Delaware: the home of no billionaires

Delaware is one of six states without a single billionaire resident, according to a recent ranking by Forbes.

Analysts say it is largely a numbers game. Only 538 billionaires are in the United States, according to Forbes, so there is a small chance they would be found among Delaware’s 900,000 residents.

Alaska, Alabama, Vermont, New Mexico and North Dakota are the other states that cannot claim as a billionaire among its population, Forbes said. All of the states, with the exception of Alabama, are among the least populated in the country.

The richest Delawarean is a tie between two heirs to W.L. Gore & Associates — Robert Gore and sister Elizabeth Snyder. Forbes estimates their fortunes to be around $675 million each. The Gore family’s combined wealth is worth $5.3 billion.

Because of Delaware’s small size, the state doesn’t offer the amenities that attract the super wealthy, such as a multimillion dollar condominium along New York’s Central Park West or a palatial mansion leading to a private beach in Malibu, California.

“Rehoboth Beach is beautiful, but is not Malibu and if a billionaire had a Rehoboth mansion, to whom are they going to sell?” said Jonathan Russ, an associate professor of history with a specialty in American business at the University of Delaware.

Jordon Rosen, a Wilmington tax accountant with Belfint Lyons & Shuman, agreed with Russ about the lack of attractions for billionaires.

“If a billionaire wants to live a modest lifestyle, Delaware is a wonderful state,” Rosen. “But it doesn’t offer what most billionaires are looking for in terms of a lifestyle.”

Although Delaware has been home to several wealthy families, including the Gores, Carpenters and DuPonts, no one individual within the state has had their fortune rise to the level of a billionaire, Russ said.

“The DuPonts were extraordinary wealthy for their era, but I don’t know that they amassed a billion dollars,” he said. “The world’s first billionaire was John Rockefeller and he wasn’t much older than them.”

A 2014 study by Phoenix Marketing Group, a business research organization, ranked Delaware ninth in U.S., with 6.2 millionaire households per capita.

Richard Heffron, president of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, said the state should focus on getting wealthy residents to remain.

“I don’t know that we can do anything to attract billionaires,” he said. “We just need to be careful that we don’t chase wealthy people away.”

Heffron said the key to retaining wealthy families is for Delaware to attract companies offering high-paying executive positions. He noted those jobs have taken a bit of a hit in recent years with DuPont reducing staff and MBNA Bank Corp. merging with Bank of America.

Rosen said Delaware needs to support entrepreneurs and their ideas if the state wants to keep collecting the higher personal income taxes the wealthy generate.

“It comes down to creating the right business environment to attract these individuals,” he said.

Contact Jeff Mordock at (302) 324-2786, on Twitter @JeffMordockTNJ or jmordock@delawareonline.com.