Forbes published its "definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans," and you'll find six Austin-area residents on the list. And, you may notice, tech is one of the biggest wealth drivers.
The overall rankings start with Amazon's Jeff Bezos at $160 billion in net worth. He's followed by Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison.
You have to go down to No. 17 to find the first Austin area resident -- Michael Dell, with an estimated $27.6 billion in net worth. (Walmart's Alice Walton is the richest Texan with $44.9 billion.)
Others from Austin include Vista Equity Partners founder Robert Smith, who ranked 163rd; Tito's Vodka founder Tito Beveridge, at No. 179; Trilogy Software and ESW Capital founder Joe Liemandt; Paul Mitchell hair products and Patron tequila founder John Paul DeJoria; and SHI International founder Thai Lee, who is new to the list and one of 12 newcomers who are self-made.
Though not on this list, Parsley Energy CEO Bryan Sheffield, Vista Equity Partners co-founder Brian Sheth, Dimensional Fund Advisors Chairman David Booth were among Austinites on Forbes' 2017 list of billionaires.
My takeaway here, besides that tech is obviously a lucrative sector, is that Austin is fortunate to have the nation's wealthiest African-American in Robert Smith (learn more) and one of the nation's wealthiest self-made women in Thai Lee, who was born in Bankok, grew up in South Korea and came to the U.S. for high school (learn more). Those are the types of success stories that can inspire others.
Austin is also home to Kendra Scott, who is No. 40 on Forbes list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who is among the nation's fastest-rising tech stars and one of its most outspoken advocates for women.
