9 GA Billionaires Make Forbes's 2020 Richest List

GEORGIA — Forbes estimates that Jim Kennedy, who is the chairman of privately-held automotive and media company Cox Enterprises, is worth $8.2 billion, making him the richest Georgia resident and among the 100 richest people in America.

Kennedy shares ownership of Cox Enterprises with his sister and cousins after their grandfather founded Cox Enterprises in 1898 when he purchased the Dayton Evening News. In addition to being chairman, he served as CEO from 1988 to 2008. Under his leadership, revenues rose from $1.8 billion to $21 billion, Forbes reported.

He began as a production assistant in the newspaper division of the company in 1972. In 2007, after his mother Barbara Cox Anthony died, he inherited his 24 percent stake in Cox Enterprises.

Forbes released its 2020 Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans Tuesday, and nine Georgia billionaires made the cut. Kennedy came in at No. 61 on the list.

Georgia resident Bernard Marcus is the next highest Georgia resident on the Forbes list. He and Arthur Blank cofounded Home Depot in 1978 after being fired from their jobs at a regional hardware store, Forbes said. With a net worth of $7.4 billion, Marcus is ranked No. 72 on the list.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos leads the list with a net worth of $179 billion. Microsoft's Bill Gates is second at $111 billion and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is third at $85 billion.

President Donald Trump landed at No. 339 following a $600 million loss in net worth, Forbes said. He's still worth $2.5 billion.

The rest of the Georgia residents on the list, with their ranking and net worth, are listed below:

81. Bubba Cathy and Dan Cathy, tied, $7.1 billion: Bubba Cathy and his brother, Dan, run Chick-fil-A, the fried chicken chain founded by their father, Truett (d. 2014), in 1967.

105. Arthur Blank, $6.1 billion: Blank and Bernie Marcus cofounded Home Depot in 1978 after being fired from their jobs at a regional hardware store. Blank is also the owner of the sports teams Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United.

139. Gary Rollins, $4.8 billion: Billionaire brothers Randall and Gary Rollins preside over Orkin, the biggest pest control company by revenues in North America.

148. Randall Rollins, $4.7 billion: Randall Rollins, the longtime chairman of pest control company Rollins Inc., died at age 88 on Aug. 17, right after Forbes had finalized this year's list.

170. John Brown, $4.3 billion: Brown ran Stryker Corp., a medical device and software company, for 32 years before retiring as chairman in 2009.

378. Ted Turner, $2.2 billion: When Turner was 12, he worked for his father's billboard company, Turner Advertising.

To view the full list, visit forbes.com.