That's Rich

Dallas' richest rank high on new Forbes list of world's billionaires

Forbes has updated its eponymous billionaires list for 2017, and Texans make quite a showing among the Bill Gateses, Mark Zuckerbergs, and Warren Buffetts of the world.

Fort Worth-based Alice Walton, an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune and the current chairman of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, is the highest Lone Star State entrant at No. 17. Her $33.8 billion net worth is far and away the largest of any of the Texans on the global list.

Austin's Michael Dell isn't far behind though. Dell's chairman and CEO is No. 38 with his $20.4 billion, which is thanks in part to the approximately $60 billion merger between Dell and computer storage giant EMC that closed in September 2016.

The self-made banking mogul Andrew Beal (No. 127, net worth of $10.4 billion); investor Robert Rowling (No. 234, net worth of $6.2 billion); and Trevor Rees-Jones (No. 294, net worth of $5.3 billion) are Dallas' highest entrants. Beal and Rees-Jones have each slipped a bit in the rankings since last year, though Rowlings made a big jump from No. 286.

Oil is the common denominator among Houston's richest. Richard Kinder, chairman and CEO of Kinder Morgan, and his $7 billion are No. 194; and Dannine Avara, Scott Duncan, Milane Frantz, and Randa Williams are all tied at No. 261 with $5.7 billion.

Other big Texas names on the list include Jerry Jones ($5.2 billion), Ray Lee Hunt ($4.8 billion), Robert Bass ($4 billion), H. Ross Perot Sr. ($4 billion), Mark Cuban ($3.4 billion), John Paul DeJoria ($3.1 billion), and W. Herbert Hunt ($2 billion).

Texans are all over this year's list.

Photo courtesy of Dallas CVB

Texans are all over this year's list.

texas rankings forbes

Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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