How the richest person in every state made a fortune

Are you curious about the richest person in your state? Whether it's a hedge-fund billionaire, tech giant, industrial titan, or someone simply born into the right family, the wealthiest people in every state each have their own stories. In today's political climate, the super-rich have plenty of influence over our political process, from lobbying members of the government and contributing to presidential bids to running ad campaigns in favor of specific causes.

To figure out who's on top of each state's rich list, Forbes tracks groups of billionaires (or centimillionaires in states with no billionaires) and updates their findings annually. Stacker compiled a list of the uber-wealthy using this data, then broke down how each person earned their fortune. This list accounts for individuals' wealth as of June 26, 2019, but keep in mind the tides of fortune are always shifting. Many of the figures can change based on a dip in the stock market alone.

Sometimes billionaires are created overnight, like when Amazon founder and current richest man in the world Jeff Bezos announced his divorce with his wife MacKenzie, who will receive 4% of Amazon, roughly $35 billion. Sometimes billionaires are created through generations, with each subsequent heir to a fortune or a corporation making their own impact on their familial wealth. Sometimes billionaires are created amid a boom of new technology, like Mark Zuckerberg, who harnessed social media to become the richest person in California.

The distribution of billionaires and other super-rich individuals isn't evenly distributed; plenty more live on the coast than the Midwest, with some key exceptions: Warren Buffett, the richest person in Nebraska, still lives in a house costing approximately $652,000 that he bought in 1958. Clearly, metropolitan penthouses aren't for everyone.

Who's the richest person in your state? Read on to find out.

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