MI’s Richest Person Is Worth $22.9B, Ranks 51st Nationally On Forbes 400

With a net worth of $908 billion, Elon Musk again tops the Forbes 400, a ranking of the nation’s wealthiest billionaires that includes Daniel Gilbert, the richest person in Michigan.

Forbes said Musk’s place at the top of its 45th annual Forbes 400 ranking shows “the wealth gap is widening, even among the ultra-rich.” Those on the ranking, released Tuesday, are worth a record $8 trillion, up from $6.6 trillion a year ago. Together, the 20 richest billionaires account for $4 trillion of the total, up from $970 billion from last year.

“Elon Musk’s trillionaire moment was short-lived, but the wealth controlled by the top 20 is massive,” Forbes said.

Billionaires on the list from Michigan are:

Daniel Gilbert
Net worth: $22.9 billion
Industry: Mortgage Lender
Ranking nationally: 51
Philanthropy score: 1

Gilbert cofounded what would become Rocket Mortgage, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S., in 1985 at 22 years old. He also owns the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Roger Penske
Net worth: $11.8 billion
Industry: Cars
Ranking nationally: 120
Philanthropy score: 1

The former race car driver is the founder, chairman and CEO of Penske Corporation, a transportation services company with over $43 billion in revenue.

Marian Ilitch and Family
Net worth: $7.6 billion
Industry: Little Caesars Pizza
Ranking nationally: 224
Philanthropy score: 2

Marian, along with her husband, Mike, who died in 2017, cofounded Little Caesars Pizza in 1959. She also owns the Detroit Red Wings NHL team, MotorCity Casino Hotel and the Detroit Tigers MLB team.

Ronda Stryker
Net worth: $7.1 billion
Industry: Medical Equipment
Ranking nationally: 241
Philanthropy score: 3

Stryker serves as the director of Stryker Corp., a medical equipment company founded by her grandfather, Homer Stryker.

Mat Ishbia
Net worth: $6.7 billion
Industry: Mortgage Lender
Ranking nationally: 256
Philanthropy score: 1

Ishbia serves as the chairman and CEO of UWM Holdings, which was formerly United Wholesale Mortgage. He also bought a majority stake in the NBA's Phoenix Suns in a deal that valued the team at $4 billion.

Doug Meijer and family
Net worth: $6.2 billion
Industry: Supermarket
Ranking nationally: 269
Philanthropy score: 2

Doug Meijer, along with his brothers Hank and Mark, own the large grocery store chain. Today, Meijer has 500 stores across the Midwest and estimated revenues of $22 billion.

Hank Meijer and family
Net worth: $6.2 billion
Industry: Supermarket
Ranking nationally: 269
Philanthropy score: 2

Mark Meijer and family
Net worth: $6.2 billion
Industry: Supermarket
Ranking nationally: 269
Philanthropy score: 2

Jennifer Gilbert
Net worth: $4.7 billion
Industry: Rocket Mortgage
Ranking nationally: 367
Philanthropy score: 2

Jennifer Gilbert is the founder and creative director of Pophouse, a Detroit-based commercial design firm she founded in 2013. She is also the ex-wife of Rocket Mortgage founder Dan Gilbert, whom she married in 1995.

Even with the list threshold rising to a record $4.4 billion — up from $3.8 billion in 2025 — strong financial growth allowed 34 newcomers to join it. Notably, a record 590 U.S. billionaires were “too poor to make the cut,” Forbes said.

Many of the 34 newcomers made their fortunes in artificial intelligence, including Cognition AI cofounder Steven Hao, six Anthropic cofounders and OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman.

The AI sector has come under intense scrutiny in Congress this week as high-profile tech leaders push for federal safety regulations and a reduced pace of innovation. These warnings follow mounting concerns about existential risks posed by advanced AI systems, echoed in an essay by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and supported by xAI's Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman.

The list includes 62 women, including 13 who are self-made. Alice Walton remains the richest American woman, while ABC Supply cofounder Diane Hendricks is the richest self-made woman.

Ten listees are younger than 40, up from four in 2025. The oldest is 97-year-old timber billionaire Archie Aldis Emmerson, and the average age is 70.

The top 10 billionaires are:

1. Elon Musk, 55, $908 billion (SpaceX and Tesla)
2. Jeff Bezos, 62, $378 billion (Amazon)
3. Larry Page, 53, $278 billion (Google)
4. Michael Dell, 61, $263 billion (Dell Technologies)
5. Sergey Brin, 53, $256 billion (Google)
6. Mark Zuckerberg, 42, $212 billion (Facebook)
7. Larry Ellison, 82, $204 billion (Oracle)
8. Jensen Huang, 63, $199 billion (semiconductors)
9. Steve Ballmer, 70, $156 billion (Microsoft)
10. Warren Buffett, 96, $144 billion (Berkshire Hathaway)