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When possible, we met with Forbes 400 members before the coronavirus pandemic and spoke with them virtually or by phone after. We also interviewed their employees, handlers, rivals, peers and attorneys. Uncovering their fortunes required us to pore over thousands of SEC documents, court records, probate records and news articles. We took into account all types of assets: stakes in public and private companies, real estate, art, yachts, planes, ranches, vineyards, jewelry, car collections and more. We factored in debt and charitable giving. While some billionaires provided documentation for their private assets and companies, others were less forthcoming. To value private businesses, we coupled revenue or profit estimates with prevailing price-to-sales, price-to-earnings, or similar ratios for similar public companies and applied a 10% discount, or more in cases where information is scarce.
We purposely excluded dispersed family fortunes, but we did include wealth belonging to a member’s immediate family if the wealth could be traced to a living founder of the fortune. In those cases you’ll see “& family.” We also included married couples who built fortunes and businesses together if their combined net worth was enough for each person to make the $2.1 billion cutoff. In those instances, we listed both names. Besides wealth, we also ranked each member based on their generosity and the degree to which their fortunes are self-made or inherited.
Read the full profile on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/
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