The world's wealthiest Jew is Oracle Inc. (Nasdaq: ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison, with a fortune estimated at $43 billion, according to the ranking of the world's 165 wealthiest Jews by "Forbes Israel". Ellison's fortune has increased by $7 billion since last year.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in second place, with a fortune estimated at $27 billion. His fortune increased by $5 billion since last year, thanks to the performance of Bloomberg LP, the financial data company he founded in 1982. Bloomberg owns at least ten homes in Manhattan, Westchester County, the Hamptons, and Vail, Colorado.
Sheldon Adelson is in third place, with a fortune from his gambling business estimated at $26.5 billion by "Forbes Israel". The share price of Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS) has risen 20% since last summer.
The fortune of Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) founder Mark Zuckerberg declined in the past year, because of the company's unsuccessful IPO, and he is ranked in 16th place. The Silicon Valley wonderkid is still worth $13.3 billion. Zuckerberg (29) is not the youngest Jewish billionaire: Dustin Moscovitz, a former roommate and co-founder of Facebook, is eight days younger. Moscovitz, who now a signee of Bill Gates' and Warren Buffett's Giving Pledge, has an estimated fortune of $3.8 billion.
The world's richest Israeli, Idan Ofer, is 34th on the richest Jews list. The fortune of Ofer, who is reportedly moving from Israel to London, is estimated at $6.5 billion.
Other Israelis on the list include Shari Arison, whose fortune grew to $4.2 billion, and Stef Wertheimer and his family, whose fortune grew by $200 million to $4.4 billion.
"Forbes Israel" also mentioned billionaires whose fortunes have shrunk. The fortune of Beny Steinmetz shrank by $1.8 billion over the past year to $4.1 billion from $5.9 billion last year. Lev Leviev's fortune fell by $200 million over the past year to $1.5 billion, the fortune of Gil Shwed fell by $250 million over the past year to $1.65 billion, and the fortune of Marius Nacht fell by $200 million to $1 billion.
Of the world's 1,426 billionaires ranked by "Forbes", 165 are Jews, who have an aggregate fortune of $812 billion, substantially more than last year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 17, 2013
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