BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here
Edit Story
Vince McMahon Kanye West

Rich, But Not Rich Enough: Kanye West, WWE’s Vince McMahon Among 233 Billionaires Who Didn’t Make The Forbes 400 List This Year

Ethan Miller/Getty Images, Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Following

Meet 10 billionaires who fell short of the $2.1 billion threshold needed to make this year’s Forbes 400 list.



In a year marked by turbulent markets and uncertainty, more billionaires than ever fell short of making The Forbes 400 list of richest Americans this year. A record 233 U.S. billionaires did not make the cut — 12 more than last year. For the third year in a row, America’s richest needed a net worth of $2.1 billion or higher to claim a spot on this, the 39th annual Forbes 400 list. When Forbes first published the 400 list in 1982, the minimum net worth to make the cut was $91 million — and the richest person on the list, Daniel Keith Ludwig, clocked in at $2 billion.

Here are ten of the most notable and newsworthy billionaires who, while super wealthy, were not rich enough to join the ranks of this exclusive club. Net worths are as of July 24, 2020:




John Tyson

NET WORTH: $2 billion

SOURCE: Food processing

The Tyson Foods chairman’s net worth took a hit this year due to the pandemic. Shares of his meat processing company fell by nearly 30% between September 2019 and late July. Since the pandemic started, thousands of Tyson workers were diagnosed with Covid-19, and some died; The families of several workers have filed lawsuits against the company claiming gross negligence or wrongful death. (The company denies the allegations). In March, the company announced it would donate $13 million in food and community grants in response to Covid-19.


Vince McMahon

NET WORTH: $1.8 billion

SOURCE: Entertainment

The chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fell off the list this year as shares of his media and live events company slid 30% in the first seven months of 2020. In April, WWE announced it had furloughed “a portion” of its workforce and reduced executive and board member salaries, resulting in an estimated monthly savings of $4 million. McMahon spent some $200 million to relaunch an NFL competitor called XFL this year. In March, the coronavirus forced XFL to cancel its 2020 season and, weeks later, the company filed for bankruptcy.


Elaine Wynn

NET WORTH: $1.7 billion

SOURCE: Casinos, hotels

It’s been a rough few years for the casino billionaire. Shares of Wynn Resorts, which she cofounded with ex-husband Steve Wynn, and is the largest individual shareholder with a 9% stake, have fallen 49% since the beginning of this year. Wynn Las Vegas was forced to close on March 17 due to coronavirus, and reopened on June 4. In November 2019, Steve Wynn agreed to pay $20 million to Wynn Resorts as part of a deal to settle shareholder lawsuits that accused the company’s directors of not disclosing Wynn’s alleged pattern of sexual misconduct to regulators. As part of the deal, neither Wynn Resorts nor its current or former directors and officers were found to have committed any wrongdoing. Elaine Wynn does not serve on the board of directors.


George Yancopoulos

NET WORTH: $1.4 billion

SOURCE: Pharmaceuticals

Yancopoulos, the chief scientific officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, came under fire in June after giving a graduation speech at Yorktown High School that touched on “Black Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter.” Earlier that month, the Tarrytown, New York drugmaker announced it had begun clinical trials of a new antibody medicine to treat people with Covid-19 and possibly prevent infection. Yancopoulos joined Regeneron one year after it was cofounded by now-billionaire Leonard Schleifer in 1988. He owns just over 2% of the Nasdaq-listed company, whose shares rose 63% from early January through late July.


Kanye West

NET WORTH: $1.3 billion

SOURCE: Music, sneakers

In April, Forbes named the hip-hop superstar turned footwear magnate a billionaire - something he’d been asking the publication to do for a while. He’s continued to make headlines. In July, West told Forbes in a rambling and wide-ranging interview that he was running for president this November, only to later tell Forbes in early August that he was running to siphon votes away from Joe Biden. His erratic behavior and social media posts sparked concerns about his mental health, and his wife Kim Kardashian West called for “compassion and empathy.” She has shared on social media that West has bipolar disorder.


Jim Justice

NET WORTH: $1.2 billion

SOURCE: Health care

The West Virginia governor hasn’t made The 400 list since 2014. His Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, which shut down for two months from late March to late May, took a government Payroll Protection Plan loan ranging from $5 million to $10 million. Last year, Forbes reported that Justice hasn’t been great at paying the bills. Since 2016, Justice and his companies have been hit with more than $10 million in court orders and $13 million in tax-related liens. A spokesman for Justice did not respond to a request for comment.


Timothy Springer

NET WORTH: $1.2 billion

SOURCE: Biotech

This Harvard biology professor became a billionaire earlier this year in part thanks to coronavirus. A decade ago, Springer made an early, $5 million investment in a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech company called Moderna. As of late July that investment was worth nearly $870 million; the shares of Nasdaq-listed Moderna tripled since March amid its development of a Covid-19 vaccine, which is currently in human clinical trials.



Dan & Farris Wilks

NET WORTH: $1.1 billion, $1.2 billion

SOURCE: Natural gas

The brothers made their fortunes selling their fracking company to a group led by Singapore-based firm Temasek for $3.5 billion in 2011. They are currently investors in oil and gas businesses including Canadian oilfield services company Trican Well Service and Toronto stock exchange-listed Cathedral Energy Services, an oilfield services company. Earlier this year, Cathedral’s Texas-based subsidiary received PPP loans in the range of $350,000 to $1 million.


Forrest Preston

NET WORTH: $1.1 billion

SOURCE: Health care

Preston’s Life Care Centers of America is the biggest privately-owned chain of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the country — and the only one in the U.S. to have minted a billionaire. He owns all of the $3.2 billion (2018 sales) company, which runs nursing homes, assisted living facilities and retirement living communities in 28 states. Many of the nursing homes were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. In May, Forbes reported that LCCA’s 237 locations accounted for at least 933 of the cases and at least 120 of the deaths in the states in which it operates.


Andrew & Peggy Cherng

NET WORTH: $1 billion, $1 billion

SOURCE: Restaurants

Coronavirus hit the restaurant industry hard, and the couple’s Panda Express was no exception. The Chinese fast food chain was forced to temporarily close some of its more than 2,000 restaurants earlier this year. Since March, the Cherngs and Panda Express, through its philanthropic arm Panda Cares, have donated $12 million to support Covid-19 relief efforts, including partnering with Feeding America and providing personal protective equipment to healthcare workers. The couple started Panda Express in 1982 after meeting at Baker University.

Note: Forbes used stock prices from July 24, 2020 to calculate net worths for the 2020 Forbes 400 list.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInSend me a secure tip