"The rich are different from us ... said F. Scott Fitzgerald.
               "That's right" said Hemingway, "they've got more money."

The Ten Greatest Fortunes
(See Table Below)

The Ten Richest
Americans of All Time

1. William Henry Gates III (42) USA, Bellevue, married, 1 child.
   Net worth: $ 51,000 million
   Source of wealth: Microsoft Corp.(self made)
   The man: World's richest, if not its happiest.
   The empire: Owns 22% of $11.4 billion (sales) Microsoft.
   
   
2. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud (41) Saudi Arabien, Riyadh, divorced, 2 children.
   Net worth: $ 13,300 million
   Source of wealth: investments, construction, banking (inherited)
   The man: Restless, probing investor with an eye for out-of-favor companies. Nephew of the Saudi king.
   The empire: Dizzying portfolio of mostly U.S. and European blue-chip stocks, including Citicorp, News Corp., TWA and Euro Disney.
   
   
3. Philip F. Anschutz.(58) USA, Denver, married, 3 children.
   Net worth: $ 8,800 million
   Source of wealth: Oil, railroads (self made)
   The man: Native Kansan. Shuns publicity, photos.
   The empire: Oil and gas, real estate, railroads, sports, and lately, high tech.
   
   
4. Hasso Plattner (54) Deutschland, Walldorf.
   Net worth: $ 6,900 million
   Source of wealth: SAP (self made)
   The man: One of five former IBM execs to start SAP in 1972, now world's fourth-largest software firm. Serves as co-chairman and chief executive.
   The empire: Owns 23% of SAP, whose profits and sales climbed 63% in 1998.
   
   
5. Francois Pinault (61) Frankreich, Paris, married, 4 children
   Net worth: $ 6,600 million
   Source of wealth: retail (self made)
   The man: Leverage-loving Brittany-born entrepreneur. Addicted to acquisitions.
   The empire: Owns 26% of retailer Pinault-Printemps-Redoute ($15 billion sales). Plus Sefimeg S.A., France's biggest real estate company. Stake in Vail Resorts in the U.S.
   
   
6. Rupert Murdoch (67) USA, New York, married, 4 children.
   Net worth: $ 5,300 million
   Source of wealth: Publishing (inherited and growing)
   The man: Turned small stake in Australian newspaper into what may well be the world's leading media company.
   The empire: Newspapers (New York Post, Times of London, the Australian), movies (Twentieth Century Fox), television (Fox Broadcasting), books (HarperCollins), sports (Los Angeles Dodgers), cable and satellite TV.
   
   
7. Robert Kuok (75) Malaysia, single, 8 children.
   Net worth: $ 4,700 million
   Source of wealth: diversified (self made)
   The man: Exceedingly shrewd judge of business opportunity and growth markets.
   The empire: Real estate, media, commodities and hotels in some 15 Asian countries. The Coca-Cola bottling franchise in China.
   
   
8. Lorenzo Zambrano (54) and Family, Mexico, Monterrey, single.
   Net worth: $ 2,900 million
   Source of wealth: cement (inherited)
   The man: Risk-taking, techno-savvy head of cement company Cemex.
   The empire: Cemex has become the world's third-largest cement company-and the most profitable. He and extended family own estimated 35%.
   
   
9. Masayoshi Son (40) Japan, Saga, single, 2 children.
   Net worth: $ 2,200 million
   Source of wealth: software (self made)
   The man: Young gun entrepreneur in a land where few such exist. Built Softbank, Japan's top software distributor.
   The empire: Ziff-Davis magazines, Comdex computer shows, Kingston Technology, all through Softbank.
   
   
10. Vladimir Potani (37) Russia, Moscow, single, 2 children.
    Net worth: $ 1,600 million
    Source of wealth: banking, oil, metals, telecommunications (self made)
    The man: Golden boy of the Soviet diplomatic establishment. Now a top banker and industrialist.
    The empire: Significant stakes in MFK and Unexim banks and in Sidanco (oil), Gazprom (natural gas), Norilsk Nickel (metals) and Svyazinvest (telecom).