Gates still richest but Zuckerberg climbs quickly

Gates remains the country's richest man.

(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET)

It's no surprise that Bill Gates is still the richest man in the United States, according to Forbes' newest list of the 400 richest people in America. Perhaps more interesting is just how quickly Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is working his way up the ranks.

Gates, 55, the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, topped the list once again with an estimated wealth valuation of $59 billion, up from last fall's $54 billion. Second on the list once again was Berkshire Hathaway CEO and Gates pal Warren Buffett, 81, with $39 billion, down from $45 billion last year. And also again, No. 3 on the list is Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, 67, with $33 billion, up from $27 billion last year.

But perhaps the biggest movement, at least when looking with an eye for tech moguls, is Zuckerberg's rise to No. 14 on the Forbes list with $17.5 billion. Last year the 27-year-old was at No. 35 on the list at $6.9 billion and the year before he didn't even didn't even qualify as a billionaire. Zuckerberg, this year, also elbowed out Google co-founders Larry Page, 38, and Sergey Brin, 38, who both ranked 15 on the list with net worths of $16.7 billion. But Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos beat out Page, Brin, and Zuckerberg, coming in 13th with an estimated wealth of $19.1 billion.

Some others of note on the list this year included Michael Dell, 46, at No. 18 with an estimated wealth of $15 billion; Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, 55, at No. 19 with an estimated wealth of $13.9 billion; Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, 58, at No. 23 with $13.2 billion; and quite a ways down at No. 39, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 56, at $7 billion.