The world’s richest persons are wealthier now than they’ve ever been, and extra billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World’s Billionaires Checklist than ever earlier than, in line with Forbes. This yr, 18 Houston-based billionaires are among the many richest folks on this planet, with hospitality honcho Tilman Fertitta main because the richest Houstonian.
Fertitta, 67, ranked No. 220 total with an estimated internet price of $11.3 billion, which steadily elevated from his 2024 internet price of $9.4 billion.
Along with proudly owning the Houston Rockets, this busy billionaire owns Texas-based hospitality and leisure company Landry’s, and he authored a guide about enterprise management in 2019. He most not too long ago was nominated because the new United States ambassador to Italy by President Donald Trump.
Rating 248th total is oil and fuel chairmanRichard Kinder. Forbes estimates his internet price at $10.6 billion, up from $8.1 billion in 2024.
Kinder cofounded pipeline big Kinder Morgan in 1997, and stepped down as CEO in 2015, although he nonetheless retains his seat as chairman of the board. The corporate is the most important vitality infrastructure agency within the U.S., Forbes says, and it owns 79,000 miles of pipeline.
New to the 2025 listing is Perry Houses govt chair Kathy Britton, whose firm has constructed over 65,000 properties throughout the U.S., in line with Forbes. Her late father, Bob Perry, based Perry Houses in 1967. Britton ranked No. 1408 with an estimated internet price of $2.6 billion.
Mercedes-Benz mega-dealer Joe Agresti is one other beginner to the listing, rating No. 2790 with a internet price of $1.1 billion. He owns Dream Motor Group with former soccer coach Nick Saban.
14 extra Houston-area billionaires that made Forbes 2025 world’s richest listing embrace:
- Houston pipeline inheritor Randa Duncan Williams: ranked No. 307 with an estimated internet price of $9.3 billion, up from $7.7 billion in 2024. Fellow pipeline heirs Dannine Avara and Milane Frantz tie for 311th nationally. Every has an estimated internet price of $9.2 billion, up from $7.6 billion. Scott Duncan ranks No. 329 with a $9 billion estimated internet price, up from $7.6 billion in 2024.
- Houston oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand: ties for No. 411; $7.7 billion, down from $12.6 billion
- Toyota mega-dealer Dan Friedkin: ties for No. 411; $7.7 billion, up from $6.4 billion
- Houston Texans proprietor Janice McNair and household: No. 561, $6.2 billion, up from $5.6 billion
- Power exploration chief exec George Bishop: No. 717, $5 billion, up from $3.2 billion (based mostly in The Woodlands)
- Westlake Company co-owners Albert Chao, James Chao and their households:tied for No. 902, $4 billion, down from $4.9 billion
- Hedge fund honcho John Arnold: No. 1266, $2.9 billion, down from $3.3 billion
- Houston Astros proprietor Jim Crane: No. 1513, $2.4 billion, unchanged from 2024
- Former Houston Rockets proprietor Leslie Alexander: tied for No. 1850, $1.9 billion, unchanged from 2024
- Frontier Airways chairman William Franke: No. 2623, $1.2 billion, down from $1.3 billion
Elsewhere in Texas, Austin billionaire Elon Musk topped Forbes’ listing because the world’s richest individual in 2025. The Tesla and SpaceX founder knocked French luxurious items magnate Bernard Arnault all the way down to second place this yr.
Forbes declared Musk the primary individual to achieve the $300 billion standing. His present internet price stands at $342 billion, which is a staggering $147 billion greater than his 2024 internet price.
“It’s one other record-breaking yr for the world’s richest folks, regardless of monetary uncertainty for a lot of and geopolitical tensions on the rise,” stated Forbes senior editor of wealth Chase Peterson-Withorn. “And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the opposite billionaires taking up the U.S. authorities, they’re rising increasingly more highly effective.”
In Dallas-Fort Price, Walmart heiress Alice Walton turned the wealthiest girl on this planet in 2025. Forbes declared Walton’s internet price at $101 billion, which is $28.7 billion greater than her 2024 internet price of $72.3 billion. She is now one in every of 15 people to say 12-figure fortunes, also referred to as the “$100 Billion Membership.”
