Forbes magazine has just released its annual roundup of the richest people in America -- and darn it, no one toiling at Fool Intergalactic Headquarters made the list -- again. Oh, well. The list is still interesting. Some highlights:

  • Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) chief Bill Gates remains on top, where he's now perched for a full decade. His wealth is tagged at a whopping $46 billion (and remember, he's already given a lot of money away!).

  • With a net worth around $36 billion is Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) Chairman and super-investor Warren Buffett.

  • In third place is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, at $22 billion. He's followed by, in order: five members of the Walton Family, of Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) fame (roughly $21 billion each), Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison ($18 billion), and Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) CEO Michael Dell ($13 billion).

  • Overall, the wealth of the top 400 increased by a full 10% this year, totaling nearly $1 trillion. This is after the total shrank for two years in a row.

  • Internet-related folks did rather well this year, with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos adding some $3 billion to his bottom line and ending up as No. 32, thanks to the tripling of his company's stock. eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) CEO Meg Whitman landed in 224th place, with $1.1 billion, while eBay founder Pierre Omidyar rested in 29th place with $6.9 billion.

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