Elon Musk tops 2026 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans

The combined fortune of America’s 400 richest people has climbed to a record $8 trillion, according to Forbes’ 2026 ranking, as technology and artificial intelligence continue to drive huge increases in the wealth of leading entrepreneurs.

The entry point for the list has also risen substantially. Americans now need an estimated net worth of at least $4.4 billion to make the Forbes 400, up $600 million from last year. Forbes said that the rise in wealth among technology founders, fuelled by the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centres, helped push the threshold higher.

Elon Musk leads the latest ranking with an estimated fortune of $908 billion following SpaceX’s public offering in June. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is second with $378 billion, while Alphabet co-founder Larry Page ranks third at $278 billion.

Michael Dell is fourth with $263 billion, followed by Sergey Brin at $256 billion. Mark Zuckerberg ranks sixth with $212 billion, while Larry Ellison has $204 billion. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang is worth an estimated $199 billion, followed by Steve Ballmer at $156 billion and Warren Buffett at $144 billion.

The growth of artificial intelligence is also reflected in the age of those entering the list. Ten members of the 2026 Forbes 400 are younger than 40, compared with four last year. Seven of the 10 are newcomers whose fortunes are linked to AI.

The group includes Anthropic figures Daniela Amodei and Tom Brown, each with an estimated fortune of $15.5 billion. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, 37, is the richest new entrant at $25.5 billion.

At 30, Cognition co-founder Steven Hao is the youngest member of the list, with an estimated $5.8 billion.

Forbes said the surge in technology wealth has also left hundreds of US billionaires outside the 400 richest Americans. A total of 590 billionaires reportedly failed to meet this year’s entry requirement.

The ranking also highlights the concentration of wealth in some US states. Florida’s wealthiest resident is Bezos, followed by Ellison with $204 billion and Interactive Brokers chairman Thomas Peterffy with $107 billion.

In Massachusetts, Fidelity chief executive Abigail Johnson is the richest resident, with an estimated $41.6 billion. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a fortune of about $15.2 billion.