A Republican mega-donor with ties to Trump and TikTok, a candy bar heiress, the owner of 84 Lumber, and the primary owners of two Philly sports teams are among the Pennsylvania billionaires on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s richest people.
Never mind all that war, political unrest, and inflation out there. The richest people in the world are, for the most part, still getting richer.
According to Forbes’ annual Richest People in the World list, there are now more billionaires than ever: 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021. The world’s billionaire class has more money than ever, too. Collectively, the billionaires on the Forbes list are worth $14.2 trillion — that’s up by $2 trillion from 2023 and $1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021.
Pennsylvania’s representation on the Forbes list has increased by two members to 11. Last year, Pennsylvania’s billionaires were worth a combined $76.3 billion, according to Forbes. With two more members in its ranks, Forbes says Pennsylvania’s billionaires are now worth a collective $84.48 billion.
Let’s take a look at Pennsylvania’s billionaire class:
Jeff Yass – Haverford
Republican mega-donor Jeff Yass is a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, one of Wall Street’s largest and most successful trading firms. He’s been in the headlines recently, thanks to Susquehanna overseeing a 15% stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and his company’s financial ties to Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.
While Yass is about a billion dollars richer than he was a year ago, with a net worth of $27.6 billion (up from $26.5 billion), he falls 16 spots on Forbes’ ranking, from 48 to 64.
Michael Rubin – Bryn Mawr
Michael Rubin is the founder and CEO of online sports merchandising retailer Fanatics, and a former minority owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. After dropping out of Villanova University, Rubin started GSI Commerce, which he sold to eBay for $2.4 billion in 2011.
Like Yass, Rubin’s net worth increased this year, from $11.4 to $11.5 billion, though his spot on Forbes’ ranking fell from 151 to 173.
Victoria Mars – Philadelphia
Victoria Mars and her three sisters are heirs to the family’s giant candy and pet food company, Mars, Incorporated. If you buy M&Ms, Milky Way, and Skittles candies, Ben’s Original rice, and/or pet food like Pedigree and Whiskas, you’re contributing to the Mars’ family fortune.
Her net worth of $9.6 billion is the same as last year, though she falls from 184 to 242 on the Forbes list.
Thomas Hagen – Erie
Thomas Hagen is the chairman of Erie Indemnity, a publicly traded insurance company that was co-founded by his late wife Susan’s father, H.O. Hirt, and his friend O.G. Crawford. Now one of the nation’s largest insurance companies, the firm began in 1925 with a business plan scribbled in a notebook.
It was a good year for Hagen financially. His net worth grew from $4.2 billion to $7.6 billion, propelling him from 698 to 344 on the Forbes list.
Arthur Dantchik – Gladwyne
Arthur Dantchik co-founded Susquehanna International Group along with Yass, his best friend from high school and college roommate. After college, Dantchik made a living playing poker in Las Vegas.
Dantchik’s net worth is $7 billion, down from $7.2 billion last year. He fell from 307 to 391 on the Forbes list.
Jeffrey Lurie – Wynnewood
Though Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie saw his team flame out down the stretch and go one-and-done in the playoffs, he had a good year, financially speaking.
Forbes has Lurie’s net worth at $4.68 billion, up from $4.4 billion a year ago. He came in lower on the world’s richest list, however, sliding from 627 to 686.
Maggie Hardy – Belle Vernon
Maggie Hardy is the owner and CEO of 84 Lumber, one of the largest privately-owned building materials suppliers in the US. She also owns the Nemacolin resort in Fayette County.
Hardy’s net worth grew from $2.7 billion to $4.1 billion, placing her at 775 on the Forbes list.
Mary Alice Dorrance Malone – Coatesville
Mary Alice Dorrance Malone is the largest shareholder of the Campbell Soup Company. Her grandfather, John T. Dorrance, invented the condensed-soup formula that transformed the company in 1897. Malone is also the president of Iron Spring Farm, a horse breeding and training company with expansive properties in Pennsylvania and Florida.
Her net worth fell from $4.2 billion to $3.7 billion, and she dropped from 712 to 871 on the Forbes list.
John Middleton – Bryn Mawr
Like Lurie, Phillies majority owner John Middleton saw his club fall short in the postseason last year, only to see his net worth increase.
Middleton, who made his fortune selling his family’s tobacco business to Philip Morris’ parent, Altria, saw his net worth grow from $3.4 to $3.7 billion, while falling from 869 to 871 on the world’s richest list (tied with Dorrance Malone).
Thomas Tull – Pittsburgh
Thomas Tull is a former film financier and founder of production company Legendary Entertainment. His new investment holding company, Tulco, holds stakes in publicly traded medical apparel startup Figs and insurance brokerage Acrisure. Tull also owns a valuable minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers and a valuable collection of baseball memorabilia.
His net worth grew from $2.7 to $3 billion last year, though he slipped one spot in the Forbes ranking, from 1,103 to 1,104.
David Adelman – Haverford
Real estate and sports mogul David Adelman is Pennsylvania’s newest billionaire, making the Forbes list for the first time this year at 1,623.
Adelman owns Campus Apartments, one of the largest providers of on- and off-campus housing in America, and has a 7% stake in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Devils and the Sixers. He’s also heavily involved in the plan to build a new arena for the Sixers. His net worth is $2 billion.
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