From New York Jets owner to Elon Musk ‘fanboy’, here are the 20 newcomers to the 2022 Forbes 400
Even in lean years, some rich people can’t help but get richer. These 20 people made The Forbes 400 for the first time in 2022.
AThe 400 richest people in the United States are $500 billion poorer this year. But not all American billionaires feel the pain. With a lower minimum net worth to make the cut — $2.7 billion, $200 million less than last year — 20 newcomers made the Forbes 400 list for the first time. Although that’s less than half of the 44 who joined in 2021, it’s an increase from the 18 new entrants who earned a place in the Covid-ridden 2020.
The youngest newcomer this year is Gary Wang, the 29-year-old co-founder and chief technology officer of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The Bahamas resident is worth around $4.6 billion. Its co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, now 30, was the youngest newcomer to the list in 2021. Wang is 16 on the second-youngest newcomer to 2022: hedge fund billionaire Daniel Sundheim, 45 years old.
Despite the market slowdown, the most represented industry among new entrants this year is finance and investments, with nine new entrants. Among them is Hayes Barnard, 50, founder of Roseville, Calif.-based fintech GoodLeap, which funds residential home solar panel retrofits as well as energy-efficient windows, battery storage and smart home devices. But it’s not just finance: the New Member Class of 2022 has earned billions across nine different industries. These range from real estate – Robert Faith, the founder of Greystar, the largest property manager and multi-family developer in the United States – to technology, such as Leo Koguan, a self-described “fanboy” of Elon Musk who chairs the IT provider SHI International.
The most well-known newcomers will be familiar to sports fans. Woody Johnson – Donald Trump’s ambassador to the UK, heir to the Johnson & Johnson family fortune and co-owner of the NFL’s New York Jets – joins with an estimated net worth of $3.4 billion. Todd Boehly, who made history when he led a consortium to buy English Premier League Chelsea FC from sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich for $3.1 billion in May – the highest price ever paid for a sports team – debuts with an estimated fortune of $5.3 billion. (He also owns stakes in the Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers.)
It’s no surprise that the richest newcomer comes from the oil industry, which has benefited from exorbitant prices amid the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine. With an estimated net worth of $10 billion, Autry Stephens joins the list thanks to Midland, Texas-based Endeavor Energy Resources, the largest private oil producer in the United States (excluding Alaska). Stephens, 84, isn’t the oldest newcomer: That honor belongs to Eleanor Butt Crook, the 90-year-old heiress to the fortune behind Texas supermarket chain HEB, who joins with an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion. She sits on the board of HEB, led by her brother Charles Butt, also a Forbes 400 member. family shares its wealth.)
Here are the 20 newest members of The Forbes 400 (net assets are as of September 2, 2022):
autry stephens
Net worth: $10 billion
Source of wealth: oil
The West Texas Wildcat, whose “Big Dog rig number 28” was the focus of TruTV’s second season Black gold Oil Patch Reality Series in 2009, is the richest of the 20 newcomers to the Forbes 400 this year. Stephens, 84, grew up on a farm and worked for a bank, did consulting and spent two years as a platoon leader with the Army Corps of Engineers before founding Endeavor Energy in 1979. She produces today more than 200,000 barrels of oil and gas per day.
Rick Cohen and his family
Net worth: $7.6 billion
Source of wealth: warehouse automation
The third-generation owner of C&S Wholesale Grocers, Cohen joined in 1974, when he made $50 million in revenue; today it generates 25 billion dollars. Looking to cut costs, he started tinkering with automating his warehouses. In 2007, he invested in a robotic automation company that eventually developed a massive AI-powered warehouse robotics system. Now called Symbotic, it went public as part of a SPAC deal in June and automates Walmart’s 42 regional fulfillment centers. The more than 70% stake of Cohen and his immediate family constitutes the bulk of their wealth.
Arthur Dantchik
Net worth: $7.5 billion
Source of wealth: Trade, investments
Dantchik, 64, is the co-founder and chief executive of Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based trading company Susquehanna International Group, which he runs alongside co-founder Jeff Yass, which debuted on The Forbes 400 in 2021. He also represents Susquehanna on the board of parent TikTok ByteDance, which Susquehanna first backed in 2012 as part of the company’s $5 million Series A funding round. A decade later, ByteDance reached a valuation of $360 billion in February 2021.
