Three KC area executives land on Forbes list of richest Americans

Three Kansas City area business executives landed again on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans.

Min Kao and Gary Burrell, co-founders of Olathe-based Garmin, were repeat members on Forbes’ list, as was Cerner Corp. co-founder, chairman and chief executive Neal Patterson.

Kao, with a net worth of $2.8 billion, was ranked No. 219. His wealth climbed about $500 million from 2013, which moved him up 24 spots from last year’s ranking.

Burrell’s net worth was listed at $1.77 billion, which bumped him up eight places from last year to No. 363. Burrell’s wealth increased about $377 million over the past year.

Patterson’s net worth of $1.58 billion placed him at No. 395 on the magazine’s annual list. But that was down from No. 352 in 2013 when his net worth was listed at $1.5 billion.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates topped Forbes’ latest list of the 400 richest Americans for the 21st straight year. The list was largely unchanged for 2014 and showed the rich getting richer. The combined wealth of those on the list rose 13 percent to $2.29 trillion, helped by a stronger U.S. stock market.

Gates’ net worth totaled $81 billion, up $9 billion from 2013.

Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., remained in second place at $67 billion. Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison also kept his No. 3 spot with $50 billion.

Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Wichita-based Koch Industries Inc., stay tied for fourth with $42 billion each.

There were 27 new members of the list, including WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum in the 62nd spot. Facebook announced plans to buy the mobile messaging app for $19 billion in February.

The biggest gainer was Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, No. 11, whose net worth grew $15 billion since last year to $34 billion.

Other regional notables on the list: Jack Taylor, St. Louis, No. 74 at $13.6 billion; Stanley Kroenke, Columbia, Mo., No. 88 at $5.7 billion; Ann Walton Kroenke, Columbia, Mo., No. 96 at $5 billion; John Morris, Springfield, Mo., No. 113 at $4.4 billion, and Pauline MacMillan Keinath, St. Louis, No. 129 at $3.9 billion.

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Three KC area executives land on Forbes list of richest Americans."