New York:
The annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans was announced and the biggest gainer on the the list was Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, whose wealth more than tripled to $6.9 billion, putting him in 35th place.
(In Pictures: Forbes 400: America's richest)Bill Gates was ranked the richest person in the United States, with $9 billion more than Warren E. Buffett. Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, topped the Forbes list with $54 billion, an increase of $4 billion from last year.
(Read: Four Indians in the Forbes 400 list)Warren Buffett, the legendary investor who runs Berkshire Hathaway, easily held on to the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list with $45 billion, and he proved better than Mr. Gates at amassing wealth, gaining $5 billion over last year as the financial crisis ebbed.
Other members of the top 10 included Lawrence J. Ellison of Oracle, who stayed even at No. 3 with $27 billion, and the two Koch brothers, Charles and David, who shared fifth place with $21.5 billion apiece, as they each pulled in gains of $5.5 billion.
Also in the top 10 are four Walton family members -- Christy, Jim C., Alice and S. Robson -- heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, who had wealth ranging from $19.7 billion to $24 billion and gains ranging from $500 million to $2.5 billion.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York took 10th place with $18 billion, a gain of $500 million. Since most of his wealth is tied up in his company, which develops and markets the seemingly ubiquitous Bloomberg terminals, Mr. Bloomberg has apparently benefited as the financial industry bounced back.
Among other Wall Street notables, the financier George Soros ranked No. 14 with $14.2 billion. Another hedge fund manager, John A. Paulson, is No. 20 with $12.4 billion. And the financiers Carl C. Ichan and Ronald O. Perelman tied for 24th place, with $11 billion apiece.
Among the 34 people who fell off the Forbes list this year is Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager of the Galleon Group, who has been accused of insider trading and indicted on charges of securities fraud. If convicted, Mr. Rajaratnam could face a sentence of up to 185 years in prison.
As for Mr. Gates, his $54 billion appears to make him the richest person in the world -- at least until next Forbes billionaire list comes out. In March, the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú took the top spot in the Forbes rankings of the world's richest people, with $53.5 billion.