President Donald Trump saw his wealth drop slightly to $7 billion on the latest Forbes list of the country’s 400 richest people. But his fortune still puts him among at least 35 billionaires with strong residential ties to Palm Beach, according to a Palm Beach Daily News analysis of the latest Forbes data.
Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth slipped $300 million from the $7.3 billion reported on last year’s Forbes 400.
Digital trading pioneer Thomas Peterffy led the list of 35 Palm Beach billionaires, thanks to his estimated net worth skyrocketing to $107 billion from $73.3 billion on the 2025 list.
Peterffy unseated Julia Koch and her family from their longtime perch at the top of the Palm Beach list. She is the widow of industrialist David Koch, who died in 2019. (The complete list of the Palm Beach billionaires is at the end of this story.)
Combined, the Palm Beach billionaires on the new Forbes 400 list have an estimated net worth of about 641.7 billion, the Daily News’ analysis shows.
This year, the national list required billionaires to weigh in with fortunes of at least $4.4 billion, a record high threshold, Forbes reported. That cut-off proved too steep for some Palm Beach billionaires who had previously earned spots in the rankings, including casino-and-hotel mogul Steve Wynn and private-equity specialists William Conway Jr. and Scott Shelifer.
The Palm Beach billionaires on the Forbes 400 list are among at least 66 identified by the Daily News on Forbes’ much larger list of the world’s billionaires, which was released in April.
Billionaires landed on the Palm Beach Daily News’ lists if they or entities linked to them own real estate in town or have other strong residential ties to the island, as confirmed by the Daily News.
Some billionaires who appeared on the 2025 Forbes 400 have dropped off the latest Palm Beach list simply because they sold their homes on the island over the past year.
Thomas Frist III, who is part of the billionaire Frist family, sold his Palm Beach house on the North End in Feburary. The Frist empire is headed by patriarch and healthcare mogul Thomas Frist Jr.
Private-equity billionaire Robert F. Smith also sold his investment house in the Estate Section in May.
The Daily News has been unable to confirm if Frist III and Smith have bought other properties in town.
As in 2025, the majority of this year’s Palm Beach billionaires — 26 in all — saw their fortunes increase over the past year, and some substantially so. In addition to Petterfy’s jump in wealth, hedge fund manager John Paulson’s estimated net worth grew from $4 billion on the 2025 Forbes 400 list to $12.3 billion in the rankings released Sept. 15.
Another eight billionaires in town saw their wealth drop, year over year. Investments manage Paul Tudor Jones II was the only person on the Palm Beach list whose wealth held steady from last year.
There likely are other billionaires who own real estate in Palm Beach than the ones identified by the Palm Beach Daily News. At least some of their identities may remain cloaked behind the entities they used to buy their properties.
The Palm Beach trend toward greater wealth was mirrored nationally, thanks in large part to Wall Street’s bullish performance. The combined wealth of the billionaires on the overall Forbes 400 list this year hit a record high of $8 trillion, up from $6.6 trillion last year.
As he did last year, Elon Musk of Tesla, SpaceX and xAI topped the national list, with an estimated net worth of $908 billion, up from $428 billion in 2025, Forbes reported. Last year, Musk was the first person to clock in on the Forbes 400 with more than $4 billion.
In its introduction to the new list, Forbes took note of how the country’s “wealth gap is widening,” even among the uber-wealthy.
“Elon Musk’s trillionaire moment was short-lived, but the wealth controlled by the top 20 (billionaires) is massive: they account for $4 trillion of the ($8 trillion) total, up $970 billion from last year,” Forbes wrote.
The Forbes 400 rankings reflect estimates of net worth using stock prices and other criteria as of Sept. 4, according to Forbes. Forbes.com continually updates the rankings in real time to reflect changes as the value of the billionaires’ stock holdings, investments and other assets change.
Palm Beachers on the 2006 Forbes 400
Here are the billionaires with strong residential ties to Palm Beach on the latest Forbes 400, confirmed by the Palm Beach Daily News. The names are ranked in order of their appearance on the national list, with their national numerical rankings also included. Their reported net worth is based, in part, on assets as well as stock prices recorded on Sept. 4, according to Forbes.
