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Richard and Nancy Kinder in 2022 in Houston. Richard Kinder ranks No. 100 on the 2026 Forbes 400, an annual ranking of the wealthiest Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Staff photographer<\/p>\n
There are 43 Texans on\u00a0this year\u2019s Forbes 400 list<\/a>, from Elon Musk (worth $908 billion) and Michael Dell ($263 billion) to grocery magnate Charles Butt ($11.3 billion) and private equity executive Carl Thoma of Dallas, ranked No. 380 with a net worth of $4.5 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Overall, Forbes said, the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth $8 trillion this year, up from $6.6 trillion a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s net worth has dipped since June, when the initial public offering of his company SpaceX made him the world\u2019s first official trillionaire, for a spell. Still, Musk has an estimated net worth of $908 billion, a fortune that dwarfs that of runner-up Jeff Bezos: the Amazon founder is currently worth just $370 billion, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n WEALTH:\u00a018 Houston billionaires \u2014 and one icon \u2014 make Forbes ranking of world’s wealthiest people in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe wealth gap is widening even among the ultra-rich,\u201d Forbes notes. \u201cThe wealth controlled by the top 20 is massive: they account for $4 trillion of the total, up $970 billion from last year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The magazine\u2019s annual ranking of the wealthiest people in the United States includes eight Houstonians. Here\u2019s who they are.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jeffery Hildebrand<\/p>\n Hildebrand, founder of independent oil driller Hilcorp Energy, ranks as the wealthiest person in Houston<\/a> and No. 88 on the Forbes 400, with a net worth of $14.7 billion. His wife, Melinda \u201cMindy\u201d Hildebrand, is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ellen Cohen, left, Mindy Hildebrand, center, and Oliver Pennington cut the inauguration ribbon of the Memorial Park Running Trails Center in 2014.<\/p>\n Marie D. De Jes\u00fas\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n Richard Kinder\u00a0<\/p>\n Kinder, co-founder of Kinder Morgan, an energy infrastructure company, ranks No. 100 on the Forbes 400, with an estimated net worth of $12.9 billion. He and his wife Nancy are revered in Houston for their philanthropy, and recently reiterated their plans to give away most of their fortune<\/a>. t<\/p>\n Dan Friedkin<\/p>\n Friedkin, who built his fortune in auto dealerships and has since diversified into sports and entertainment, ranks as the No. 102 wealthiest American, with an estimated net worth of $12.7 billion. He is currently in negotiations to possibly bring an NHL expansion franchise to Houston<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Tilman Fertitta<\/p>\n Fertitta, currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to Italy, ranks just behind Friedkin at No. 103 on the Forbes 400 with a net worth of $12.6 billion. His company, Fertitta Entertainment. is set to acquire Caesars Entertainment<\/a> in a $17.6 billion deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta laughs as he sits courtside during an\u00a0NBA playoff game against the Golden State Warriors at Toyota Center in Houston in 2025.<\/p>\n Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n Randa Duncan Williams, Dannine Avara, Milane Frantz and Scott Duncan<\/p>\n The four siblings are each worth nearly $12 billion, having inherited a share of \u00a0Enterprise Products Partners, the pipeline company founded by their father, Dan Duncan. Randa Duncan Williams is the only sibling involved in running the company<\/a>, Forbes notes, having joined it in 1994 and currently serving as chair of the board of directors.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Randa Duncan Williams, a Houston billionaire and philanthropist.<\/p>\n Handout \/ Texas Monthly<\/p>\n Forbes\u2019s broader list of all world billionaires, released in April, included 18 Houstonians<\/a>, as well as Beyonc\u00e9, who is technically a resident of New York and recently became a billionaire in her own right, with a current net worth of $1 billion. (Her husband, Jay-Z, reached that threshold in 2019 and has a current net worth of $2.8 billion, according to the magazine.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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