By Michael Roberts | Westword
In these United States, the rich almost always get richer. But several of Colorado’s 12 billionaires have proven to be an exception to this rule.
According to Forbes‘s recently published list of global billionaires, some of the state’s richest people have seen their wealth shrink in the 2020s, including one entrepreneur whose current net worth is around one-fifth the size it was just three years ago.
The overall trend definitely isn’t toward shrinkage. Forbes points out that as of late April, the planet boasted 2,781 billionaires, 26 more than the previous record, set in 2021. Moreover, the portfolios of these individuals are collectively valued at around $14.2 trillion, approximately $1.1 trillion higher than 2021’s standard-setting mark — and two-thirds of them saw their bank accounts grow over the previous twelve months.
Colorado’s share of billionaires has bumped up, too. Ten people qualified for our 2021 list of local billionaires, but since then, William MacMillan and Stewart Butterfield have joined the roster. As for the returning entrants, the most fortunate among them is pole-sitter Phil Anschutz, whose real-time net worth as of today, May 28, has climbed by $5.1 billion over that span.