The billionaires' club

Who's got the cash? Photograph: Joe
Raedle/Getty ImagesToday's big news in the filthy-rich stakes, is that $999 million (£528m) is no longer enough to get you onto the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, writes Ros Davidson.

Everyone on the list is worth 10 figures, from Microsoft's Bill Gates in first place - he is worth $53bn - to the lowly No 400, Los Angeles silicon chip magnate Sehat Sutardja, who scraped in with just $1bn.

And in the last year, the collective net worth of the 400 wealthiest rose by $120bn to $1.25 trillion. The surging prices of property, oil and other assets, as well as caffeine sales, boosted 28 newcomers on to the list, including the Starbucks founder, Howard Schultz.