As 2023 winds down, we wanted to share with you some of the most-read articles of 2023. This article was originally published on April 15, 2023.
Forbes has released its annual “World’s Billionaires List” and six currently listed as Montgomery County residents have made the list. Overall, the United States still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 list members worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion. To calculate net worth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 10 to determine the ranking, but updates wealth in real time. Below are the six Montgomery County billionaires who made the list:
World Rank #402: Annette Lerner and family (Chevy Chase)
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- Industry: Real estate, Washington Nationals
- Net worth: $6.5 billion
Per Forbes:
- In 1952, Annette lent $250 to her 26-year-old husband, Ted Lerner, to start a real estate company, selling homes for developers.
- Today, Lerner Enterprises is among the largest owners of real estate in the Washington, D.C area.
- Since 2006 the Lerner family 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.
- In February 2023, Ted Lerner died, leaving Annette and her children as the heirs of his estate.
World Rank #476: Mitchell Rales (Potomac)
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- Industry: Manufacturing, investments
- Net worth: $5.6 billion
Per Forbes:
- 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 $29.45 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.
World Rank #578: Dan Snyder (Potomac)
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- Industry: Washington Commanders
- Net worth: $4.9 billion
Per Forbes:
- 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 $5.6 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.
World Rank #733: Bernard Saul II (Chevy Chase)
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- Industry: Banking, real estate
- Net worth: $4 billion
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Per Forbes:
- 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.
World Rank #940: David Rubenstein (Bethesda)
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- Industry: Private equity
- Net worth: $3.2 billion
Per Forbes:
- David Rubenstein is one of three billionaire founders of private equity firm Carlyle Group, which is approaching $400 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.
World Rank #1524: Theodore Leonsis (Bethesda)
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- Industry: Sports teams
- Net worth: $2.1 billion
Per Forbes:
- 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.
The full Forbes list can be seen here. Featured photo shows Glenstone Museum, owned by Mitchell Rales, courtesy of Glenstone Museum