The Richest Family in Every U.S. State
“Let me tell you about the rich. They are different from you and me.” So wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in his 1926 short story The Rich Boy. Would it help us to understand the mysteries of the implausibly rich if we knew which was the wealthiest family in each state? Find out by reading this fascinating list we’ve compiled identifying — as of April 2022 and according to Forbes magazine — the wealthiest people in every State of the Union.
Alabama: Jimmy Rane
City: Abbeville
Net worth: $900 million
Industry: Lumber
Not one to shun the limelight, Jimmy Rane has appeared in advertisements for his timber products resplendent in a fetching dude-cowboy outfit. The color note of his kit is yellow, hence his nickname “Yella Fella.” His is a heartwarming American success story since, with the help of his brother Greg, he has transformed a small-scale timber outfit with sales of $22,000 in 1971 into a billion-dollar business.
Alaska: Leonard Hyde and Jonathan Rubini
City: Anchorage
Net worth: $340 million each
Industry: Real estate
Alaska is one of the six states in this list with no confirmed billionaire, but even so, the bank balances of Leonard Hyde and Jonathan Rubini look pretty healthy. The duo are partners in their real-estate business, with substantial property holdings in Anchorage and elsewhere. Apparently Rubini talked Hyde into quitting his job to set up JL Properties with him. Looks like it was a smart move.
Arizona: Ernest Garcia II
City: Tempe
Net worth: $9.4 billion
Industry: Used cars
Ernest Garcia II’s wealth comes from being the largest single shareholder of publicly listed Carvana, which sells used cars and brokers loans to pay for them. It was actually his son Ernest Garcia III who started the company in 2012 and he, too, is a billionaire. Yet somehow the father’s wealth, $9.4 billion, far outshines the son’s, a mere $3.4 billion. Go figure.
Arkansas: Jim Walton
City: Bentonville
Net worth: $60.02 billion
Industry: Walmart
Heir to the massive Walmart chain of stores, Jim is the son of the late Sam Walton, the brand’s founder, who opened the very first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, back in 1962. In fact, Walmart is now on its third generation of Waltons as Jim resigned his seat on the company board in 2016, passing it on to his son Steuart. To date, Steuart hasn’t made it onto the Forbes list of billionaires. One day, surely.