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(STACKER) — The first billionaire ever is thought to be Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller back in 1916, or perhaps Henry Ford in 1925. Fast forward some 100 years to 2021: as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage, a record-breaking 660 people became billionaires globally, growing the previous year’s number by 30%.

While the U.S. is home to the most billionaires out of any other country, Americans are somewhat split in their feelings on the billionaire class. According to Pew Research Center data, people in the U.S. became somewhat more critical of billionaires between 2020 and 2021. Although support for individual billionaires like Elon Musk or Bill Gates is relatively strong, many Americans view the ultra-rich—as a group rather than as individuals—negatively. Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is projected to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2026.

The U.S.’s wealthiest billionaires are mostly concentrated within just a couple of industries: finance and investments, and technology. Other wealthy sectors include food and drink, fashion and retail, and media and entertainment.

Stacker compiled a list of the richest billionaires that are residents of Colorado, using data from Forbes. Billionaires are ranked by net worth as of May 31. Forbes lists 12 billionaires having homes in Colorado.

#12. Thomas Bailey
– Net worth: $1.2 billion (#2,333 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Aspen, Colorado
– Source of wealth: founder of the former Denver-based investment firm Janus Capital Group

#11. Stewart Butterfield
– Net worth: $1.3 billion (#2,216 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Aspen, Colorado
– Source of wealth: CEO of Slack, co-founder of Flickr

#10. Gary Magness
– Net worth: $1.4 billion (#2,080 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Denver, Colorado
– Source of wealth: cable TV; investments (son to founder of former Denver-based cable company TCI)

#9. William MacMillan
– Net worth: $1.6 billion (#1,804 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Englewood, Colorado
– Source of wealth: one of 12 heirs to agricultural company Cargill

#8. Cargill MacMillan III
– Net worth: $1.6 billion (#1,804 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Boulder, Colorado
– Source of wealth: one of 12 heirs to agricultural company Cargill

#7. Kenneth Tuchman
– Net worth: $2.6 billion (#1,183 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Denver, Colorado
– Source of wealth: founder of Englewood-based TTEC, a call center and customer experience company

#6. Pat Stryker
– Net worth: $3.0 billion (#1,022 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Fort Collins, Colorado
– Source of wealth: granddaughter to founder of medical equipment company Stryker Corp.

#5. James Leprino
– Net worth: $3.8 billion (#781 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Indian Hills, Colorado
– Source of wealth: CEO of Denver-based Leprino Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of mozzarella cheese

#4. Mark Stevens
– Net worth: $4.2 billion (#684 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Steamboat Springs, Colorado
– Source of wealth: venture capitalist; while partner at Sequoia Capital, firm invested in Google, YouTube, Yahoo! and others

#3. Charles Ergen
– Net worth: $6.7 billion (#362 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Denver, Colorado
– Source of wealth: co-founder and chairman of Colorado-based Dish Network and EchoStar

#2. John Malone
– Net worth: $7.2 billion (#324 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Elizabeth, Colorado
– Source of wealth: was CEO of former Denver-based cable company TCI, and is current chairman of its spin-offs Liberty Media, Liberty Global

#1. Philip Anschutz
– Net worth: $10.9 billion (#180 wealthiest in the world)
– Residence: Denver, Colorado
– Source of wealth: investments in a wide variety of industries; son to founder of The Anschutz Corporation


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