Local business leaders who have built the world's biggest floorcovering manufacturer in Calhoun, Ga., and America's biggest privately owned nursing home chain based in Cleveland, Tenn., are among 1,826 billionaires around the globe, Forbes magazine said Monday.
Forrest Preston, the 81-year-old founder and CEO of Life Care Centers of America in Cleveland is worth $2 billion, while Mohawk Industries CEO Jeffrey Lorberbaum, 60, of Chattanooga, is worth $1.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Forrest Preston, left, speaks during a celebration of the 45th anniversary of Life Care Centers of America as Jimmy Gravell, center, and Beecher Hunter look on.World's richest
1. Bill Gates, net worth of $79.2 billion from Microsoft. 2. Carlos Slim Helu & family, net worth of $77.1 billion from telecom business. 3. Warren Buffett, net worth of $72.7 billion from Berkshire Hathaway. 4. Amancio Ortega, net worth of $64.5 billion from Zara. 5. Larry Ellison, net worth of $54.3 billion from Oracle. 6. Charles Koch, net worth of $42.9 billion from Koch Industries. 7. David Koch, net worth of $42.9 billion from Koch Industries. 8. Christy Walton & family, net worth of $41.7 billion from Wal-Mart. 9. Jim Walton, net worth of $40.6 billion from Wal-Mart. 10. Liliane Bettencourt & family, net worth of $40.1 billion from L'Oreal. Source: Forbes magazine
Jeffrey Lorberbaum, CEO of Mohawk Industries, speaks to the Chattanooga Rotary Club at the Chattanooga Convention Center.The two are among more than a dozen billionaires that Forbes listed from Tennessee and Georgia in its annual ranking of the richest people in the world released Monday.
The richest person in Tennessee is Hospital Corp. of America co-founder Thomas Frist Jr., Forbes said. The Nashville billionaire, who started HCA with his father and Jack Massey in 1968, is worth an estimated $7.6 billion.
He is the brother of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Other Tennesseans on the Forbes' list of the richest people include Nashville's Martha Ingram, whose family made a fortune in book publishing and transportation and is worth $4.1 billion, and FedEx Founder Fred Smith of Memphis, worth $3.9 billion.
In Georgia, the richest people include two media billionaires, Anne Cox Chambers, worth $17 billion, and Jim Kennedy, worth $8.5 billion, and Home Depot Founder Bernard Marcus, worth $3.8 billion.
But for all their wealth, the Tennessee and Georgia billionaires have only a fraction of the wealth of Bill Gates, who remained the richest person in the world for the second consecutive year.
Gates' net worth rose to $79.2 billion in 2015 from $76 billion last year. The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. has topped the list for 16 of the last 21 years.
In second place is Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, with a net worth of $77.1 billion. He had topped the list in 2013.
Next is investor Warren Buffett, who moved up one slot this year with a net worth of $72.7 billion.
Forbes said the 1,826 billionaires on its list -- up from 1,645 billionaires a year ago -- collectively are worth $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion last year.
Most of those on the list were men. But there were 197 women, up from 172 a year ago.
The highest-ranking woman was Christy Walton, the widow of John Walton, a son of the founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. She has a net worth of $41.7 billion, according to Forbes.
The world's youngest billionaire was 24-year-old Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of mobile messaging company Snapchat, with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
Snapchat's other co-founder, 25-year-old Bobby Murphy, had the same net worth as Spiegel.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan joined the list for the first time this year, thanks to his ownership in basketball team Charlotte Hornets and payouts from his Nike brand. Jordan had a net worth of $1 billion, the magazine said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.