Leo Koguan
Net worth: $7.2 billion
Source of wealth: IT provider
The Elon Musk ‘fanboy’ claims to be the world’s biggest Tesla investor and options trader. Koguan says he had even more shares at the start of 2020, but lost almost all of them amid the market chaos at the start of the pandemic. Instead, he sold the rest of his holdings, including shares of Baidu and Nvidia, to buy long-term Tesla call options. “I believe in green energy,” he says Forbes. A native of Indonesia, a graduate of Columbia and New York Law School, Koguan is also founder and chairman of $12.3 billion (sales) IT provider SHI International, which his ex-wife (and fellow Forbes member 400) Thai Lee leads as CEO.
Edythe Broad and her family
Net worth: $6.9 billion
Source of wealth: Construction of houses, insurance
Todd Boehly
Net worth: $5.3 billion
Source of wealth: Finance
CEO of holding company Eldridge, Boehly won the bidding war for English football club Chelsea in May when he teamed up with Clearlake Capital to snatch the legendary franchise from sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for 3.1 billions of dollars. Boehly’s former boss at Guggenheim Partners and fellow Forbes 400 member Mark Walter, with whom he partly owns the Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers, also backed his offer. Eldridge has investments in everything from the rights to Bruce Springsteen songs to daily fantasy and sportsbook company DraftKings. In July, he agreed to acquire the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hosts the Golden Globes; Boehly is its interim CEO.
Robert Faith
Net worth: $5.2 billion
Source of Wealth: Property Management
Greystar, based in Charleston, is a fully integrated global real estate company engaged in property management, investment management and development services. The largest multi-family property manager and developer in the United States, Greystar manages and operates more than $240 billion in real estate across five continents, with an investment management business that manages more than $60 billion in assets. Faith studied petroleum engineering at the University of Oklahoma, then earned an MBA from Harvard before working for property developer Trammell Crow Company. He became a partner in 1988 before leaving in 1991 to team up with fellow Harvard schoolmate Barry Sternlicht (also a Forbes 400 member) to create investment firm Starwood Capital Group. Two years later, Faith ventured out on her own to launch Greystar at age 30.
Gary Wang
Net worth: $4.6 billion
Source of wealth: cryptocurrency exchange
Hayes Barnard
Net worth: $4 billion
Source of wealth: Fintech
Elizabeth Uihlein
Net worth: $3.9 billion
Source of wealth: Packaging materials
Richard Uihlein
Net worth: $3.3 billion
Source of wealth: Hedge fund
Elizabeth and Richard “Dick” Uihlein have invested more than $190 million in conservative politics since the 1990s, including more than $40 million for the 2022 midterm races. Their wealth comes from $6.1 billion in dollars (estimated income) Uline – a play on their last name – which sells more than 40,000 business supply products, including boxes and bubble wrap, through an 800-plus-page catalog. Dick, heir to the Schlitz beer fortune, and Elizabeth founded Uline together in their basement in 1980. They are CEO and chairman, respectively.
Stephen Feinberg
Net worth: $3.6 billion
Source of wealth: private equity
Robert “Woody” Johnson
Net worth: $3.4 billion
Source of wealth: Johnson & Johnson, sports
Jeffrey Talpins
Net worth: $3.3 billion
Source of wealth: Hedge fund
Carl Thomas
Net worth: $3.3 billion
Source of Wealth: Investments
Stephen Deckoff
Net worth: $3 billion
Source of wealth: private equity
Barbara Tyson
Net worth: $3 billion
Source of wealth: Food processing
Daniel Sundheim
Wealth: $2.9 billion
Source of wealth: hedge funds
Sundheim founded hedge fund D1 Capital Partners in 2018 after 15 years working under Norwegian billionaire Andreas Halvorsen at Viking Global Investors; it now manages a mix of $22 billion in public and private investments. His private portfolio is mostly comprised of later-stage companies approaching an IPO or acquisition, and he has led major funding rounds in Instacart, Robinhood, Rivian Automotive and Warby Parker. The booming venture capital market and the rally in public growth stocks have helped the company prosper through 2021, but it has returned some of those gains this year. D1’s main fund was reportedly down 28% through August.
Eleanor Butt Crook and her family
Wealth: $2.8 billion
Source of wealth: Supermarkets
Hua Shen and his family
Wealth: $2.8 billion
Source of Wealth: Semiconductors
Additional reporting by Richard Chang, Matt Craig, Matt Durot, Amy Feldman, Luisa Kroll, Kyle Mullins, Andrea Murphy, Conor Murray, Chase Peterson-Withorn, Hank Tucker and Emily Washburn.
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