Billionaires club: Forbes' annual list includes Frists, Haslams and other Tennessee names

There are 735 billionaires living in the United States, and ten of them are right here in Tennessee.

Forbes released its 37th annual “World’s Billionaires List.” Not surprisingly, Nashville's Frist family and Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk made the list.

Knoxville brothers Jimmy Haslam and former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam also made the cut.

As with many of us, 2023 has left some billionaires worse off than they were a year ago. Forbes reported that nearly half of the world’s billionaires had lost money in the past year. A total of 254 people have lost their billionaire status altogether.

But with first-timers added to the list, Forbes’ tabulated 2,640 billionaires globally, only a slight drop from last year. Their combined worth is $12.2 trillion, down by $500 billion from 2022. France’s Bernard Arnault ($231.1 billion) is the world’s richest person, and Elon Musk ($187.9 billion) takes the No. 2 spot, remaining the richest person in America.

Here’s how Tennessee’s richest stacked up amongst the world’s billionaires, according to Forbes.

Tennessee's billionaires

• Jimmy Haslam – $4.8B (No. 567): Jimmy Haslam is chairman of Pilot Company. Knoxville is listed as his residence.

• Bill Haslam – $2.5B (No. 1,217): Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam was the president of Pilot Flying J for four years until 1999. Knoxville is listed as his place of residence.

• Forrest Preston – $1.2B (No. 2,259): Preston is the CEO and sole owner of Life Care Centers of America, which includes facilities that house and care for the elderly. The company is based in Cleveland where Preston also resides.

• Jeffrey Lorberbaum – $1.1B (No. 2,405): Lorberbaum built Georgia-based Mohawk Industries into the largest flooring company in the world, Forbes stated. Chattanooga is listed as his place of residence.

• Thomas Frist Jr. and family – $21.9B (No. 81): Frist founded Hospital Corp. of America. He lives in Nashville.

• Martha Ingram and family – $3.8B (No. 748): The family owns book distribution and marine firm Ingram Industries. Nashville is listed as the place of residence.

• Jon Yarbrough – $3.2B (No. 905): Yarbrough founded Video Gaming Technologies, which produced casino games. He sold the company in 2014 and now manages investments through Yarbrough Capital. He lives in Franklin.

• Brad Kelley – $2.5B (No. 1,217): Kelley founded Commonwealth Brands, a maker of discount cigarettes. He lives in Franklin.

• Amy Adams Strunk – $1.7B (No. 1,725): Strunk is the controlling owner of the National Football League's Tennessee Titans. This is her Forbes Billionaire debut. She lives in Nashville.

• Dean Solon – $1.1B (No. 2,405): Solon founded Shoals Technologies, which makes electrical gear for U.S. solar installations. He resides in Gallatin.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. Twitter @dturner1208. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Forbes billionaire list includes Tennessee's Frists, Haslams. others