The rich are getting richer...or are they? According to Forbes, not since 2009 have so many fortunes fallen from grace (i.e. the Forbes Billionaires list), with 221 dropping off this year. Here's a quick rundown of the three US fortunes no longer part of the exclusive club. (And the reason why might surprise you...)
1) Charles Butt
Company: H-E-B
Over a century after Charles' grandmother Florence founded the Texas grocery chain H-E-B, the grocer has expanded to 316 stores in Texas and 52 stores in Mexico—but her grandchild just dropped off of the Forbes billionaire list. Forbes determined the H-E-B fortune was shared by Charles' large extended family, knocking him off their list of wealthy individuals.
2) Anne Cox Chambers
Company: Cox Enterprises
In 2015 Anne Cox Chambers made the Forbes 400 list as the sixth-wealthiest woman in the US, with her 50% stake in Cox Enterprises valued at $10.7B. However, the matriarch passed her stake on to her three children, James Chambers, Katharine Rayner and Margaretta Taylor, cutting herself off the list and adding three new names at $6.4B a piece.
3) Josephine Louis, Herbert Louis
Company: SC Johnson
These two heirs to the SC Johnson formula appeared on the 2015 Forbes Billionaires list with assets of $2.7B each, but Forbes learned in 2016 that their fortunes are shared by 11 family members, disqualifying them from the list.
[Forbes]
