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Ever heard the name of the richest Floridian?

There are a number of billionaires in South Florida that you might have heard of such as Micky Arison, Phillip Frost and Wayne Huizenga, but a Palm Beach resident dwarfs them all in wealth.

His name is Thomas Peterffy and Forbes ranks him the 47th richest billionaire in the world, with a net worth of $20.3 billion.

You might know Peterffy if you are a sophisticated investor because he is the CEO  of Interactive Brokers, a company he founded in 1993.

Peterffy is self-made when it comes to his wealth. At the age of 21, he arrived in the U.S. in 1965 as the penniless descendant of Hungarian aristocrats who lost nearly everything to the Soviets, Forbes reports.

The other Floridians on the list:

Rank Net Worth $M Display Name Origin Of Wealth
47 20300 Thomas Peterffy discount brokerage
138 11000 David Tepper hedge funds
154 9700 Micky Arison Carnival Cruises
217 7200 Shahid Khan auto parts
321 5600 Charles Johnson money management
372 5200 Robert Rich Jr frozen foods
404 4900 Reinhold Schmieding medical devices
422 4800 Dirk Ziff investments
441 4700 J. Christopher Reyes food distribution
441 4700 Jude Reyes food distribution

Leading the overall list is centi-billionaire Jeff Bezos, who seized the top spot for the first time. The Amazon guru has a fortune of $112 billion, up $39.2 billion from 2017, the biggest one-year gain ever.

Bill Gates, who has been the richest person in the world for 18 of the past 24 years, drops to No. 2 on the Forbes’ billionaires list. Gates has a fortune of $90 billion, up from $86 billion last year.

This is the biggest gap (in dollars) between the top 2 spots since 2001.

Warren Buffett, worth $84 billion, falls to the No. 3 spot. His net worth increased from $75.6 billion in 2017.

Bernard Arnault, with a fortune of $72 billion, ascends 7 spots in the ranks to No. 4.  Thanks to his $30.5 billion gain in the past year, Arnault is the richest person in Europe for the first time since 2012.

Rounding out the top five is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, worth $71 billion.  Spanish clothing retailer Amancio Ortega (best known for the Zara apparel chain) in at No. 6, drops out of the top 5 for the first time since 2011. Ortega’s net worth is $70 billion, a $1.3 billion decrease from 2017.

For the complete list, visit:  www.forbes.com/billionaires

Here are some fun facts about the Forbes list:

  • 2,208 billionaires (up from 2,043 in 2017) made the list, with an average net worth of $4.1 billion, a record high.
  • The total combined net worth of this year’s billionaires was $9.1 trillion, up from $7.7 trillion last year.
  • 1,490 members are self-made billionaires, up from 1,371 in 2017.

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Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.