Irvine Company’s Donald Bren leads a contingent of nine Orange County billionaires on this year’s Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people in the nation.
Bren, chairman and owner of Irvine Co., ranks No. 21 on the magazine’s annual list at an estimated $12 billion, unchanged from last year.
He dropped five spots in ranking from 2009’s Forbes 400 amid gains by others.
The magazine’s estimate for Bren matches the Business Journal August OC’s Wealthiest list, which ranked Bren at No. 1 in the county at an estimated $12 billion, unchanged from a year earlier.
Jim Jannard, founder of Foothill Ranch’s Oakley Inc. and chief executive of Lake Forest’s Red Digital Cinema Camera Co., was the next highest ranking local on the Forbes list.
He came in at No. 110 at $3 billion, up from $2.8 billion a year earlier. Jannard fell three spots in the ranking from 2009.
The estimate matches the $3 billion figure for Jannard on the Business Journal’s August list.
Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Co. founders David Sun and John Tu ranked No. 136 on the Forbes list at $2.6 billion apiece, up from $2.5 billion last year. Sun and Tu fell 13 spots from 2009.
The Kingston duo were estimated at $2.75 billion apiece by the Business Journal in August.
At No. 144 is Igor Olenicoff, who owns and runs Newport Beach-based real estate owner and developer Olen Property Corp.
Forbes pegs him at $2.5 billion, a big jump from $1.5 billion a year ago. That made Olenicoff the only local to move up in the ranking, from No. 236 last year to No. 144.
Olenicoff was conservatively estimated at $1.4 billion on the Business Journal’s August list.
Bill Gross of bond fund Pacific Investment Management Co. came in at No. 170 on the Forbes list at $2 billion, $100 million more than a year earlier. He dropped from No. 158 in 2009.
Gross was estimated at $2 billion by the Business Journal last month.
Henry Samueli, a Broadcom Corp. cofounder, came in at No. 238 on the Forbes list at $1.7 billion, or $50 million higher than last year. He dropped from No. 212 in 2009.
The Business Journal estimated Samueli at $2.3 billion in August.
Real estate owner and businessman George Argyros came in at No. 252 at $1.6 billion, up from $1.5 billion a year earlier. He was down from No. 236 a year earlier.
Argyros was estimated at $1 billion by the Business Journal last month.
Rounding out the local contingent was Broadcom founder and former chief executive Henry Nicholas at No. 269 and an estimated $1.5 billion, the same as in 2009. Nicholas dropped from No. 236 a year earlier.
Nicholas was estimated at $2 billion by the Business Journal in August.
Topping the Forbes list again was Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates at $54 billion.
