Forbes Puts 11 Dallasites on its Richest Americans List

Forbes Magazine's annual list of the United States' 400 richest individuals dropped Tuesday morning. Dallas, as you might expect, was well represented. Just as he was in 2015, mysterious banker Andy Beal checked in as Dallas' richest human, with Forbes estimating his net worth at a cool $8.9 billion —...

By Stephen Young

October 5, 2016

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Forbes Magazine's annual list of the United States' 400 richest individuals dropped Tuesday morning. Dallas, as you might expect, was well represented.

Just as he was in 2015, mysterious banker Andy Beal checked in as Dallas' richest human, with Forbes estimating his net worth at a cool $8.9 billion — down from $11 billion last year. Beal, famous for his failed foray into private satellite launches and his more successful venture into the world of ultra-high stakes poker, currently sits on Donald Trump's financial advisory team. During the last year, he also bought the former estates of Tom Hicks and Trammell Crow in two of the biggest real estate deals in Dallas history, which might explain a bit of his net worth dip.

The rest of the list is dotted by Dallas' usual suspects. The owners of the Cowboys, Rangers and Mavericks all made the list, with Jerry Jones topping his franchise-owning brethren at a net worth of $5.2 billion, good for 94th on the list. Mark Cuban scored 204th at $3.2 billion and Ray Davis 290th at $2.4 billion.

Dallas' oil interests are also well represented, despite having taken hits recently. Ray Hunt, the CEO of Hunt Oil, is worth $4.8 billion, a dip of $900 million. Kelcy Warren, Klyde Warren park's benefactor and the CEO of Energy Transfer, took a far bigger loss, falling all the way from being worth $5.5 billion to just $3.8 billion.

Warren, whose company is one of the United States' largest pipeline builders, could get even more bad news later today. Wednesday, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit judge will hear arguments from North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that the building of Energy Transfer's Dakota Access Pipeline should be shut down for environmental reasons.

Notably absent from this year's list was Dallas businessman Ross Perot Jr., whose $1.6 billion net worth was only good enough to make him the 401st richest American. Perot's dad, Ross Sr., did make the list, checking in with a $4 billion net worth at No. 142.

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.