The Richest Person in Town

Featuring

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aerial shot of calif. town with $$ in sky

Every Town Has One

Every town has a richest person and Worth magazine founder W. Randall Jones wanted to find out who they were. He ferreted out 100 of America's greatest success stories and we feature 10 of them here in our gallery.

Click through our gallery to see how these ten folks got so rich or use the links below to navigate directly to the town of your choice.

' Read BW's Complete Article

First Up: The Richest in Bangor, Maine

Bangor, Maine

Richest Person: Stephen King
Age: 61

How'd He Get So Rich?
By scaring the bejesus out of people. Since his first book, 'Carrie', appeared in 1973, King has sold between 300 million and 350 million books and written, under his own name as well as a variety of pen names, more than 70 novels. In addition, his books have spawned dozens of Hollywood hit movies.

More on Stephen King

Next: The Richest in Charlotte, N.C.

Charlotte, N.C.

Richest Person: O. Bruton Smith
Age: 80

How'd He Get So Rich?
The first man to bring NASCAR to Wall Street, the auto-racing billionaire owns Speedway Motorsports, which includes the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. He is also chairman and CEO of Sonic Automotive, a company with more than 180 car dealerships.

More on O. Bruton Smith

Next: The Richest in Danbury, Conn.

Danbury, Conn.

Richest Person: Fred DeLuca
Age: 60

How'd He Get So Rich?
Starting in 1965, Fred DeLuca turned a $1,000 investment from his friend and partner, Dr. Peter Buck, into Subway, one of the biggest sandwich chains in the world. With more than 31,000 franchisees, DeLuca now has a fortune estimated at $1.6 billion.

More on Fred DeLuca

Next: The Richest in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, Calif.

Richest Person: Kirk Kerkorian
Age: 91

How'd He Get So Rich?
With a fortune estimated at around $5 billion, Kerkorian got his start in the airline business after World War II. From there he moved into the casino and film businesses, buying and selling MGM Studios three times.

More on Kirk Kerkorian

Next: The Richest in Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis, Tenn.

Richest Person: Frederick W. Smith
Age: 64

How'd He Get So Rich?
The founder, chairman and CEO of FedEx, Smith conceived of his overnight delivery service while at Yale. Despite his professor's derision, FedEx is today a $16 billion company, and Smith has a net worth in excess of $1 billion.

More on Frederick W. Smith

Next: The Richest in New York City

New York City

Richest Person: Michael Bloomberg
Age: 67

How'd He Get So Rich?
After being fired from investment bank Salomon Brothers in 1981, Bloomberg used his $10 million severance package to set up his own financial software services company, eventually making him the richest man in New York -- as well as one of the richest men in the world.

More on Michael Bloomberg

Next: The Richest in Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minn.

Richest Person: Richard Schulze
Age: 68

How'd He Get So Rich?
Schulze started a modest stereo store called Sound of Music in St. Paul, Minn., in 1966, renaming the store Best Buy in 1983. It went public in 1985 and by 1992 was doing $1 billion a year in sales. Today it is the largest specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the U.S., accounting for 21% of the market. His personal net worth is thought to be as much as $2.3 billion.
More on Richard Schulze

Next: Richest in San Francisco

San Francisco, Calif.

Richest Person: Larry Page
Age: 36

How'd He Get So Rich?
Like his future business partner, Sergey Brin, Page was born the son of professors, but it wasn't until the two brainiacs met at Stanford that their fate was decided. In 1998 they founded Google, which would soon become the dominant Internet search engine and make them both billionaires many times over. Google has a market cap of $123.1 billion, and Page has a personal net worth estimated at $12 billion.
More on Larry Page
Next: Richest in Seattle

Seattle, Wash.

Richest Person: Bill Gates
Age: 53

How'd He Get So Rich?
The founder of Microsoft gave up running the software maker in June 2008 (although he remains nonexecutive chairman) to devote himself full-time with his wife to running the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which gives away more than $1.5 billion a year. A Seattle native, Gates has a net worth of $40 billion and is frequently described as the richest man in the world.
More on Bill Gates
Next: The Richest in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Richest Person: Phillip Ruffin
Age: 74

How'd He Get So Rich?
The billionaire best friend of Donald Trump made his fortune in casinos, greyhound racing tracks, convenience stories, real estate, and hand trucks. He is the owner of New Frontier Casino in Las Vegas, as well as the Trump International Hotel & Tower. On Jan 6, 2008, he married the 26-year-old supermodel and Miss Ukraine 2001 title holder Oleksandra Nikolayenko. Ruffin reportedly has a net worth of $2 billion.
More on Phillip Ruffin
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