NEW YORK — Cruise ship heiress Shari Arison Dorsman, shipping magnates Sammy and Yuli Ofer and software kingpin Gil Schwed are the world’s richest Israelis, according to Forbes magazine’s newly released list of 500 billionaires.
The top spot on the coveted list went to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, whose net worth declined $6 billion to $52.8 billion in the past year.
Warren Buffet, who increased his $35 billion fortune by $2.5 billion over the past year, kept the No. 2 slot.
Dorsman was No. 112 on the list, boasting $3.3 billion, while the Ofers checked in at No. 208, with $2 billion.
Tied at the bottom, No. 445, with a mere $1 billion to his name, Schwed nonetheless made it to the magazine’s cover, in a four-page article titled, “You can still get rich [even in tech].” The story details the 34-year-old Jerusalem native’s work with the Israel Defense Force’s 8200 computer unit and his amassing a personal fortune in security software with Check Point Software Technologies.
Jewish billionaires featured on the list include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a media mogul turned Republican politician, whose $4.4 billion fortune ranks him at No. 72. Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is No. 413 with $1.1 billion.