Forbes Ranks Washington’s Wealthiest And Their Local Impact

A few months ago, Forbes released its annual list of billionaires for 2025.

Who are the top two billionaires in the world for 2025?

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X.com, is at the top of the 2025 list, having earned $342 billion in the past year.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of social media giant META (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), earned $216 billion, ranking second worldwide.

Washington was well represented with 12 people on the prestigious list. Most of the Washington dozen earned their wealth from local companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, and major video game companies, which made up most of the list. 

When did Jeff Bezos leave the state of Washington?

Jeff Bezos (the third-richest billionaire in 2025) had consistently appeared on the list of Washington billionaires until he announced his relocation from Seattle to Miami in November 2023. His parents had moved to Miami, and Bezos wanted to be closer to them and his then-girlfriend (now wife), Lauren Sánchez. Bezos also wanted to be closer to Blue Origin's operations in Cape Canaveral. 

Here are all the Washington billionaires listed in Forbes' Top Billionaires for 2025.

Steve Ballmer, $118 billion. (#10 worldwide)

• He was the CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. Ballmer currently owns the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. He is the founder of USAFacts and co-founder of Ballmer Group.

Bill Gates, $108 billion. (#13 worldwide)

• Microsoft co-founder. He is the Chair of the Gates Foundation and founder of Breakthrough Energy.

Melinda French Gates, $30.4 billion. (#58 worldwide)

• Left her position as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation after a nearly 24-year run. She founded Pivotal Ventures.

MacKenzie Scott, $28.2 billion. (#68 worldwide)

• Married for 25 years to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. After her well-publicized divorce, she now uses her wealth for philanthropy and publishing.

Get our free mobile app

Gabe Newell, $9.5 billion. (#293 worldwide)

• He serves as the Valve Corporation President. He got his start as a video game developer who co-founded the company in 1998 with former Microsoft colleague Mike Harrington.

Charles Simonyi, $7.2 billion. (#453 worldwide)

• Was one of the first Microsoft employees, who helped create their iconic Word and Excel programs.

Howard Schultz, $3.5 billion. (#1045 worldwide)

• Former Starbucks CEO.

John Stanton, $2.4 billion. (#1513 worldwide)

• Chairman of the Seattle Mariners baseball team and now serves as managing partner of a group of investors that has owned the franchise since 2016.

Craig McCaw, $2 billion. (#1763 worldwide)

• Wireless pioneer (McCaw Wireless). He got his start by joining his brothers' joint takeover of his dad’s cable-TV business in 1966.

Rich Barton, $1.2 billion. (#2623 worldwide)

• Co-founder of both the travel website Expedia.com and the world-famous real estate company Zillow Group. (Barton currently serves as its CEO.)

Orion Hindawi, $1.1 billion. (#2790 worldwide)

• Co-founded cybersecurity company Tanium with his father, David Hindawi, in 2007. He moved to Seattle in 2020 from the Bay Area. 

David Hindawi, $1 billion. (#2933 worldwide)

• Co-founded cybersecurity company Tanium with his son, Orion Hindawi, in 2007.