IL’s richest man gained $10B in net worth. Who made Forbes’ 2026 billionaires list?
Illinois’ richest resident, the 40th wealthiest person in the world, gained $10 billion in net worth from 2025 to 2026, according to a recent Forbes report.
The business publication’s March 10 report, “Forbes World’s Billionaires List: The Top 200,” found it was a “record year for billionaire wealth,” with 989 American billionaires and 3,428 billionaires globally.
One Illinois resident, Lukas Walton, made the top 200. The 39-year-old is the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton and inherited his fortune when his father died in a plane crash, Forbes reports.
Another member of the ultra-wealthy with connections to Illinois also made the list with a net worth of $15 billion, although his primary residence is in Naples, Fla.
Here’s what to know about the two billionaires with Illinois ties on the top 200 list, as well as how Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Elon Musk and others compared.
Who is Illinois’ richest man?
Chicagoan Lukas Walton is the richest Illinois resident, the 23rd wealthiest in the nation and the 40th richest in the world, according to Forbes. In April 2025, Walton’s net worth was estimated at $38.9 billion, and the figure has shot to $48.9 billion as of March.
Since he inherited the fortune, Forbes gave him a 1 out of 10 in the “self-made” score category, while he received a 2 out of 5 on philanthropy, compared to a score of 1 last year.
Walton has been described as “fiercely private.” He grew up in California and was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at 3 years old, according to New York Magazine’s Intelligencer. He reportedly recovered within five months, and his mother attributed his recovery to dietary changes.
Walton sold a Lincoln Park home in 2022 for $1.7 million, according to the Chicago Tribune. The home was sold in a private transaction and wasn’t publicly listed.
Walmart has 4,611 locations across the U.S. and employs about 1.6 million people in the country.
Who is billionaire Shahid Khan?
Florida resident Shahid Khan was named the 193rd richest person in the world by Forbes, and the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars owner earned his industrial engineering degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1971. Khan emigrated from Pakistan at 16 years old.
Khan also owns Urbana-based automotive parts company Flex-N-Gate.
While he primarily resides in Naples, Khan reportedly owns homes in Champaign and Chicago, as well as approximately 24,000 acres of farmland in Central Illinois, according to reporting by Investigate Midwest.
How do other billionaires compare?
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is one of the richest politicians in office in the U.S., but he did not make the top 200 wealthiest people list. Pritzker’s real-time net worth was calculated at $3.9 billion as of March 30, and Forbes reports he is the 1,061st wealthiest person in the world.
For the second consecutive year, Elon Musk took the No. 1 richest person in the world title, with an estimated net worth of $839 billion, compared to $342 billion in 2025.
Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg rounded out the list of the top five. The smallest net worth to make the top 200 this year was $14.5 billion.
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