Do you remember the money bin from Duck Tales? Old Scrooge McDuck doing his best Greg Louganis/Michael Phelps impression diving/swimming through his giant fortified swimming pool full of gold coins and other treasures?

Despite being so old, Scrooge sure had some speed in that ocean of money.

Earlier this month, Forbes released their annual list of the World’s Billionaires (with a ‘B’), and while I cannot confirm or deny anyone on the list has a bona fide, bin-o-money big enough for the breaststroke, it is chock full of people with more than enough loot to make something like that happen.

As has often been the case, Microsoft mogul Bill Gates topped the charts of the globe’s wealthiest. Gates has $76 billion, a propensity for philanthropy, and earned himself the #1 ranking on Forbes’ list for the 15th time in the last 20 years.

In the young and ridiculously rich department, 29-year-old Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of school and spent the next decade screwing around on Facebook. Because of those decisions, he’s now worth $28.5 Billion dollars and ranks #21 on the list of the world’s richest people.

But enough about filthy rich non-Minnesotans. Let’s take a quick look at those from Minnesota for whom money is no object, counting down the ‘Top Five Richest’ folks in our great state…

#5. Glen Taylor

Forbes Ranking: #988 (#340 in the US — #882 overall in 2013)

Net worth: $1.8 billion

Age: 72

Residence: Mankato

Marital Status, Children: Married with five children

Who is he? Glen Taylor is the Godfather of modern Minnesota pro basketball. He is perhaps best known as the majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves — he purchased the team in 1994. He then purchased the Minnesota Lynx WNBA basketball team in 1999.

Before owning the Wolves and Lynx, Taylor served the people as Republican State Senator from Minnesota from 1981 through 1990. He was born in Comfrey, MN and attended Minnesota State University in Mankato where he graduated in 1962.

#4. Stanley Hubbard

Forbes Ranking: #764 (#266 in the U.S. — #703 overall in 2013)

Net worth: $2.3 billion

Age: 80

Residence: St. Paul

Marital Status, Children: Married with five children

Who is he? Hubbard is a big TV and radio guy, with broadcast outlets in Iowa, Texas, Massachusetts, Arizona, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and here in Minnesota.

KS95? That’s a hip station and it’s Hubbard’s; 1500 ESPN on your AM dial? Thaaaat’s Hubbard, too. KSTP (Channel 5) is the ABC TV affiliate here in the Twin Cities — it also belongs to the Hubbard empire.

Hubbard, who remains the chairman of Hubbard Broadcasting, sold his satellite TV service (USSB) to DirecTV for $1.3 billion in 1998, but still owns cable TV channels Ovation and Reelz.

Tie #3. Barbara Carlson Gage

Forbes Ranking: #340 (#116 in U.S. — #316 overall in 2013)

Net worth: $4.4 billion

Age: 71

Residence: Long Lake

Marital Status, Children: Married with four children

Who is she? She is Curt Calrson’s daughter. Also, according to Forbes, she…



“owns travel and hospitality company Carlson Inc. along with her sister Marilyn. Their father, Curt (d. 1999), founded the company to sell Gold Bond trading stamps in the 1930’s and later expanded into dining and hospitality. It now operates more than 1,300 hotels (Radisson, Country Inns & Suites), 900 T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants and holds a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Barbara is also president and chairperson of the Carlson Family Foundation, which makes $6 million in grants annually focusing on education and at-risk children.”

Tie #3. Marilyn Carlson Nelson

Forbes Ranking: #340 (#116 in U.S. — #316 overall in 2013)

Net worth: $4.4 billion

Age: 74

Residence: Long Lake

Marital Status, Children: Married with four children

Who is she? She is Curt Carlson’s other daughter, and she has exactly the same amount of money as her sister Barbara, according to Forbes. Hmm.

#1. Whitney MacMillan

Forbes Ranking: #305 (#101 in the U.S. — #395 overall in 2013)

Net worth: $4.8 billion

Age: 85

Residence: Minneapolis

Marital Status, Children: Married with two children

Who is he? It’s kinda hard to say. According to Forbes, he’s 9% owner of Cargill and one of “six secretive billionaire relatives who control” the largest private company in America (Cargill does $137 Billion in annual revenue).

On top of being apparently super secret and super rich, from 1977 until his retirement in 1995, MacMillan served as chairman and CEO of Cargill, “an agribusiness firm, which sells food, processes crops, trades commodities, sources ingredients and provides financial risk management.”

So there you have it, the richest Minnesotans our state has to offer. While I’m sure some of you were left off this list by the slightest of margins, there is always next year.

Photos via: Google