Culture / Newsy

Texas’ Richest Tycoons — the 55 Billionaires Who Call the Lone Star State Home

New Billionaire Rankings Reveal Some Big Money Surprises

BY // 03.10.19

The bible of billionaires is back — and Texas plays a major role again. Forbes magazine has released its 33rd annual list of Billionaires: The Richest People in The World. Once again, there are a significant number of Texans among the ultra-rich of the ultra-rich.

In fact, there are 55 billionaires in the Lone Star State alone.

But across the globe, things aren’t looking as bright as they did in 2018. You can thank weak stock markets and some pretty powerful economic forces.

For the second year this decade, the wealthiest people on the planet are looking at lacks of stacks rather than stacks on stacks. Both the number of the world’s billionaires and their total wealth dwindled.

In 2019, there are 2,153 billionaires, which is 55 less than last year. And among those, 994 — a record-breaking number — have 46 percent less wealth than last year. Overall, the mega-wealthy are worth $8.7 trillion. That’s not chump change, but it’s a whopping $400 billion down from last year.

But that’s no sign of the apocalypse — even if Kylie Jenner taking the crown of the youngest self-made billionaire in history might seem like it to some.

There’s been some shuffling around in the ranks of women with deep pockets. Fort Worth’s own Walmart wonder Alice Walton has been dethroned as the richest female billionaire woman by Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. Sort of. Walton technically ceded the title to Meyers temporarily, days after Forbes‘ 2018 list was released.

But Walton remains the richest woman, and person, in all of Texas. She is the 17th richest person on the plant, worth an estimated $44.4 billion.

In Houston, you’ll recognize some well-heeled regulars like No. 239, Rich Kinder. He’s got the highest ranking in the city with an estimated net worth of 7.1 billion bucks.

There’s also an astounding four-way Bayou City tie for No. 290 by the quartet of oil and gas giant Dan Duncan’s children — Randa Duncan Williams, Milane Duncan Franz, Scott Duncan and Dannine Avara. The kids of the late Duncan are each worth a cool $5.9 billion.

Top-ranking Dallasites include No. 158, Andrew Beal with $9.2 billion and No. 224, Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones with $6.9 billion.

Austinites that stole the show include private equity star Robert Smith (No. 355)  and vodka mogul Bert Beveridge (No. 540).

San Antonio stunned with No. 1,425, Christopher Goldsbury of Pace salsa fame who carries a $1.7 billion net worth.

In all, Dallas boasts 17 billionaires, Houston  has 12, Austin brings nine, Fort Worth has eight representatives and San Antonio earns three spots. Cisco has two billionaires (no, really). El Paso, Temple, Brownsville and The Woodlands all make the cut with one billionaire each.

Read on for the complete list of Texas billionaires:

No. 17 overall: Alice Walton

$44.4 billion
Fort Worth
Walmart

No. 25: Michael Dell

$34.3 billion
Austin
Dell computers

No. 158: Andrew Beal

$9.1 billion
Dallas
Banking, real estate

No. 224: Jerry Jones

$6.8 billion
Dallas
Dallas Cowboys

No. 239: Richard Kinder

$6.6 billion
Houston
Pipelines

No. 290 Dannine Avara

$5.9 billion
Houston
Pipelines

No. 290: Scott Duncan

$5.9 billion
Houston
Pipelines

No. 290: Milane Frantz

$5.9 billion
Houston
Pipelines

No. 290: Randa Williams

$5.9 billion

Houston
Pipelines

No. 334: Robert Rowling

$5.5 billion
Dallas
Hotels, investments

No. 355: Robert Smith

$5 billion
Austin
Private equity

No. 365: Robert Bass

$4.9 billion

Fort Worth
Oil, investments

No. 394: Tilman Fertitta

$4.7 billion
Houston
Restaurants, hotels, casinos, Houston Rockets

No. 394: Ray Lee Hunt

$4.7 billion
Dallas
Oil, real estate

No. 452: Trevor Rees-Jones

$4.3 billion
Dallas
Oil & gas

No. 478: Mark Cuban

$4.1 billion
Dallas
Dallas Mavericks, investments, online media

No. 478: H. Ross Perot Sr.

$4.1 billion
Dallas
Computer services, real estate

No. 478: Kelcy Warren

$4.1 billion

Dallas
Pipelines

No. 504: Bert Beveridge

$4 billion
Austin
Vodka

No. 504: Dan Friedkin

$4 billion
Houston
Toyota dealerships

No. 546: Janice McNair

$3.8 billion
Houston
Energy, Houston Texans

No. 667: John Arnold

$3.3 billion
Houston
Hedge funds

No. 667: David Bonderman

$3.3 billion
Fort Worth
Private equity

No. 691: Sid Bass

$3.2 billion
Fort Worth
Oil, investments

No. 745: Jeffery Hildebrand

$3 billion
Houston
Oil

No. 745: Joseph Liemandt

$3 billion
Austin
Software

No. 838: Gerald Ford

$2.7 billion
Dallas
Banking

No. 916: Bill Austin

$2.5 billion
Brownsville
Hearing aids

No. 916: John Paul DeJoria

$2.5 billion
Austin
Hair products, tequila

No. 962 Ray Davis

$2.4 billion
Dallas
Pipelines

No. 1,008: Lee Bass

$2.3 billion
Fort Worth
Oil, investments

No. 1,008: George Bishop

$2.3 billion
The Woodlands
Oil & gas

No. 1,008: Drayton McLane Jr.

$2.3 billion
Temple

Grocery and food services, logistics, former owner Houston Astros

No. 1,008: H. Ross Perot Jr.

$2.3 billion
Dallas
Real estate

No. 1,057: Edward Bass

$2.2 billion
Fort Worth
Oil; investments

No. 1,057: Brian Sheth

$2.2 billion
Austin
Investments

No. 1,116: Thai Lee

$2.1 billion
Austin
IT provider

No. 1,168: Leslie Alexander

$2 billion
Houston
Real estate, former owner Houston Rockets

No. 1,168: W. Herbert Hunt

$2 billion
Dallas
Oil

No. 1,281: Todd Wagner

$1.8 billion
Dallas
Online media

No. 1,349: David Booth

$1.7 billion
Austin
Mutual funds

No. 1,349:  Paul Foster

$1.7 billion
El Paso
Oil refining

No. 1,425: Christopher Goldsbury

$1.6 billion
San Antonio
Pace salsa

No. 1,511: Timothy Headington

$1.5 billion
Dallas
Oil & gas; investments

No. 1,511: Billy Joe “Red” McCombs

$1.5 billion
San Antonio
Real estate; cars; sports, oil

No. 1,511: Stephen Winn

$1.5 billion
Dallas
Real estate

No. 1,605: James Leininger

$1.4 billion
San Antonio
Medical products

No. 1,605: Fayez Sarofim

$1.4 billion
Houston
Money management

No. 1,605: Kenny Troutt

$1.4 billion
Dallas
Telecom

No. 1,605: Dan Wilks

$1.4 billion
Cisco
Natural gas

No. 1,605: Farris Wilks

$1.4 billion
Cisco
Natural gas

No. 1,717: Darwin Deason

$1.3 billion
Dallas
Xerox

No. 2,057: John Goff

$1 billion
Fort Worth
Real estate

No. 2,057: Donald Horton

$1 billion
Fort Worth
Home-building

No. 2,057: James Truchard

$1 billion
Austin
Software

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