1982 debut to 2012 Forbes 400 -- Making it vs. Keeping it

The Forbes 400 Hall Of Fame: 36 Members Of Our Debut Issue Still In Ranks

This article proves to you that after a few decades, not only do companies which were on the S&P disappear or fall off the ranks, so do the wealthy on the Forbes 400. It is not easy to maintain wealth.   

Sean KilachandForbes Staff

Forbes published its first ever authoritative list documenting the 400 wealthiest Americans in 1982. Few of today’s readers would likely remember the gentleman who topped the original list: Daniel Keith Ludwig, with a $2 billion fortune, or about $4.8 in today’s dollars.  Press-shy Ludwig ran a shipping outfit that built tankers for the US during World War II and is credited with creating the first supertanker.

But there were plenty of other people on that first list who readers will remember instantly. The second youngest person on the first ever Forbes 400 was Apple’s legendary cofounder Steve Jobs , then just 27, described in his bio as a “computer freak” worth upwards of $100 million.   Sam Walton, the iconic founder of Wal-Mart, appeared with a net worth of $690 million (today 6 Walton members worth a total of $116 billion have spots in the rankings).  So too did Leslie Hope, better known as Bob Hope, the only entertainer on the list, with $280 million to his name. All three of these folks are gone, but there are 36 members from that debut issue who still rank among America's 400 Richest. The main difference is that they are much older, and yes, much richer. Back then the 36 Hall of Famers were worth an average $359 million, or $1.4 billion in today's dollars. Today the group, which includes Donald Trump, George Lucas and Nike's Phil Knight, has an average net worth of $7.1 billion.

Below is the complete list (in alphabetical order) of the original 36 still in our ranks, with their 1982 and 2012 net worths.

Kenneth Adams Jr. 

NFL

1982: $152M 2012: $1.15B

Herbert Allen Jr. 

specialized in corporate buyouts

1982: $100M 2012: $2B

Philip Anschutz    

energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas and music

1982: $1B 2012: $7.6B

Sid Bass 

oil and gas

Bass was forced to sell his Disney holdings as a result of a margin call.

1982: $1B 2012: $1.8B

Stephen Bechtel Jr. 

Bechtel Engineering

1982: $200M 2012: $2.9B

Donald Bren    

Real Estate

1982: $350M 2012: $13B

Warren Buffett   

Berkshire Hathaway  

1982: $250M 2012: $46B

Anne Cox Chambers 

Cox Enterprises, a privately held media empire

1982: $500M 2012: $10.7B

Richard DeVos

Amyway, multi-level marketing

1982: $275M 2012: $5.1B

Gordon Getty

Inheritance, oil and gas

1982: $1.4B 2012: $2B

Henry Hillman

Real estate, private equity 

1982: $500M 2012: $2.2B

Ray Lee Hunt

Oil and Gas

1982: $200M 2012: $5.2B

Kirk Kerkorian

MGM Resorts

1982: $133M 2012: $2.9B

Phil Knight

Nike

1982: $275M 2012: $13.1B

Charles Koch

Oil and Gas, Conglomerate

1982: $266M 2012: $31B

David Koch

Oil and Gas, Conglomerate

1982: $266M 2012: $31B

William Koch

Oil and Gas, Conglomerate

1982: $266M 2012: $4B

Ronald Lauder

Cosmetics, Estée Lauder

1982: $125M 2012: $3.4B

Leonard Lauder

Cosmetics, Estée Lauder

1982: $125M 2012: $7.7B

George Lucas

Star Wars, Lucas Films

1982: $100M 2012: $3.3B

Patrick McGovern

International Data Group

1982: $1B 2012: $3.9B

Gordon Moore

Intel

1982: $125M 2012: $4.8B

David Murdock

Media

1982: $400M 2012: $2.4B

Donald Newhouse

Condé Nast (publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker

1982: $600M 2012: $6.6B

Samuel Newhouse Jr.

Condé Nast (publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker

1982: $600M 2012: $7.4B

Henry Ross Perot Sr.

Electronic Data Systems

1982: $325 2012: $3.5B

Sumner Redstone

Media- Viacom, CBS

1982: $100M 2012: $4.1B

David Rockefeller Sr.

Inheritance, Oil and Gas

1982: $1B 2012: $2.7B

Richard Scaife

Inheritance,  heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune

1982: $500M 2012: $1.3B

Frederick Smith

FedEx

1982: $100M 2012: $1.8B

Sheldon Solow

New York Real Estate

1982: $100 2012: $3.5B

Leonard Stern

Hartz Mountain Corporation, Pet suppliers

1982: $500M 2012: $4.2B

Alfred Taubman

Auction House Sotheby, Designing Shopping Malls

1982: $525M 2012: $2.9B

Ted Turner

Time Warner, CNN

1982: $220M 2012: $2B

Mortimer Zuckerman

Canadian-American billionaire media proprietor, Boston Properties

1982: $150 2012: $2.4B

Donald Trump

New York Real Estate

1982: $100M 2012: $3.1B