List of billionaires in Florida growing

Florida’s lack of state income and estate taxes have long driven the wealthy to the Sunshine State.

And they just keep on coming.

According to Forbes’ 31st annual world’s billionaires list, released Monday, 51 billionaires claim Florida as their residence, including Kenneth Feld, the chairman of Palmetto-based Feld Entertainment.

Last year, there were 44 from Florida on the list.

With a net worth of $2.5 billion, the 68-year-old Feld ranks 26th among Floridian billionaires and No. 814 out of 2,043 around the world. Feld was worth $2.7 billion in 2016, according to Forbes.

Feld Entertainment is the parent company for Disney on Ice, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus and Monster Jam. Feld announced in January that the circus would shut down for good in May because of slumping ticket sales.

The richest billionaire in Florida is Thomas Peterffy of Palm Beach, who ranks No. 82 worldwide. He made his $13.8 billion fortune from a discount brokerage firm.

Another notable facts and figures about billionaire Floridians:

▪ Eight of the 51 either own or were owners of professional sports teams, including Shahid Khan ($8.2 billion, NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars), Micky Arison ($8.1 billion, NBA’s Miami Heat), H. Wayne Huizenga ($2.7 billion, NFL’s Miami Dolphins, MLB’s Florida Marlins).

▪ Four are women, double the total from last year. They are Katherine Tanner ($1.9 billion, Cargill), Catherine Lozick ($1.8 billion, Swagelok), Carol Jenkins Barnett ($1.7 billion, Publix) and Charlotte Colket Weber ($1.7 billion, Campbell Soup).

▪ Wilbur Ross Jr. ($2.5 billion), the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Donald Trump, is best known as a distressed asset investor.

Not surprisingly, Bill Gates remains the richest person in the world at $86 billion. It’s the 18th time in the past 23 years the Microsoft founder has held the top spot.

Following Gates were Warren Buffett ($75.6 billion, Berkshire Hathaway), Jeff Bezos ($72.8 billion, Amazon.com), Amancio Ortega ($71.3 billion, Zara) and Mark Zuckerberg ($56 billion, Facebook).

The 2,043 billionaires (up from 1,810 last year) had an average net worth of $2.75 billion. The year-over-year jump of 233 billionaires was the biggest increase in 31 years.

The combined net worth of this year’s billionaires was $7.67 trillion, up from $6.48 trillion last year.

This story was originally published March 20, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "List of billionaires in Florida growing."