealth shrink. And the island's most famous resident, former President Donald Trump, is one of them.

Of the billionaires in Palm Beach, a majority (40 of them) watched their estimated net worth increase over the past year, while 15 saw their wealth shrink. And another three saw their fortunes remain flat.

Trump's estimated net worth decreased from $2.5 billion in April 2023 to $2.3 billion on the new list.

In all, the Palm Beach billionaires’ wealth for 2024 totals $494.7 billion, the Daily News analysis shows.

Billionaires landed on the Palm Beach list if they own real estate in town, whether it’s a primary home, a vacation house or an investment property. There may be more billionaires who own real estate in Palm Beach, but if so, their identities have so far remained cloaked behind the entities they used to buy their properties. Others may not have met the criteria Forbes.com uses to determine eligibility, which figures in the value of their stock portfolios and other assets, including private companies, real estate and art collections.

The list of Palm Beach billionaires is missing one famous name that appeared on it last year. “Margaritaville” singer and businessman Jimmy Buffett, a longtime Palm Beach homeowner, died at age 76 in September, five months after Forbes said his wealth hit the $1 billion mark for the first time.

New to the Forbes list this year is Palm Beach resident Avram Glazer, who is part of the family that owns the Tampa Buccaneers and is majority owner of the Manchester United soccer team in the United Kingdom. His net worth is $1.7 billion, Forbes said.

On the latest list, Forbes named a record-setting 2,781 people across the globe whose wealth totaled at least $1 billion each, up from 2,640 last year.

Of those billionaires on the global list, three-fourths experienced a year-over-year increase in wealth.

“What a year it’s been for the planet’s billionaires, whose fortunes continue to swell as global stock markets shrug off war, political unrest and lingering inflation,” said an article accompanying the new Forbes list.

Once again, Julia Koch and her family lead the Palm Beach list with an estimated net worth of $64.3 billion, up from $59 billion a year ago. Her late husband, David Koch of Koch Industries, had for years been identified as Palm Beach’s wealthiest billionaire until his death in 2019.

Private equity mogul Stephen Schwarzman this year stepped into the No. 2 spot on the Palm Beach List. That rank was held last year by hedge-fund manager and securities titan Ken Griffin, who lives in Miami but owns the largest estate in Palm Beach.

Schwarzman’s year-over-year wealth rose from $27.8 billion last year to $38.8 billion this year, according to Forbes. Griffin’s fortune, meanwhile, grew from $35 billion a year ago to $36.4 billion, according to Forbes.

On the new global list, French fashion and cosmetics mogul Bernard Arnault and his family were ranked No. 1 with $233 billion, a position they first assumed in 2023. Tesla and Space X tycoon Elon Musk — and his $195 billion net worth — landed in the No. 2 slot among the world’s billionaires. That was slightly ahead of Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who ranked No. 3 with a fortune of $194 billion. Bezos recently moved to Miami.

Taking the fourth spot in the global ranking was Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg of Meta with $177 billion. And ranked No. 5 — with $147 billion — was Oracle Corp. software tycoon Larry Ellison, who owns an ocean-to-lake estate in Manalapan south of Palm Beach.

Among the celebrities on the global list is singer Taylor Swift, who for the first time has been ranked as a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion. Other celebrities on the overall list include NBA hall-of-famer Magic Johnson ($1.2 billion), filmmaker George Lucas ($5.5 billion), NBA legend Michael Jordan ($3.2 billion), who recently bought a second mansion in Jupiter, and businesswoman and television personality Kim Kardashian ($1.7 billion).

Palm Beach’s Top 20 wealthiest

Here is the Palm Beach Daily News’ list of the Top 20 Palm Beach billionaires ranked by Forbes among the world’s richest people. All of the billionaires on this list are American unless otherwise noted. The list includes each billionaire's rank on the global list and compares 2024 net-worth estimates to the ones Forbes published last year at this time. At the end of the list is a note about the methodology Forbes used to compile its rankings.

1. Julia Koch, 61 (widow of industrialist David Koch), and family, in 23rd place on the global list, with $64.3 billion, up from $59 billion in 2023.

2. Private equity titan Stephen Schwarzman, 77, in 34th place, with $38.8 billion, up from $27.8 billion.

3. Hedge-fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, 55, in 42nd place, with $36.4 billion, up from $35 billion.

4. Discount broker pioneer Thomas Peterffy, 79, in 44th place, with $34 billion, up from $25.3 billion.

5. Australian mining mogul Gina Rinehart, 70, in 56th place, with $30.8 billion, up from $27 billion.

6. Investments/finance executive Abigail Johnson, 62, in 58th place, with $29 billion, up from $21.6 billion.

7. Mortgage loan magnate and NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, 62, tied in 73rd place, with $26.2 billion, up from $18 billion.

8. Hedge-fund manager and NFL's Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, 66, tied in 94th place, with $20.6 billion, up from $18.5 billion.

9. Cosmetics executive Leonard Lauder, 91, tied in 126th place, with $15.1 billion, down from $21 billion.

10. Financier Henry Kravis, 80, tied in 169th place, with $11.7 billion, up from $7.5 billion.

11. Businessman and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, 82, tied in 188th place, with $11.1 billion, up from $10.6 billion.

12. Real estate developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, 83, tied in 221st place, with $10.1 billion, down from $11.6 billion.

13. Discount brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab, 86, tied in 232nd place, with $9.8 billion, up from $9.2 billion.

14. Investments mogul Robert F. Smith, 61, tied in 266th place, with $9.2 billion, up from $8 billion.

15. Medical equipment heiress Ronda Stryker, 69, tied in 312th place, with $8.2 billion, up from $6.9 billion.

16. Hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones II, 69, tied in 317th place, with $8.1 billion, up from $7.5 billion.

17. Real estate investor Jeff Greene, 69, tied in 354th place, with $7.5 billion, up from $7.2 billion.

18. Real estate mogul Neil Bluhm, 86, tied in 453rd place, with $6.3 billion, up from $6 billion.

19. Hedge fund manager Chase Coleman III, 48, tied in 522nd place, with $5.7 billion, down from $8.5 billion.

20. Money manager Charles B. Johnson, 90, tied in 572nd place, with $5.3 billion, up from $5.1 billion.

Methodology: Forbes based the list on data collected on March 8, 2024. Forbes.com updates the list in real time, based on a variety of factors contributing to the billionaires' net worth, including stocks and other assets, including private companies, real estate and art. As a result, the list provides a single snapshot of the billionaires' wealth. See the complete list at Forbes.com.

Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call (561) 820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: World’s richest: Palm Beach is home to at least 58 Forbes billionaires