Bill Gates stays richest American for 17th year in a row

London, Sep 23(ANI): Forbes magazine has named Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the wealthiest person in America for the 17th year in a row.

In the magazine's annual listing of 400 richest Americans, Gates' fortune was put at 54 billion dollars, with investment guru Warren Buffet remaining second with a fortune estimated at 45 billion dollars.

Software tycoon Larry Ellison was in third place, while Wal-Mart heir Christy Walton was fourth.

The two youngest members of the club are Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg, ranked No. 35 with a fortune estimated at 6.9 billion dollars; and his former business partner, Dustin Moskovitz, tied for 290th place with 1.4 billion dollars.

It took a net worth of at least a billion dollar to earn a spot in the rankings - up from 950 million dollars in 2009.

The collective net worth of the 400 billionaires rose by eight percent from 2009, totalling 1.37 trillion dollars.

In stark contrast to the 2009 list, 217 of the tycoons are now worth more than they were a year ago. Just 84 of the billionaires had a decrease in wealth.

Ten Richest Americans:

1. Bill Gates- 54 billion dollars

2. Warrenn Buffett- 45 billion dollars

3. Lawrence Ellison- 27 billion dollars

4. Christy Walton and family- 24 billion dollars

5. Charles Koch- 21.5 billion dollars

6. David Koch- 21.5 billion dollars

7. Jim C Walton- 20.1 billion dollars

8. Alice Walton- 20 billion dollars

9. S. Robson Walton- 19.7 billion dollars

10. Michael Bloomberg- 18 billion dollars (ANI)