Jim Goodnight and John Sall, the co-founder billionaires of SAS software in Cary, are much wealthier men in 2017 than a year ago, according to the latest list of the world’s richest from Forbes.
Goodnight’s personal fortune soared to $9.4 billion as of March 20, Forbes reported Monday morning as part of its annual “World’s Billionaires’ list.
The two launched SAS 41 years ago. The company has never lost money.
That’s up nearly 20 percent from a year ago when Goodnight’s fortune stood at $8.4 billion. He now ranks No. 137 on the list, up seven spots.
SAS revenues, meanwhile, grew 1.2 percent to $3.2 billion in 2016.
Goodnight ranks No. 137 on the new list.
In March 2015, Goodnight’s fortune stood at $7.5 billion.
According to Forbes’ real-time fortune tracker, Goodnight’s worth hit $9.6 billion as or early Monday.
Sall, who met Goodnight when both were colleagues at North Carolina State Universityand helped launch SAS in 1976, has a net worth of $4.5 billion, Forbes reported.
That’s an increase of more than 10 percent from a year ago.
In March 2015 his fortune totaled $3.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Sall stands No. 367 among the world’s richest, the new report says. A year ago he ranked No. 392.
Like Goodnight and Sall, billionaires had a good year in 2016 with more people than ever cracking the billion-plus fortune club.
“It was a record year for the richest people on earth, as the number of billionaires jumped 13% to 2,043 from 1,810 last year, the first time ever that Forbes has pinned down more than 2,000 ten-figure-fortunes. Their total net worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a record,” Forbest reported.
“The change in the number of billionaires — up 233 since the 2016 list — was the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has been tracking billionaires globally. Gainers since last year’s list outnumbered losers by more than three to one.”
The full list can be found at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2017/03/20/forbes-2017-billionaires-list-meet-the-richest-people-on-the-planet/#52c7225262ff
