Jim Goodnight ranks No. 28 on new Forbes Richest in Tech list

Forbes is out with a new “richest” list, this one focused exclusively on high tech. And Jim Goodnight along with John Sall – the co-founders of Cary-based SAS, crack the top 100.

Bill Gates is the richest.

Forbes calculates the fortune of Goodnight, who is CEO of SAS, at $7.8 billion. That’s good for No. 28 on the list.

The total also shows more wealth for Goodnight. In the two most recent Forbes reports in other categories, Goodnight’s fortune was calculated at $7.5 billion earlier this year and $7.7 billion a year ago.

Sall comes in at No. 51 with a fortune calculated at $3.8 billion.

Forbes’ other rich lists such as the world’s most well-off and richest in America feature Goodnight and Sall regularly.

The new list is all about tech. And America dominates.

“Just over half, or 51 people, are from the U.S. Tech barons from Asia made a strong showing as well, with 33 people hailing from that region,” Forbes reports.” Eight people from Europe made the cut – a minimum net worth $2 billion — as did two from the Middle East (namely, from Israel) and one from Latin America.”

By the way, 40 of the top 100 reside in California.

Here’s the top 10:

(Rank; name; fortune; age; company; country)

#1 Bill Gates: $79.6B;59; Microsoft;United States

#2 Larry Ellison: $50B; 70; Oracle; United States

#3 Jeff Bezos: $47.8B; 51; Amazon.com; United States

#4 Mark Zuckerberg: $41.2B; 31; Facebook; United States

#5 Larry Page: $33.4B; 42; Google; United States

#6 Sergey Brin: $32.8B; 41; Google; United States

#7 Jack Ma: $23.2B; 50; Alibaba; China

#8 Steve Ballmer: $22.7B; 59; Microsoft; United States

#9 Laurene Powell Jobs: $21.4B; 51 Apple, Disney; United States