Some of these billionaires have primary homes in Palm Beach, while others are seasonal residents, own investment properties or land or have families with homes on the island.
Digital trading pioneer Thomas Peterffy, 81, $107 billion (up from $73.3 billion last year), in 15th place.
Industrial heiress Julia Koch (and family), 64, with $84.6 billion (up from $81.2 billion), in 17th place.
Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, 57, $60.5 billion (up from $50.4 billion), in 20th place.
Financier Stephen Schwarzman, 79, $46.4 billion (down from $51.9 billion), in 23rd place.
Money manager Abigail Johnson, 64, $41.6 billion (up from $35 billion), in 25th place.
Hedge fund manager David Tepper, 69, $28.5 billion (up from $23.7 billion), in 39th place.
Quicken Loans mogul and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Daniel Gilbert, 64, $22.9 billion (down from $26.7 billion), in 51st place.
Real estate mogul and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, 86, $21.5 billion (up from $17 billion), in 56th place.
Businessman and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, 85, $15.2 billion (up from $13.8 billion), tied in 81st place.
Discount brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab, 89, $14.9 billion (up from $13.1 billion), in 86th place.
Food and beverage distributor Jude Reyes, 72, $14.3 billion (up from $13.1 billion), tied in 90th place.
Private equity specialist Henry Kravis, 82, $13.5 billion (down from $15.4 billion), in 95th place.
Logistics businessman Bradley Jacobs, 70, $13.3 billion (down from $15.4 billion), in 98th place.
Hedge fund manager John Paulson, 70, $12.3 billion (up from $4 billion), tied in 110th place.
Investments specialist Michael Dorrell, 53, $11.7 billion (up from $8.5 billion), tied in 124th place.
Money manager Ron Baron, 83, $10.8 billion (up from $6.5 billion), tied in 144th place.
Real estate and energy investor Jeff Greene, 71, $10.1 billion (up from $9 billion), tied in 156th place.
Real estate magnate Neil Bluhm, 88, $9.9 billion (up from $8.7 billion), in 159th place.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie (and family), 75, $8.8 billion (up from $7.6 billion), tied in 187th place.
Microsoft software specialist Charles Simonyi, 78, $8.5 billion (up from $8.4 billion), in 195th place.
Investments manager Paul Tudor Jones II, 71, $8.1 billion (unchanged from 2025 list), tied in 211th place.
Medical equipment heir Ronda Stryker, 72, $7.1 billion (down from $8.6 billion), tied in 241st place.
Real estate developer and President Donald Trump, 80, with $7 billion, (down from $7.3 billion billion), tied in 245th place.
Money manager Charles B. Johnson, 93, $6.9 billion (up from $5.6 billion), tied in 251st place.
Real estate magnate Mitchell Morgan (and family), 72, $6.7 billion (up from $6.1 billion), tied in 256th place.
Marvel Entertainment mogul Isaac Perlmutter, 83, $5.9 billion (up from $5.2 billion), tied in 287th place.
Cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder, 82, $5.4 billion (up from $4.9 billion), tied in 315th place.
S.C. Johnson heiress Winifred J. Marquart, 67, with $5.1 billion (up from $4.7 billion), tied in 336th place.
Media and automotive heiress Katharine Rayner, 81, $5 billion (down from $6.3 billion), tied in 343rd place.
Media and automotive heiress Margaretta Taylor, 84, $5 billion (down from $6.3 billion), tied in 343rd place.
Investments entrepreneur Byron Trott, 67, $5 billion, (up from $4.3 billion), tied in 343rd place.
Johnson & Johnson heir and New York Jets owner Robert “Woody” Johnson (and family), 79, $4.9 billion (up from $3.8 billion), tied in 353rd place.
Tobacco heir and Philadelphia Phillies owner John Middleton, 71, $4.9 billion (up from $4.3 billion), tied in 353rd place.
Investor C. Dean Metropoulos, 80, $4.8 billion (up from $4.1 billion), tied in 356th place.
Investor Dr. Herbert “Herbie” Wertheim, 87, $4.8 billion (up from $3.8 billion), tied in 356th place.
SOURCE: 2026 Forbes 400, Forbes.com.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: At least 35 Palm Beach billionaires, including Trump, on Forbes 400
Reporting by Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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