10 MD Billionaires Make Forbes 2021 List Of Wealthiest In US

MARYLAND — The coronavirus has caused massive job losses and hammered the U.S. economy, yet billionaires in Maryland and worldwide are significantly wealthier than they were a year ago, according to this year’s recently released Forbes World's Billionaires List.

The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list jumped to an unprecedented 2,755 people, 660 more than a year ago. Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020.

Among those on the list, 86 percent are richer today than they were a year ago. And the wealthiest Maryland businessman on the list is new as the leader of the group this year.

The richest Marylander on the Forbes list could buy 23.8 million bushels of blue crabs, which are priced currently at $259.99 per bushel.

The numbers will likely spark outrage, writes Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane. “There’s no getting around a collective $5 trillion wealth surge during a pandemic, when most of the world felt scared, sick, besieged,” he wrote in a comprehensive essay titled “Operation Wealth Speed."

However, “the underlying trends offer a road map to greater prosperity for all,” he continued. “Like anything else salvaged from a once-a-century plague, we just need to be brave enough to harness it.”

A total of 10 billionaires on this year’s list hail from Maryland. Mitchell Rales of Potomac is at the top. Rales is co-founder of Danaher investment firm with his brother, Steven. Three decades after building Danaher Corp. into an industrial conglomerate, the pair broke their empire into two halves: one part devoted to science and technology, in late 2016.

Other Maryland billionaires on the list include:

• Mitchell Rales, Danaher Corp., $6.2 billion
• Stephen Bisciotti, Allegis Group and Baltimore Ravens $4.9 billion
• Ted Lerner, Lerner Enterprises and Washington Nationals, $4.8 billion
• David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group, $3.7 billion
• Jim Davis, Allegis Group, $3.4 billion
• Bernard Saul II, B.F. Saul Company and The Hay-Adams hotel, $3.3 billion
• Dan Snyder, Snyder Communications and the Washington Football Team, $2.6 billion
• Kevin Plank, Under Armour, $2 billion
• Keith Dunleavy and family, Inovalon, $1.4 billion
• Theodore Leonsis, Monumental Sports including the Washington Wizards and Capitals, $1.4 billion

To compile this year’s list, Forbes used a snapshot of its real-time billionaires rankings by analyzing stock prices and exchange rates for March 5.

A record 493 people made their debut on this year’s list. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past made a reappearance, according to Forbes. This year’s list includes a record 328 female billionaires, up from 241 in 2020.

Soon-to-be-former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retained the top spot on this year’s list for the fourth consecutive year. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant out of his garage in Seattle, Washington, will step down as CEO at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk soared to the No. 2 spot, up from No. 31 on last year’s ranking. Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at No. 3, followed by Bill Gates at No. 4. Rounding out this year’s top five is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

See the full 2021 Forbes Billionaires List.