The Forbes 400 list of richest Americans was just released, and the top two spots were taken by the usual winners Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
One thing the list reveals, as far as it relates to the entertainment industry, is how much the industry has changed. For example, you could include Bill Gates as a tech billionaire, but also as someone in the entertainment field, through Microsoft's (MSFT) ownership in MSNBC (GE), among other properties.
Then you have the casinos, whose owners were the top finishers in the general entertainment category, with Sheldon Adelson being the third-richest American, having a net worth of $28 billion. Not far behind him was another casino owner, Kirk Kerkorian, who was the seventh-richest American, having a net worth of $18 billion.
The first, I guess what you could call "pure" entertainment person, would be Charles Ergen of EchoStar (DISH), who finished in the #27 spot, having a net worth of $10.2 billion.
News Corp.'s (NWS-A) Rupert Murdoch was next, ending in the #33 position, being worth $8.8 billion.
Viacom's (VIA-B) Sumner Redstone brought up the #41 spot, ending the year with a $7.6 billion net worth.
The overall list this year was more difficult to get on, as you had to have a net worth of $1.3 billion, in comparison to last year where $1 billion would have landed you there.
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