The Forbes 400

19 Dallas-Fort Worth billionaires land on Forbes' 2023 list of richest Americans

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's fortune went up this year.

Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Austin's Elon Musk and Michael Dell are the richest people in Texas, but Dallas-Fort Worth billionaires are not far behind, according to the new Forbes 400, a list of the 400 richest people in the United States for 2023.

Walmart heiress Alice Walton of Fort Worth is the third-richest Texan, the most affluent person in DFW, and the wealthiest woman in America, Forbes says.

"Walton, who had been the nation’s wealthiest woman for seven years before 2022, added $10.8 billion to her fortune since last year after a 26 percent rise in Walmart stock," the report says. "[Julia] Koch, who got a $3.8 billion wealthier, is now the second-richest woman in the country, worth an estimated $59.8 billion."

According to Forbes, Walton's net worth in 2023 is estimated at $66.5 billion, which is much closer to her 2021 net worth of $67.9 billion. Walton, 74, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, now focuses primarily on her Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, but Forbes lists her place of residence as Fort Worth.

Forbes' list, published October 3, is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies.

According to the report, America's elite class is now worth $4.5 trillion total, which ties a record previously set in 2021.

Unsurprisingly, Musk ranks No. 1 nationally, with a net worth of $251 billion.

Here's how the rest of Dallas-Fort Worth's billionaires fared on this year's list:

Banking and real estate mogul Andy Beal of Dallas holds the No. 50 spot nationally. His estimated net worth is $13.8 billion. Last year: $10.3 billion.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of Dallas sits at No. 48 in the U.S. with an estimated net worth of $14.5 billion. Last year: $16 billion.
Money manager Ken Fisher of Dallas ranks 144th nationally with an estimated net worth of $7.1 billion. Last year: $6.3 billion.
Oil and real estate titan Ray Lee Hunt of Dallas ties for No. 140 nationally with an estimated net worth of $7.2 billion. Last year: $5.7 billion.
Oil and investment mogul Robert Bass of Fort Worth ties for 204th nationally with an estimated net worth of $5.3 billion. Last year: $4.9 billion.
Private equity kingpin David Bonderman of Fort Worth ranks No. 184 nationally with an estimated net worth of $5.7 billion. Last year: $6.5 billion.
Media magnate and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban of Dallas ranks 211th nationally with an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion. Last year: $4.6 billion.
Oil and gas honcho Trevor Rees-Jones of Dallas ties for 227th nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion. Last year: $4 billion.
Oil baron W. Herbert Hunt of Dallas ties for 227th nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion. Last year: $4 billion.
Hotel and investment guru Robert Rowling of Dallas ties for 123rd nationally with an estimated net worth of $7.5 billion. Last year: $4.8 billion.
Margot Birmingham Perot of Dallas, widow of tech and real estate entrepreneur H. Ross Perot Sr., ties for 227th nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion. Last year: $4.5 billion.
Oil and gas tycoon Kelcy Warren of Dallas ties for No. 192 nationally with an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion. Last year: $4.6 billion.
Real estate bigwig H. Ross Perot Jr. of Dallas ties for No. 304 nationally with an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion. Last year: $2.8 billion.
Homebuilder Donald Horton and family of Fort Worth rank 249th nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.6 billion. Last year: unlisted, but an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion in 2021.
Oil and gas magnate Ray Davis of Dallas ties for No. 395 nationally with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion. Last year: unlisted, but an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion in 2019.
Private equity firm cofounder Carl Thoma ranks No. 326 nationally with an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion. Last year: $3.3 billion.
Oil heir Sid Bass ranks 291st nationally with an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion. Last year: $3.7 billion.
Airplane leasing industry founder Steven Udvar-Hazy of Westlake ranks No. 278 nationally with an estimated net worth of $4.1 billion. Last year: $3.8 billion.

400 richest people Alice Walton Forbes Jerry Jones billionaires reports

pet protection

How to protect Texas pets against the dangerous New World screwworm fly

MPhoto by Tran Mau Tri Tam ✪ on Unsplash

Make sure these guys are up on their flea and tick meds.

Two New World screwworm cases in dogs are among more than 30 confirmed instances in Texas and New Mexico, prompting warnings Wednesday, July 8 from veterinarians and humane societies that pet owners need to remain vigilant to protect their animals.

The parasite reappeared in cattle in the U.S. in June, more than 50 years after it had been largely eradicated from the country. The pest is actually the larvae of the New World screwworm fly. It eats live flesh and fluids rather than dead material, as the larvae of most fly species do.

Here is what to know about the parasite, the threat it poses to pets and how to protect them:

Screwworm fly larvae can infest any mammal
The fly's migration north from Panama starting in 2024, and through Mexico in 2025, has agriculture officials warning that it poses a threat to the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry, but the larvae can hatch and breed in any mammal, including wildlife, dogs, cats and occasionally humans.

The problem develops when a female fly lays its eggs in open wounds and mucus. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed for about a week before maturing, dropping to the ground and continuing to develop into an adult fly.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says newborn animals and animals with open wounds or who have undergone surgery or other medical procedures recently are especially vulnerable. Even a tick bite can host an infestation, Aaron Grady, executive director of the Houston Humane Society shelter, said during a webinar on the screwworm.

Screwworm fly close-up The goal is to stop these flies from successfully breeding. Photo courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife

Infestation signs include restlessness and bad smell
Animal health experts say pet owners in areas where the screwworm is present — southern and southwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico so far — should watch their animals closely and examine them for wounds, cuts and bites regularly.

Pet owners should look for any maggots or movement in a wound. Other signs include a foul smell and restlessness or anxiety in an animal, or an animal “hyper-fixating on looking or chewing in a certain area of the body," said Melissa Stansell, a veterinarian at the shelter Austin Pets Alive!

Any one of those is reason enough to go to a veterinarian. The affected animal is likely in a great deal of pain, and that can cause death from shock. The larvae also can cause death if they move into vital organs or by causing infections that turn deadly.

Flea, tick medications can stop an infestation
Humane society officials and veterinarians said shelters across Texas are trying to prevent infestations in animals by giving them prescription flea and tick medications. They recommend that pet owners do the same.

“It will kill the larvae as they ingest the blood and tissue,” Stansell said. “The chemical compositions of those products are what kill the actual larval stages of these flies.”

Veterinarians also can treat infestations and animals can recover if pet owners contact them quickly. Stansell said the treatment could include antibiotics.

“It is only fatal if left untreated,” she said.

An effort to eradicate the fly again is underway
The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species and decades ago would disappear each year when colder weather arrived with the fall or winter.

But state and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials aren't waiting for the weather to turn. They've returned to an eradication method that worked decades ago, breeding sterile male flies and releasing them into the wild. The female New World screwworm fly mates once in her monthslong life, and if her partner is sterile, her eggs won't hatch — causing the population in an area to drop and then disappear.

For years, the only factory breeding sterile flies in the Western Hemisphere was in Panama, but the USDA invested $21 million to convert a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to recently start breeding screwworm flies. The agency also plans to spend $750 million on a new fly factory in Texas, set to open next year.

screwworm fly pets