[cnxvideo id=”724356″ placement=”ros”]The three richest men in America — Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos — control more wealth than the poorest 50% of Americans. This level of inequality is not the first time wealth has been so unevenly distributed in the United States. During the gilded age, just one Rockefeller or one Vanderbilt controlled wealth equal to a large fraction of the nation’s total GDP.
John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in American history, is estimated to have been worth over one-quarter of a trillion dollars, inflation-adjusted, when he died, which is in a different class than America’s wealthiest persons today. Bill Gates and Warren buffet are each worth less than half what Rockefeller was worth.
Rockefeller, who was born and raised in upstate New York, helped shape both the city and the broader state’s history, as did his family. Rockefeller Center in Manhattan is only one small example of the impact Rockefeller had on New York state — those two names are forever linked. This is but one of many of the nation’s extremely wealthy becoming a significant part of an area’s identity.
A more recent example is Warren Buffett, who was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett continues to live there in a modest home, and he is an active philanthropist in his state.
While not every state in the country served as the childhood home of one of the nation’s extremely wealthy, every state has borne at least one person or family worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Not all of these richest people are still alive, and many moved out of state never to return. Still, these states can claim they contributed to the start of at least one of America’s financial elite. Reviewing estimates from a variety of sources and adjusting for inflation, 24/7 Wall St. identified the richest person of all time from every state.
Click here to see the richest person of all time from your state.
Click here to read our methodology.
Alabama: Jimmy Rane
> Life: b.1946/1947
> 2018 estimate worth: $950 million
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Alaska: Johnathan Rubini and Leonard Hyde
> Life: Jonathan b.1956, Leonard b.1957
> 2018 estimate worth: $950 million
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Arizona: Mark Shoen
> Life: b.1950
> 2018 estimate worth: $3.2 billion
Arkansas: Jim Walton
> Life: b.1948
> 2018 estimate worth: $45.2 billion
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California: Donald Bren
> Life: b.1934
> 2018 estimate worth: $16.4 billion
Colorado: James Leprino
> Life: b.1937/1938
> 2018 estimate worth: $4.0 billion
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Connecticut: J. P. Morgan
> Life: 1837-1913
> 2018 estimate worth: $42.2 billion
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Delaware: Henry Du Pont
> Life: 1838-1926
> 2018 estimate worth: $14.3 billion
Florida: Ken Griffin
> Life: b.1968
> 2018 estimate worth: $10.0 billion
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Georgia: Bubba Cathy
> Life: b.1953
> 2018 estimate worth: $5.5 billion
Hawaii: Jim Kennedy
> Life: b.1947/1948
> 2018 estimate worth: $9.3 billion
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Idaho: Frank VanderSloot
> Life: b.1949
> 2018 estimate worth: $4.2 billion
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Illinois: Larry Ellison
> Life: b.1944
> 2018 estimate worth: $58.4 billion
Indiana: Carl Cook
> Life: b.1962/1963
> 2018 estimate worth: $8.4 billion
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Iowa: Harry Stine
> Life: b.1941/1942
> 2018 estimate worth: $3.9 billion
Kansas: Charles & David Koch
> Life:Charles b.1935, David b.1940
> 2018 estimate worth: $51.3 billion
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Kentucky: Brad M. Kelley
> Life: b.1956/1957
> 2018 estimate worth: $2.4 billion
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Louisiana: Gayle Benson
> Life: b.1947
> 2018 estimate worth: $2.8 billion
Maine: Cyrus H. K. Curtis
> Life: 1850-1933
> 2018 estimate worth: $48.3 billion
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Maryland: Sergey Brin
> Life: b.1973
> 2018 estimate worth: $52.4 billion
Massachusetts: Marshall Field
> Life: 1834-1906
> 2018 estimate worth: $76.3 billion
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Michigan: Henry Ford
> Life: 1863-1947
> 2018 estimate worth: $68.3 billion
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Minnesota: Whitney MacMillan
> Life: b.1929
> 2018 estimate worth: $6.3 billion
