Forbes 10 Biggest Jewish Billionaires

Sergey Brin (Wikipedia)

Forbes has released its annual list of the world’s wealthiest billionaires. 197 people made the list and believe it or not, some of them were Jews, like Sergey Brin

To put this into perspective, 20 years ago there were only about 30 people on the list with Bill Gates leading it at $52.8 billion. Today Elon Musk is the wealthiest man in the world with $219 Billion.

Remember the good old days when you could tell someone who was worth just north of $1 billion, “oh, how quaint.”

Now here are the 10 wealthiest Jews in the world according to the Forbes list.

1 – Sergey Brin

Coming in at number 7 overall, he may not be worth as much as Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos – number 1 and 2 on the Forbes list – but he probably doesn’t care. Born in Moscow, Sergey Brin and his Jewish family were allowed to emigrate from the Soviet Union when he was just six years old. Now the 48-year-old is worth $114.3 billion. And what did he do to earn all that money? Not much. All he did was found Google.

2 – Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison came in at number 8 on the Forbes list. He has an estimated net worth of $116.2 billion. The founder of Oracle was born in New York in 1944 to a single Jewish mother. He was adopted by his aunt at nine months old and raised in a Reform Jewish family.

3 – Michael Bloomberg

At number 12 on the list is the former 3 term mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg made his money in media. He then spent more than $100million of his own money campaigning to be mayor of New York. He also reportedly squandered another $100 million on a failed bid for President in 2020 when he dropped out of the race before the first primary was even held.

Forbes estimates Michael Bloomberg’s wealth at $82 billion.

4 – Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg came in at number 15 with $82.7 billion. If you really need us to explain who he is and how he got rich then…

Mark Zuckerberg Priscilla Chan and kids Instagram

5 -Stephen Schwarzman

The Chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group is number 37 on the list with $36.5 billion. Forbes explains that the son of a dry goods store owner, Stephen Schwarzman founded private equity firm Blackstone with fellow billionaire Peter Peterson in 1985.n

6 – Len Blavatnik

Len Blavatnik is another Russian Jew who made it big. The 64 year old was able to leave the former Soviet Union when he was 21 and proceeded make his fortune in America. He founded Access Industries Holdings in 1986, made a fortune selling his stake in Russian oil company TNK-BP for $7 billion in 2013 and later owned Warner Music.

Coming in at Number 40, Blavatnik is worth $34.3 billion.

7 – Alain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer

The brothers Alain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer are number 43 on the Forbes list, each with an estimated $32.1 billion net worth. Together they own the Chanel French luxury brand, which was founded by their grandfather Pierre Wertheimer together with Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel.

8 – Miriam Adelson

The widow of Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson who died at 87 in January 2021, Miriam Adelson is number 50 on the Forbes list with $28.1 billion. She was born in Israel and is a medical doctor by profession.

9 – Leonard Lauder

Leonard Lauder’s mother Estée Lauder started the cosmetics company named for her. He inherited a fortune and ran the family business for decades. Forbes lists his wealth as $23.7 billion which was good enough for 65 on the list.

10 – Leonid Mikhelson

Leonid Mikhelson, the founder and chairman of natural gas producer Novatek, came in at number 130 on the list with $22.2 billion. The Russian-Israeli billionaire businessman never left that country and made his fortune after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Honorable Mention:
Steve Cohen and Carl Icahn both made their fortunes through investing. Cohen is worth $17.4 billion and now owns the New York Mets. Carl Icahn is worth $16.4 billion.