Fortune Magazine announced Wednesday its annual list of the 40 richest Americans under the age of 40.
Topping the list is Michael Dell, 39, chairman and founder of Dell Computer Inc. With wealth of $17.95 billion, Dell has held the No. 1 spot since the list was started in 1999.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, both 31, hold the No. 4 and No. 5 spots with total wealth of $4.19 billion and $4.17 billion, more than four times their wealth last year when they first debuted on the "40 Under 40" list.
Celebrities such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, and the Olsen twins made the list this year.
The list appears in the Sept. 20 issue, available on newsstands Sept. 13.
"How hard is it to stay on top?" asks Fortune. "For Michael Dell, not hard at all. But for the others, remaining at the peak is no mean feat."
A number of people from previous lists have been dropped, some because they hit 40, such as Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Gateway's Ted Waitt, Broadcomm's Henry Nicholas, RealNetwork's Rob Glaser, and basketball star Michael Jordan.
Others, such as Monte Zweben of Blue Martini, Scott Blum of Buy.com, and Vinny Smith of Quest Software, are not on the list because their wealth no longer made the cut. It remains to be seen whether Page and Brin of Google will have Dell-like staying power.
Although tech entrepreneurs still dominate the top 10, their numbers have dwindled by half since the list's inception in 1999.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
