South Florida is no stranger to billionaire real estate moguls, and many heavy hitters are either based here or have investment ties in the tri-county area.
In the latest Forbes 400 ranking of wealthiest Americans, 19 are based in South Florida, with many listing the source of their wealth as real estate, investments or money management.
Among them: financier Charles Johnson, No. 105, of Palm Beach, with a net worth of $5 billion; real estate mogul Igor Olenicoff, No. 156, of Lighthouse Point, with $3.7 billion; developer Jeff Greene, No. 194, of Palm Beach, with $3.3 billion; investor George Lindemann, No., 204, of Palm Beach, with $3.3 billion; mogul Wilbur Ross Jr., No. 232, of Palm Beach, with $2.9 billion; and developer Jorge Perez, No. 239, of Miami, with a net worth of $2.8 billion.
Other billionaires have primary residences elsewhere, but major real estate investments here, like Len Blavatnik of London, No. 22, with $18.2 billion; Ken Griffin of Chicago, No. 57, with $7.5 billion; Stephen Ross of New York, No. 58 with a net worth of $7.4 billion and Richard LeFrak of New York, who ranked 73rd on the list with $6.7 billion.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s net worth amounts to $3.7 billion, according to Forbes, $800 million less than last year. All told, the top 400 billionaires have an aggregate net worth of $2.4 trillion. Of that, those in the real estate industry— across the country — are worth a combined $129 billion. — Ina Cordle