The Forbes 400 Richest Americans

©AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

11. Michael Dell Net Worth: $17.3 billion Source: Dell Residence: Austin, Tex. Age: 43 Marital Status: Married, 4 children

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• Computer king returned to chief executive post at his P.C. outfit last year; stock down 18% since. Plunging margins and higher marketing costs pushed second-quarter profits down 17%.
• Still believes in PCs; has bought $200 million worth of Dell stock since July.
• Launched service centers in Wal-Mart to compete with Best Buy’s Geek Squad.
• Started business out of U. of Texas dorm room in 1984 with $1,000.
• Built business with direct-sales method, public 1988.
• Majority of wealth invested via MSD Capital.
• Michael & Susan Dell Foundation supports education, health initiatives; endowment exceeds $1 billion.

12. Paul Allen Net Worth: $16 billion Source: Microsoft, investments Residence: Seattle Age: 55 Marital Status: Single

• Washington State dropout founded Microsoft with school chum Bill Gates in 1975.
• Left Microsoft in 1983 after Hodgkin’s disease diagnosis.
• Sold off much of his stake to lose huge sums on far-off visions through holding company Vulcan.
• Microsoft still makes up 20% of his fortune; shares down 29% since October highs amid botched buyout attempt of Yahoo, worries company can’t compete with Google.
• Stake in cable outfit Charter Communications down 45% since May.
• Dabbles in odd tech projects; donated $25 million to researchers scanning outer space for signs of intelligent alien life, millions more to create Allen Institute for Brain Science, which maps gene activity in humans and mice.
• Guitar fanatic owns a rock ’n’ roll museum, Jimi Hendrix music rights and artifacts.
• Also owns football’s Seattle Seahawks and basketball’s Portland Trailblazers; expanding into pro soccer with Seattle Sounders MLS team in 2009.

©AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

13. Sergey Brin Net Worth: $15.9 billion Source: Google Residence: Palo Alto, Calif. Age: 35 Marital Status: Married

• With partner Larry Page, continues to wage the battle for tech dominance.
• Last month the Google Guys took the fight to Microsoft with the launch of Web browser Chrome; attempting to steal some of Internet Explorer’s 75% market share.
• Professors’ sons met in computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford.
• Duo dropped out in 1998 to start Google from friend’s garage.
• Brin emigrated from Russia, Page raised in Michigan.
• Initial financing came from angel investors K. Ram Shriram, Andy von Bechtolsheim, professor David Cheriton; then superstar venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital pitched in $25 million.
• Longtime tech exec Eric Schmidt brought on 2001; took company public 2004.
• Stock down 40% since all-time highs last November. Sales: $16.6 billion. Net margins: 25%.
• Brin focuses on technology.

©AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

14. Larry Page Net Worth: $15.8 billion Source: Google Residence: San Francisco Age: 35 Marital Status: Married

• With partner Sergey Brin, continues to wage the battle for tech dominance.
• Last month the Google Guys took the fight to Microsoft with the launch of Web browser Chrome; attempting to steal some of Internet Explorer’s 75% market share.
• Professors’ sons met in computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford.
• Duo dropped out in 1998 to start Google from friend’s garage.
• Brin emigrated from Russia, Page raised in Michigan.
• Initial financing came from angel investors K. Ram Shriram, Andy von Bechtolsheim, professor David Cheriton; then superstar venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital pitched in $25 million.
• Longtime tech exec Eric Schmidt brought on 2001; took company public 2004.
• Stock down 40% since all-time highs last November. Sales: $16.6 billion. Net margins: 25%.
• Page heads product division.

©AP Photo/Kin Cheung

15. Sheldon Adelson Net Worth: $15 billion Source: Casinos Residence: Las Vegas Age: 75 Marital Status: Divorced, remarried; 5 children

• Rough year for Sin City’s richest man. America’s 3rd-richest man last year has seen fortune dwindle by $13 billion; shares of his Las Vegas Sands casino company have fallen 65% since last October as gamblers stay home, Wall Street falls out of love with Macau.
• Cabdriver’s son borrowed $200 from uncle to sell newspapers at age 12.
• Created computer industry’s marquee event, Comdex, mid-1980s; sold show to Japan’s Softbank for $862 million 1995.
• Built $1.5 billion all-suites Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the 1.2-million-square-foot Sands Convention Center 1997.
• Enticed conventioneers to Sin City midweek, took emphasis off gambling.
• In January opened $1.9 billion Palazzo resort next to nemesis Steve Wynn’s Wynn Las Vegas.
• Unveiled $2.4 billion Venetian Macau in China last August; 10.5-million-square-foot mega-resort features 3,400 slots, 800 tables, 3,000 suites and a convention center.
• Owns Israeli newspaper Israel Today.

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