Chattanooga businessman makes Forbes richest Americans list

Mohawk CEO Jeff Lorberbaum in top 400

Downtown Chattanooga and the North Shore is visible in this file photo.
Downtown Chattanooga and the North Shore is visible in this file photo.

Mohawk CEO Jeffrey Lorberbaum is among the richest Americans, according to Forbes annual listing of the 400 wealthiest Americans.

Forbes estimates that Lorberbaum, the 60-year-old Chattanooga businessman who built the Mohawk Industries into the world's biggest floorcovering company, is worth $2.2 billion. Most of Lorberbaum's wealth comes from his nearly 15 percent stake in the tile and carpet manufacturing company he and his family built in Calhoun, Ga

Last year, Forbes estimated Lorberbaum's wealth at $1.9 billion, which placed him 1054 on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans.

Forbes ranked Lorberbaum as the 307th richest American. He was tied for the fifth richest person in Tennessee with Franklin Tenn., tobacco billionaire Brad Kelley.

The richest persons in Tennessee, according to Forbes, are HCA founder Thomas Frist Jr., worth an estimated $8.7 billion; Nashville businesswoman Martha Ingram, worth an estimated $4.3 billion; FedEx CEO Fred Smith, worth an estimated $3.5 billion; and Pilot Flying J CEO (and brother of Gov. Bill Haslam) Jimmy Haslam, worth an estimated $2.8 billion.

photo Jeffrey Lorberbaum

Nine billionaires in Georgia were on the Forbes list, led by Atlanta publisher Anne Cox Chambers, worth $18 billion. McCallie School Graduate Ted Turner, founder of CNN, is worth an estimated $2.2 billion, Forbes said.

Microsoft Founder Bill Gates retains the top spot on The Forbes 400 for the 22nd straight year, at $76 billion, down $5 billion from 2014. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway which owns Shaw Industries in Dalton and Clayton Homes in Knoxville, is worth an estimated $62 billion.

The combined wealth of Forbes' 2015 ranking of the richest people in America, "The Forbes 400" is $2.34 trillion, up from $2.29 trillion in 2014 and the highest ever.

The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is $5.8 billion, the highest to date, up from $5.7 billion last year. Net worth increased for 202 members and decreased for 119 members. The cost of admission to the 2015 list was the highest ever at $1.7 billion, up from $1.55 billion a year ago.

For the complete Forbes 400 ranking, visit: www.forbes.com/forbes-400/.

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