The latest Forbes list of the richest people on the planet includes a handful of Southwest Florida residents.
It doesn’t come as a surprise, as some have maintained their status for years.
In fact, none of the names are new this year.
There are seven local residents on the 2025 list, the same as last year, all with a Naples address.
Shahid Khan has retained his title as the richest person in Naples – and Southwest Florida. His net worth has grown to $13.4 billion, up from $12.2 billion last year.
While his net worth continues to rise, he’s slipped in the rankings the last two years. In 2023, he sat at No. 144.
He’s now registers at No. 175 in the world, down from No. 162 in 2024.
Net worth is based on the value of a person’s assets, including stakes in private and public companies, real estate, art and more – as best determined by Forbes.
More: Shahid Khan still richest person in Naples, with net worth of $12.2B. Who else made list?
And: Forbes list: Southwest Florida has a new billionaire, others move up
More about Shahid Khan
According to his Forbes profile, Khan, 74, still owns auto parts supplier Flex-N-Gate and the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
Khan immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan.
He purchased Flex-N-Gate from his former employer in 1980. The basis for his success: A one-piece truck bumper.
Flex-N-Gate now has 76 plants worldwide, with more than 27,000 employees.
Other facts from Forbes about Khan: He owns a Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, and will open another in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2026.
In Naples, he’s been spotted attending the Naples Winter Wine Festival’s auction, which raises millions for children’s charities and initiatives ever year.
Who else is on the Forbes list from Southwest Florida?
In recent years, Southwest Florida has gained a few billionaires.
This year, two long-time, well-known Naples residents, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, came in at No. 487. Reinhold Schmieding and Tom Golisano tied, each with a net worth of $6.9 billion.
They’ve both been on the list for many years.
Schmieding has seen his net worth fall over the past two years. Golisano’s has been on the rise.
In 1981, Schmieding, 70, a Michigan native, founded Arthrex, a surgical tools company, in Munich, Germany. His company, now headquartered in North Naples, has developed thousands of products used in shoulder, hip and other orthopedic surgeries.
According to Forbes, Arthrex has estimated revenues of $3.2 billion a year. Schmieding owns more than 90% of the privately held company.
His net worth reached a high of $7.7 billion in 2023, when he registered at No. 282.
Last year, he fell to No. 364, with a net worth of $7.3 billion.
Arthrex supports education, community development and environmental sustainability initiatives through its Charitable Giving Program.
As for Golisano, 83, he’s moved up in the rankings the last two years.
In 2024, he rose by more than 20 spots to No. 529, with a net worth of $5.6 billion (up from $4.9 billion in 2023).
He founded payroll firm Paychex, a publicly-traded company, “with just $3,000 and a credit card,” according to Forbes. He served as CEO of the company until 2004 and remains a director.
In November, he awarded $85 million to 41 different nonprofits in Southwest Florida, during an event at Artis—Naples, making local headlines.
Here are the other locals making a return to the Forbes global list of billionaires in 2025:
Scott Kapnick
As the founder and CEO of HPS Investment Partners, one of the world’s biggest alternative credit managers with more than $149 billion in assets, Kapnick, 66, saw his net worth swell again.
He came in at No. 569, with a net worth of $6.1 billion, up from $3 billion last year.
In 2020, when he joined the list, he had a net worth of $1.4 billion.
According to Forbes, Kapnick spent more than 20 years at Goldman Sachs, rising to become co-head of investment and banking and co-CEO of Goldman Sachs International.
Kapnick was the CEO of Highbridge Capital from 2013 to 2016 when he and the principals bought HPS in a carveout from JPMorgan. In late 2024, BlackRock announced plans to buy HPS for $12 billion, a deal that’s expected to close soon.
Richard Schulze
Schulze, 84, a chairman emeritus of Best Buy and its largest individual shareholder with a 10% stake, weighed in at No. 846, with a net worth of $4.3 billion.
That was down from No. 775 in 2024, although his net worth increased by a few million (it was $4.1 billion last year).
He’s been on the list for many years, too.
Schulze founded Sound of Music in 1966, which morphed into electronics giant Best Buy. He served as Best Buy’s CEO from 1983 to 2002 and stepped down as chairman in 2012, “when a scandal erupted around his hand-picked CEO,” according to Forbes. He rejoined the company as chairman emeritus in 2013, following his unsuccessful attempts to take over the electronics retailer and turn it private.
He’s committed to give away $1 billion of his fortune in his lifetime, through his family foundation, which is benefitting Southwest Florida.
Kamal Ghaffarian
Ghaffarian, 66, a space tycoon, fell to No. 1,514, from 1,438 last year. However, his net worth still increased, growing to $2.4 billion (up from $2.3 billion last year).
He appeared on the list for the first time in 2023.
Ghaffarian became a billionaire after his company, Intuitive Machines, went public, through a business combination. Forbes describes the company as a maker of moon landers.
In February 2024, the company’s Odysseus lunar lander completed the first American mission to the moon since the 1970s.
A serial entrepreneur, he also cofounded Axiom Space, which is developing the world’s first commercial space station, with a planned launch in 2031.
Another bit of information from Forbes: The serial entrepreneur sold his first company SGT, which became NASA’s second-largest engineering services provider, for $355 million in 2018.
David Hoffmann
Hoffmann, 72, founder of the Hoffmann Family of Companies, rose to No. 1,763, up from No.1,945 last year.
His net worth grew to $2 billion, rising from $1.6 billion last year.
A relative newcomer, he first made the list in 2022.
Headquartered in Naples, the Hoffmann Family of Companies is made up of more than 100 brands and dozens of locations around the globe. The business is now run by David’s two sons.
Locally, the company’s ownership includes the Hertz Arena, the Everblades hockey team, a few golf clubs and a host of small businesses. It has business and real estate holdings across many states.
David and his wife Jerri moved to Naples in 2015.
More billionaires than ever
The 2025 list of The World’s Billionaires includes a record number of 3,028, the most since the list’s launch in 1987.
According to Forbes, the world’s wealthiest people are collectively worth a record-breaking $16.1 trillion.
This year, Elon Musk came out on top,dethroning French luxury goods titan Bernard Arnault and family, from France, who are involved in LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton).
Musk’s net worth grew by 75% to an estimated $342 billion, the first to reach the $300 billion mark, according to Forbes.
Forbes attributed Musk’s jump in wealth to new valuations for startup xAI and for SpaceX, and a 12-month rise in Tesla stock, despite a recent selloff.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg followed Musk, taking the No. 2 spot, with an estimated net worth of $216 billion.
The list includes 121 Florida residents this year. Among them: Jeff Bezos. A Miami resident, Bezos, founder of e-commerce giant Amazon, ranks at No. 3, with a net worth of $215 billion.
Another well-known Floridian on the list: President Donald Trump, from Palm Beach, whomore than doubled his net worth to an estimated $5.1 billion, which Forbes attributed primarily to his shares in Trump Media & Technology Group and big cash inflows from his recent crypto ventures.
“It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise,” said Chase Peterson-Withorn, senior editor for wealth at Forbes, in a statement. “And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the other billionaires taking over the U.S. government, they’re growing more and more powerful.”
Key Highlights
Here are some of the main highlights from this year’s list, provided by Forbes:
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Shahid Khan still richest person in Naples. Who else made Forbes billionaires list this year?
Reporting by Laura Layden, Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
