The list of the 400 Richest Americans is out and 10 of them are from our fine state.
It should be no surprise that some of the richest people in the country just so happen to live in the state’s “Gold Coast,” after all, the area’s nickname comes from the fact that many wealthy New York executives live in lower Fairfield county.
Steven Cohen, a 53-year-old Greenwicher, made his $6.4 billion in hedge funds. He founded the head fund “juggernaut” SAC Capital and is number 36 on the list.
Ray Dalio, 60, of Greenwich, also made is money in hedge funds. Founding Bridgewater, world's largest hedge fund, has given him a net worth of $4 billion, and that was only enough to secure him the 65th slot.
Paul Tudor Jones II, 55, of Greenwich, is another guy who made it big on hedge funds. Seeing a pattern here? He is worth $2.9 billion, bringing him to number 110.
Edward Lampert, 47, of you guessed it – Greenwich - made his cash in investments. He’s the chairman of ESL Investments. He’s worth $2.5 billion and makes the list at 123.
Peter Buck, 78, of Danbury, is the guy behind our favorite “$5 foot longs.” At least his money is. He gave a friend $1,000 to open one little sandwich shop and that led to the Subway franchise. So Jared clearly is not the company's biggest fan. The sandwiches made him thin but not one of the richest men in the country, to the tune of $1.5 billion.
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Stephen Mandel, 53, of Greenwich, is another self-made millionaire. According to Forbes, wine, and investments are the source of his $1.5 billion. He’s tied for 236th on the list with a man and a woman from Connecticut.
Thomas Peterffy, 65, of Greenwich, also made it to 236th on the list of the most well-off Americans by creating Interactive Brokers Group in 1993.
Karen Pritzker, 51, is 236th on the list and is actually not from the Gold Coast. She lives in New Haven, and ascended up the money ladder through Hyatt hotels, investments and inherited money.
Richard Chilton, 51, of Darien, is another hedge fund millionaire. He founded the hedge fund Chilton Investment Co. in 1992 and is 296 on the list with a net worth of $1.3 billion.
William Macaulay, 64, of Greenwich, made his money in energy investments. He is the last of the Connecticuters on the list at 347 with $1.1 billion.
Before you feel sorry for yourself, realize that most of these folks were hit by the economy and their net worth declined. Well, except for Peterffy, whose worth is unchanged.
The richest guy is still Bill Gates.
