If anyone doubted it’s been a good year for Google, the latest Forbes listing of the 400 wealthiest Americans should settle the argument: The company’s two founders and its CEO have rocketed up the list from their rankings last year.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin share the 16th rung of this year’s Forbes financial ladder with personal net worth of $11 billion each. Last year the pair were ranked 43rd with estimated net worth of $4 billion apiece.
And Google CEO Eric Schmidt showed an even more dramatic improvement in his standing, going from number 165 and $1.5 billion in worth in 2004 to number 52 and $4 billion this year.
Google held an initial public offering last year and this year floated a secondary offering that raised $4.18 billion.
Most of the top ranks of the Forbes list remained unchanged. Microsoft founder Bill Gates chalked up his twelfth year as the richest person in America with a net worth of $51 billion. He increased his lead over the second wealthiest, investor Warren Buffet, whose personal wealth declined to 40 billion dollars, according to Forbes.
It’s not the first time the net worth of Google leadership has made news. In August, a reporter for technology Web site CNET News used Google’s search engine to discover Google CEO Schmidt’s personal worth, as well as his hobbies and recent stock transactions, and published them in an article on the capabilities of online search. In response, the company lodged a complaint with the publisher and said it would not speak to CNET reporters for a year.
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