Forbes list of 400 wealthiest Americans reveals Mark Zuckerberg broke into top ten

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America's top 400 billionaires have combined wealth of $2.34trillion, up $50billion from a year ago
Bill Gates has retained his No 1 spot for 22nd straight year with a net worth of $76billion
Amazon's Jeff Bezos, 51, has emerged as biggest overall gainer, coming in at No 4 with $47billion
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, 31, this year landed in seventh spot with $40billion after cracking the top ten list last year
Cost of admission to the 2015 list was the highest ever at $1.7billion, up from $1.55billion a year ago

Published: 12:19 EST, 29 September 2015 | Updated: 01:03 EST, 30 September 2015

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America's top 400 billionaires are now richer than ever, boasting a record-smashing combined wealth of $2.34trillion, up $50billion from a year ago, according to the latest issue of Forbes Magazine.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates continued to dominate the prestigious list for the 22nd year in a row with a $76billion fortune, retaining his No 1 spot despite losing $5billion from 2014.

But it was Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who has emerged as the biggest overall gainer, adding a whopping $16.5billion to his war chest in a single year after his company posted a quarterly profit in July.

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Old money, newer money: Microsoft founder Bill Gates continued to dominate the prestigious list for the 22nd year in a row with a $76billion fortune, but it was Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who has emerged as the biggest overall gainer, adding a whopping $16.5billion to his war chest

Seriously rich: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it into the top 10 list for the first time ever, landing at No 7 on the strength of his $40billion fortune

THE RICHEST OF THE RICH: FORBES 45 WEALTHIEST AMERICANS

Sage of Omaha: Warren Buffett remained the second-richest American, despite giving billions more away

1 Bill Gates $76billion

2 Warren Buffett $62billion

3 Larry Ellison $47.5billion

4 Jeff Bezos $47billion

5 Charles Koch $41billion

5 David Koch $41billion

7 Mark Zuckerberg $40.3billion

8 Michael Bloomberg $38.6billion

9 Jim Walton $33.7billion

10 Larry Page $33.3billion

11 Sergey Brin $32.6billion

12 Alice Walton $32billion

13 S Robson Walton $31.7billion

14 Christy Walton $30.2billion

Walmart wealth: The list featured three members of the Walmart dynasty, #12 was Alice Walton (center) and #14 was Christy Walton (right)

Biggest winner: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was the biggest gainer, adding $16.5billion to his net worth

15 Sheldon Adelson $26billion

16 George Soros $24.5billion

17 Phil Knight $24.4billion

18 Forrest Mars Jr $23.4billion

18 Jacqueline Mars $23.4billion

18 John Mars $23.4billion

21 Steve Ballmer $21.6billion

22 Carl Icahn $20.5billion

23 Michael Dell $19.1billion

23 Lauren Powell Jobs $19.1billion

25 Anne Cox Chambers $18billion

26 Paul Allen $17.8billion

27 Len Blavatnik $17.7billion

28 Charles Ergen $16.4billion

29 Ray Dalio $15.3billion

30 Donald Bren $15.2billion

31 Abigail Johnson $14.2billion

32 James Simons $14billion

Media mogul: Rupert Murdoch slid down to 38th spot on the list

33 Thomas Petterfy $13.5billion

34 Elon Musk $13.3billion

35 Patrick Soon-Shiong $12.9billion

36 Ronald Perelman $12.5billion

37 Steve Cohen $12billion

38 Rupert Murdoch $11.6billion

38 Stephen Schwarzman $11.6billion

38 David Tepper $11.6billion

41 John Paulson $11.4billion

42 Andrew Beal $11billion

43 Philip Anschutz $10.9billion

44 Charles Butt $10.7billion

45 Donald Newhouse $10.6billion

The 51-year-old CEO's $47billion nest egg catapulted him into the fourth spot on this year's list, 11 positions up from 2014.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it into the top 10 list for the first time ever, landing at No 7 on the strength of his impressive $40billion fortune. Last year, the social-media wunderkind only barely cracked the list, coming in 10th.

In all, 25 newcomers made it into the ranks of America’s wealthiest billionaires, including 25-year-old Evan Spiegel (#327) of Snapchat, the youngest on the list, worth $2.1billion, Brian Chesky (#194) of Airbnb at $3.3billion and Bill Haslam (#327), governor of Tennessee, at $2.1billion.

Travis Kalanick (#80), the tech guru behind the popular ride-sharing service Uber, was the biggest percentage gainer, doubling his fortune to $6billion in a single year.

The old guard of the annual Forbes list remained largely intact, led by Gates, 58, and his friend Warren Buffet, the 85-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ($68billion), who has occupied the second spot on the list since 2001.

The rich kids of Forbes: Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, 25 (#327, $2.1billion), is the youngest on the list, and Elizabeth Holmes, 31, founder of the blood-testing company Theranos, is the youngest woman on the list (#121, $4.5billion)

Much to smile about: Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, doubled his fortune to $6billion in a single year, landing him in No 80 spot on the list

Despite leaving his post as CEO of the software company Oracle Corp last year, Larry Ellison has retained his No 3 spot on the Forbes list, with a $47.5billion net worth.

Charles and David Koch, co-founders of Koch Industries, a giant company with interests in the oil industry, building and manufacturing, this year tied for fifth place, each bringing to the table a $41billion fortune.

Jim, Alice and Christy Walton, scions of the Walmart dynasty, each dropped a couple of spots from last year, with only Sam Walton’s 67-year-old son making it into the top ten on the strength of his $33.7billion net worth.

At age 31, Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the ground-breaking blood-testing company Theranos, became the youngest woman on the list (#121, $4.5billion), while the oldest billionaire was 100-year-old David Rockefeller Sr, who landed in the 211th spot with a net worth of $3billion.

The cost of admission to the 2015 list was the highest ever at $1.7billion, up from $1.55billion a year ago. Because of the bar being so high, 145 American billionaires didn’t make the cut, among them Elaine Wynn, co-founder of the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, and Urban Outfitters co-founder Richard Hayne.

The average fortune on the list was $5.8billion, up from $5.7billion last year.