Tennessee’s richest
1. Thomas Frist Jr., 78, Nashville founder of Hospital Corp. of America, $8.8 billion2. Fred Smith, 72, Memphis founder of FedEx, $4.3 billion3. Martha Ingram, 81, Nashville book publishing and transportation, $4.2 billion4. Jimmy Haslam, 63, Knoxville president of Pilot Oil, $3.6 billion5. Bill Haslam, 58, Tennessee governor, $2.6 billion6. Brad Kelley, 60, Franklin landowner and tobacco investor, $2.2 billion7. Jeffrey Lorberbaum, 62, Chattanooga president of Mohawk Industries, $2.2 billion8. Jon Yarbrough, 59, Video Gaming Technologies, $1.8 billion9. Forrest Preston, 84, Cleveland founder of Life Care Centers of America, $1.4 billion
The world’s richest
1. Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, $86 billion2. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, $75.6 billion3. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, $72.8 billion4. Amancio Ortega $71.3 B 80 Zara Spain5. Mark Zuckerberg $56 B 32 Facebook United States
Chattanooga's richest resident travels most days to another state to earn his living.
Jeffrey Lorberbaum, the 62-year-old CEO of Mohawk Industries, maintains a residence in Chattanooga but works most of the time from the corporate offices in Calhoun, Ga., of Mohawk Industries, which Lorberbaum has helped build into the world's biggest floorcovering business.
In its annual list of the richest people in the world, Forbes magazine says Lorberbaum has amassed a personal fortune of $2.2 billion, primarily through his leadership and 15 percent stake in the company he has headed since 2001. Lorberbaum's father started Aladdin Mills in 1957 and the company merged with Mohawk in 1994.
Under Lorberbaum's direction, Mohawk has grown from a major American carpet manufacturer into a diversified global floorcovering company producing not only carpets and rugs but also hardwood floors, ceramic tile and luxury vinyl tile. In the past year alone, Mohawk's stock has jumped by more than 19 percent to a market value of nearly $17 billion.
Last year, Mohawk earned nearly $930.4 million on sales of nearly $9 billion.
Lorberbaum is one of nine billionaires Forbes identified in Tennessee.
The only other billionaire in Southeast Tennessee is Forrest Preston, the 84-year-old Cleveland, Tenn., businessman who started Life Care Centers of America in 1970. Forbes said Preston is the sole owner of the nation's biggest privately held nursing home chain and is worth $1.4 billion, even after the company last year paid $145 million to settle a dispute with the government over Medicare billing in the past.
Preston's company brought in an estimated $3 billion in 2015 revenue from nursing homes, assisted living facilities and retirement living communities in 28 states, Forbes said.
Preston began his career selling vacuum cleaners and working as an X-ray technician before starting a printing business with his brother and then building nursing homes and other senior living facilities across the country. Preston also has a stake in Chattanooga- based Luken Communications, owner of seven broadcast networks, and recently acquired the Tallan and Krystal buildings in downtown Chattanooga.
The wealth of Lorberbaum and Preston is a tiny fraction of that of the world's richest man, Microsoft founder Bill Gates who Forbes estimates is worth $86 billion. Gates tops the list of 2,043 billionaires around the world, 233 more billionaires than a year ago, Forbes calculates.
In Tennessee, the richest person is worth only a tenth as much as Gates. But Thomas Frist Jr., the 78-year-old co-founder of Hospital Corp. of America, is still worth a healthy $8.8 billion, according to Forbes. HCA is the world's biggest hospital chain and the owner of HCA Parkridge Hospital in Chattanooga.
Frist is also the brother of Bill Frist, the former heart and lung surgeon who went on to become Tennessee's U.S. Senator and Republican Senate Majority Leader in Congress.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam remained among the richest in Tennessee with an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes. The 58-year-old governor, who previously was mayor of Knoxville, is one of the richest elected officials in America.
But Gov. Haslam is still $1 billion less wealthy than his older brother. Jimmy Haslam, the CEO of Pilot-Flying in Knoxville and owner of the Cleveland Browns in Ohio.
Jimmy Haslam was also a former college roommate with former Chattanooga mayor and now U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.