Forbes has released its 36th annual ranking of the world’s richest people with the 2022 ‘World’s Billionaire List.’
2,668 people made it on the list, 87 fewer than a year ago. They’re worth a collective $12.7 trillion—$400 billion less than in 2021.
Seven who are either current residents or were born/raised in Montgomery County also made the list. They can be seen below (information courtesy of Forbes):
Mitchell Rales (Potomac), $6.2 Billion
Chairman, Danaher’s executive committee
- Mitchell Rales and his brother Steven acquired a real estate investment trust in 1983 and merged it into the firm Danaher.
- Over the years they acquired more than three dozen companies and turned Danaher into an industrial firm with $22.3 billion in revenues.
- In July 2016, Danaher spun off its industrial technologies, measurement and petroleum businesses into Fortive Corporation.
- Mitchell Rales retired from his position at Fortive Corp. in 2021 but he is still chairman of Danaher’s executive committee.
- In June, he and his brother each transferred Danaher shares worth more than $1.5 billion to their charitable foundations.
Ted Lerner and family (Chevy Chase), $4.4 Billion
Owner, Washington Nationals
- In 1952, a 26-year-old Ted Lerner borrowed $250 from his wife to start a real estate company, selling homes for developers.
- He sold 22,000, then decided to become a builder. Today his Lerner Enterprises is among the largest owners of real estate in the Washington, D.C area.
- Since 2006 Lerner has owned the Washington Nationals baseball team. In June 2018, Ted passed control of the team to son Mark.
- The family donates to charities including Children’s National Hospital in DC, George Washington University and Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
- During law school, Lerner sold real estate on weekends to help support his widowed mother and younger siblings.
Ted Rubenstein (Bethesda), $4.1 Billion
Co-Chief Executive Officer And Co-Founder, Carlyle Group
- David Rubenstein is one of three billionaire founders of private equity firm Carlyle Group, which has $260 billion in assets under management.
- He cofounded Carlyle in 1987 with William Conway Jr. and Daniel D’Aniello. He now serves as non-executive co-chairman.
- Rubenstein got his start as a Carter Administration official and later became an attorney.
- In the early days Rubenstein raised the money and managed Carlyle’s stable of advisers, which included George H.W. Bush.
- He donated $18.5 million in 2016 to restore the Lincoln Memorial and expand exhibits and research there.
Dan Snyder (Potomac), $4 Billion (Snyder has recently sold his Potomac home and purchased a new home in Virginia)
Owner, Washington Commanders
- Dan Snyder initially made his fortune with a marketing business, Snyder Communications, that he started as a college dropout.
- After taking the company public in 1996, Snyder sold it to French firm Havas for $2.1 billion in stock in 2000.
- In 1999, he bought the NFL’s Washington Commanders for $750 million, borrowing $350 million to do so; it’s now worth $4.2 billion.
- After years of controversy over the Native American origins of the team’s former name, the Redskins, Snyder renamed the team the Commanders in 2022.
- In 2019, Snyder made waves with his new $192 million yacht Lady S, which has an IMAX theater.
- Snyder cleaned and mopped the floors at the cafeteria inside the National Institute for Health as a high school student.
Bernard Saul, II (Chevy Chase), $3.8 Billion
Chairman And CEO, Saul Centers Inc.
- B. Francis Saul II inherited his grandfather’s property management firm, B.F. Saul Company, and turned it into a real estate empire.
- B.F. Saul Company owns 9.8 million square feet of retail and office space across the country along with 19 hotels.
- He also owns The Hay-Adams, a 5-star hotel across the road from the White House that brands itself as “discreetly luxurious.”
- He sold Chevy Chase Federal Savings Bank to Capital One in 2009 for $476 million.
- The majority of his real estate portfolio is managed through Saul Centers, a publicly traded REIT.
Theodore Leonsis (Bethesda), $1.6 Billion
Owner, Washington Wizards
- Theodore ‘Ted’ Leonsis is founder, majority owner and CEO of Monumental Sports, which owns several teams and arenas in Washington, D.C.
- Subsidiaries include the NBA’s Wizards, the NHL’s Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and Capital One Arena.
- The grandson of Greek immigrants, Leonsis initially built his fortune as a senior executive at AOL, where he worked for nearly 14 years.
- He is a cofounder and partner at Revolution Growth, a venture capital firm helmed by AOL cofounder Steve Case.
Kevin Plank (Born/raised in Kensington), $1.2 Billion
Chairman/CEO, Under Armour
- Under Armour founder Kevin Plank built a popular sportswear brand as the underdog competitor to Nike.
- Noticing his football teammates’ sweat-soaked shirts, Plank came up with a lightweight, sweat-wicking shirt using fabrics from women’s undergarments.
- In the mid 1990s he sold his first shirts from his grandmother’s basement, exaggerating to early customers to make the company sound bigger.
- Plank, who stepped down as Under Armour’s CEO in 2019 and is now chairman, took the company public 2005; he owns a nearly 16% stake.
- He is building a 4 million-square-foot headquarters for Under Armour in Baltimore as part of a larger development called Port Covington.