Here Are The 10 Richest People In Florida And What They Do
Victoria W
Author
An updated list of the richest people in the world was released a few months ago, and Florida has several billionaires-in-residence who made the list. In case you’re curious, here’s a list of the top 10 richest people in Florida and how they got where they are now.
#1. Micky Arison – $7.1 Billion
Photo by Ladislav Faigl via Wikimedia Commons
How do you get to be the richest person in Florida? Well, Micky Arison (pictured farthest to the right) is the chairman of Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise operator in the world. His father, Ted Arison, was one of the co-founders of the cruise line. He is also well known as the owner of the Miami Heat basketball team.
#2 & #3. Dirk Ziff – $4.9 Billion and Phillip Frost – $4.9 Billion
Dirk Ziff and his brothers split the inheritance of their father, who co-founded the Ziff-Davis publishing empire, and through clever investing, grew their fortunes substantially. You would recognize Ziff-Davis from putting out popular publications such as PC Magazine and Car and Driver.
Phillip Frost’s early professional career consisted of working for the National Cancer Institute and as Professor of Dermatology at various colleges in Florida, but he made his billions buying, founding, and selling successful pharmaceutical firms.
#4. Shahid Khan – $4.5 Billion
Photo by Melissa Hillier (Flickr) via Wikimedia Commons
Shahid Khan was born in Pakistan and came to the US to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Seven years after graduating, he founded a company called Bumper Works that eventually became the major supplier of bumpers to the major US car manufacturers and the sole supplier for Toyota. He is also the majority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
#5. Glazer Family – $4.4 Billion
Though Malcolm Glazer passed away in May of 2014, he passed his fortune on to his family. Through his company, First Allied Corporation, he invested in several ventures including Harley Davidson, Tonka, and Omega Protein. The family also retained ownership of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
#6. Reinhold Schmeiding – $4.2 Billion
Shortly after college, Schmeiding started developing new tools for minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery. His orthopedic medical device company, Arthrex, which is based in Naples, makes thousands of products for shoulder, knee, and other joint operations.
#7. Terrence Pegula – $3.8 Billion
Photo by Anarchist9027 (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons
Pegula made his fortune in natural gas and then proceeded to purchase the Buffalo Sabres NHL team and the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. In September 2014, it was announced that Terry’s group of investors beat out groups led by Jon Bon Jovi and Donald Trump for the right to purchase the Buffalo Bills for $1.4 billion.
#8. Igor Olenicoff – $3.6 Billion
He amassed the majority of his fortune in real estate as the owner of Olen Properties. Olen Properties currently holds extensive real estate in Florida, Arizona, and Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Mr. Olenicoff was charged with tax felony in 2007 and paid $52 million in fines, along with probation and community service. Nonetheless, he has held onto enough of his fortune to remain on this list.
#9. Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. – $3.4 Billion
He inherited DeBartolo Realty Corporation, which went on to become one of the largest real estate conglomerates in US history when it merged with Simon Property Group. He owned the San Francisco 49ers for 23 years, during which they won a record five Super Bowls, until he transferred ownership to his sister in 2000. He now owns a portion of the Famous Famiglia pizza restaurants and a chain of sports clubs.
#10. Robert Rich Jr. – $3.3 Billion
Robert Rich, Jr. inherited a frozen food empire from his father, and as its chairman, continued to grow the company. He is also an author, Broadway producer and owner of the Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball team, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, and the Jamestown Jammers.
Maybe we’ll never be as rich as these guys, but we can dream, right? It never hurts to learn as much about the success of others as possible! Let us know what you think below.
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