Nelson makes Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list

PROVIDENCE EQUITY Partners CEO Jonathan Nelson made Forbes' The World’s Billionaires list.  / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER
PROVIDENCE EQUITY Partners CEO Jonathan Nelson made Forbes' The World’s Billionaires list. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER

PROVIDENCE – Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Providence Equity Partners, made Forbes’ list of The World’s Billionaires, falling 117 spots to No. 1011.
Nelson was the only Rhode Islander to make the 30th annual list ranking 1,810 of the world’s billionaires, which is 16 less than there were a year ago.
Nelson, a Brown University graduate who got his MBA at Harvard, also ranks No. 350 among the richest in the United States, according to Forbes.
Forbes noted that in August, Providence Equity sold the Ironman triathlon series to a company run by Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin for $900 million, quadrupling its initial investment. It also noted that Nelson serves on Brown’s board and helped fund the school’s $45 million fitness center. In addition, it noted that in January, he announced a $25 million gift to launch the university’s Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship.
At the top of the list is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, worth $75.8 billion, which is $4.2 billion less than a year ago. Gates has held the top spot for the past three years, Forbes said.
Second place is the richest man in Europe, retailer Amancio Ortega, worth $68.2 billion, and third is Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, worth $60.8 billion.
The list also includes Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at No. 324, worth $4.5 billion; Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, No. 6, worth $44.6 billion; and television personality Oprah Winfrey, who with a $3 billion net worth, came in at No. 569.

Forbes said the aggregate net worth of the billionaires was $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year. The average net worth of a billionaire also is now $3.6 billion, $300 million less than last year, Forbes said, adding this is the first time since 2010 that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped.
The U.S. has 540 billionaires, more than any other country in the world, Forbes said.

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