How do Georgia billionaires compare to Elon Musk? Forbes 2025 richest people list released
There's rich and then there's making the Forbes-richest-people list rich.
Forbes recently released its list of the richest people in the World in 2025 and a dozen of those billionaires hail from Georgia.
These people made their fortunes across a variety of industries, including tech starts ups, fast food companies and even pest removal. These Georgia billionaire's earn a combined net worth of $81.8 billion.
Elon Musk was named the richest person in the world, a comeback after being dethroned Bernard Arnault and family for several years.
A record 3,028 people around the globe making Forbes' annual list for 2025, 247 more than last year. The average fortune globally now stands at $5.3 billion, up $200 million from 2024, among those listed.
The U.S. has 902 billionaires. China, including Hong Kong, had 516, and India has 205.
Here's a look at the individuals from the Peach State who made the list and how they made their fortunes.
Leading the pack in Georgia, all ranking No. 213 in the world, is the trio behind Chick-Fil-A: the Cathy brothers, Bubba, 70, and Dan, 72, and their sister, Trudy Cathy White, 69.
Each of these individuals boast an impressive net worth of $11.4 billion.
Ranked No. 329, is Arthur Blank, age 82, who co-founded Home Depot. Blank is worth $9 billion. Blank is well-known not just for his retail success, but also as the chairman of the Atlanta Falcons.
Ranked No. 369, is John Brown, age 90, is worth $8.2 billion for his work with a medical device and software company called Stryker Corp. While his company was founded in Michigan, Brown lives in Atlanta.
Ranked No. 487, is Gary Rollins (age 80) and family, who controls Orkin, North America's largest pest control company by revenue, earning him a net worth of $6.9 billion. He and his family have lived on a farm in Cartersville.
Ranked No. 512, is Jim Kennedy, age 77, with a net worth $6.6 billion, served and chairman of Cox Enterprises from 2008-2021.
Ranked No. 634, Dan Kurzius, age 53, co-founded Mailchimp in 2001 and is worth $5.6 billion. He lives in Atlanta.
Ranked No. 717, Ben Chestnut, age 50, also co-founded Mailchimp with Kurzius. Chestnut is worth $5 billion.
Ranked No. 887, Neal Aronson, age 60, is the founder behind Roark Capital, which owns 30,000 sandwich shops of Jimmy John's, Arby's, Sonic, and Subway. Aronson is worth $4.1 billion and lives in Atlanta.
Ranked No. 2,623, Tony Townley, age 62, is the co-founder behing Zaxby's, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He is a Watkinsville native who still lives in the city.
Ranked No. 2,933, Zach McLeroy, age 62, is worth $1 billion. McLeroy also co-founded Zaxby's.
Here are the top 10 billionaires in the nation according to Forbes:
Elon Musk, age 53: $342 billion
Mark Zuckerberg, age 40: $216 billion
Jeff Bezos, age 61: $215 billion
Larry Ellison, age 80: $192 billion
Warren Buffett, age 94: $154 billion
Larry Page, age 52: $144 billion
Sergey Brin, age 51: $138 billion
Steve Ballmer, age 69: $118 billion
Rob Walton and family, age 80: $110 billion
Jim Walton and family, age 76: $109 billion
For more information, visit forbes.com/billionaires.
Vanessa Countryman is the Trending Topics Reporter for the Deep South Connect Team Georgia. Email her at Vcountryman@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgians on Forbes 2025 billionaires list. How they compare to Elon Musk
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
28 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Tesla's Leader of Optimus Humanoid Robot Program Leaves Company
The leader of Tesla Inc. 's Optimus program is leaving the company, according to a person familiar with the matter, injecting uncertainty into the humanoid robot effort that Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk sees as a significant part of the future business. Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for Optimus, informed colleagues on Friday that he is departing effective immediately, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla's autopilot teams, will take over responsibility for Optimus, the person said.
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Rep. Randy Fine Pushes Back On Critics Of The Big, Beautiful Bill: 'Every Play Can't Be A Hail May Pass'
Florida Republican Congressman Randy Fine joins Fox Across America With guest host Paul Gleiser to respond to some of the criticisms Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly expressed regarding President Trump's 'one, big beautiful bill.' 'What he has to understand is we can't solve every problem. The bill can be beautiful, but that doesn't mean it's perfect and solves every problem.' What I wish he would say is, good job on this, but you better not declare victory. It's funny. When I got to Congress and they told me we're gonna cut spending by a trillion and a half dollars I was really excited because I said well the deficits about two trillion a year. So cutting it a trillion-and-a-half That's pretty good. That's 75% of the problem. And then they go, no, no, no that's over 10 years. I mean, you don't get to congratulate yourself at this point That's basically the it's a down payment on the problem But we have got to come up with a plan that gets us to a balanced budget and we don't have it yet and that and it is fair to criticize us for that That doesn't mean you don't move the ball down the field.' Rep. Chip Roy Discusses Elon's Spending Bill Criticisms To hear the full conversation, check out the podcast!
New York Times
29 minutes ago
- New York Times
It's Getting Harder for Trump to Keep the Gang Together
The long-awaited breakup between President Trump and Elon Musk was as personal and petty as anticipated, and yet it's a sign of something much more than a conflict between two of the world's most powerful and mercurial men. It's a signal that Mr. Trump is not finding it easy to hold his populist conservative coalition together. At the beginning of the year, Mr. Trump's coalition did not seem so vulnerable. To an extent unmatched since at least Ronald Reagan, it seemed as if Mr. Trump could enact a conservative agenda and find considerable support from the public. By raising tariffs on China, deporting undocumented immigrants, increasing oil production, cutting spending or fighting the 'woke' left, he could stay on solid political ground. Whether it's because of his own limitations as a manager of competing players, the excesses of his own policies or the growing challenge of the national debt, it doesn't appear to be so straightforward for Mr. Trump to hold the gang together. Mr. Trump won a second term with a much broader political coalition than the one that brought him to the presidency in 2016. He added millions of young and nonwhite voters to his base of older, white, working-class populists and stalwart Republicans. He also added considerable support from anti-woke and anti-establishment elites who previously backed Democrats. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
