As the CEO of Apple and, among other accolades, the biggest individual shareholder in Disney, Steve Jobs is what you would call “well-off.” Perhaps even “comfortable.” Maybe, if you’re into numbers and lists, the 43rd richest person in the world America.
As it happens, Forbes is in just that line of work. In compiling its annual list of the richest Americans, the Apple CEO and his $5.1 billion net worth landed in the 43 spot. (Sorry, Douglas Adams aficionados, missed it by that much).
As per usual, the top of the list is everyone’s favorite retired technopreneur, Bill Gates, who is defending his title for the 16th year running. He’s followed by close pal and America’s billionaire next door Warren “The Buff” Buffett. Perhaps the two will finally follow through on long awaited plans to star in some sort of buddy comedy. Maybe they’re cops. Who run a giant charity. And they live together! Hollywood, you’ve got my e-mail.
Jobs also comes in just two slots below frenemy Eric Schmidt of Google. Do you think they bet on this kind of thing? You know, friendly-like. Money, of course, would be a ridiculous stake, so they’d have to go for something big, like “loser has to use the winner’s phone platform for the next year.” Actually, that might be a little too high, especially after accounting for the black eye of the staffer who winds up on the receiving end of Jobs hurling the G1 out of frustration.