Mississippi: Leslie Lampton
> Life: 1925-2018
> 2018 estimate worth: $760 million
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Missouri: Stanley Kroenke
> Life: b.1947
> 2018 estimate worth: $8.5 billion
Montana: Dennis Washington
> Life: b.1934
> 2018 estimate worth: $6.2 billion
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Nebraska: Warren Buffett
> Life: b.1930
> 2018 estimate worth: $88.3 billion
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Nevada: Frank & Lorenzo Fertitta
> Life: Frank b.1962, Lorenzo b.1969
> 2018 estimate worth: $2.1 billion
New Hampshire: Brooke Astor
> Life: 1902-2007
> 2018 estimate worth: $150 million
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New Jersey: John Insley Blair
> Life: 1802-1899
> 2018 estimate worth: $47.7 billion
New Mexico: Jeff Bezos
> Life: b.1964
> 2018 estimate worth: $160.0 billion
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New York: John D. Rockefeller
> Life: 1839-1937
> 2018 estimate worth: $257.3 billion
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North Carolina: Ron Perelman
> Life: b.1943
> 2018 estimate worth: $9.6 billion
North Dakota: Gary Tharaldson
> Life: b.1945
> 2018 estimate worth: $900 million
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Ohio: Les Wexner
> Life: b.1937
> 2018 estimate worth: $4.7 billion
Oklahoma: Sam Walton
> Life: 1918-1992
> 2018 estimate worth: $171.6 billion
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Oregon: Phil Knight
> Life: b.1938
> 2018 estimate worth: $35.0 billion
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Pennsylvania: Richard Mellon Scaife
> Life: 1932-2014
> 2018 estimate worth: $104.7 billion
Rhode Island: Jonathan Nelson
> Life: b.1957
> 2018 estimate worth: $1.8 billion
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South Carolina: Anita Zucker
> Life: b.1952
> 2018 estimate worth: $2.6 billion
South Dakota: Lee Raymond
> Life: b.1938
> 2018 estimate worth: $400 million
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Tennessee: Thomas Frist, Jr.
> Life: b.1938
> 2018 estimate worth: $12.4 billion
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Texas: Michael Dell
> Life: b.1965
> 2018 estimate worth: $27.6 billion
Utah: Robert Gore
> Life: b.1937
> 2018 estimate worth: $750 million
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Vermont: Henry Wells
> Life: 1805-1878
> 2018 estimate worth: $570 million
Virginia: John Mars
> Life: b.1935
> 2018 estimate worth: $24.0 billion
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Washington: Bill Gates
> Life: b.1955
> 2018 estimate worth: $97.0 billion
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West Virginia: Jim Justice II
> Life: b.1951
> 2018 estimate worth: $1.5 billion
Wisconsin: John Menard Jr
> Life: b.1940
> 2018 estimate worth: $10.7 billion
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Wyoming: Lukas Walton
> Life: b.1986
> 2018 estimate worth: $15.3 billion
Methodology
To identify the richest person of all time from every state, 24/7 Wall St. consulted lists of the wealthiest Americans, both living and historical figures. The sources include Forbes, American Heritage, and books such as “The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates-A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present,” by Michael Klepper. Those on this list who are still alive were ranked on their current net worth, while the deceased were ranked on their net worth at the height of their wealth, adjusted for inflation. Net worth figures on sites such as Forbes and Bloomberg are updated regularly. The figures we used from these two sources are as of Saturday, March 2. When estimates for net worth were not adjusted for inflation, we used the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index inflation adjustment calculator. For those on this list who are no longer living, we used net worth estimates at the end of their lives. For those who are alive, net worth figures are meant to reflect current net worth. In several cases, due to an absence of a clear record, we used business size, personal incomes, and property to determine an estimate. We considered the state where the individuals spent a large amount of their childhood to be be their state of origin. When information about where an individual spent his or her childhood was not available, birthplaces were used. Birth years were obtained from various internet sources and biographies. When only current age was available, both possible birth years were listed.
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