Greenwich Resident Paul Tudor Jones
FedEx chief stays on Forbes list despite drop in wealth
Commercial Appeal
FedEx founder and chief executive officer Frederick W. Smith remained on the Forbes list of billionaires, but like a lot of his peers, the Memphis resident saw his wealth diminished greatly since 2008.
According to Forbes, Smith comes in tied for 559th on the list of the world’s wealthiest, with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion. The 53-percent drop in FedEx stock meant Smith lost $500 million in wealth, and he took another $300,000 hit when the company-wide cuts he ordered dropped his base salary from $1.5 million to $1.2 million.
That put Smith behind Michael Heisley. The Grizzlies owner came in at No. 522 on the list, and Forbes shows his net worth actually increased year-over-year, to $1.4 billion.
Forbes did write, “Industrialist’s fortune faltering in the past six months as steel and construction markets slowed.” And although Heisley has not seemed keen on acquiring refined NBA players, the magazine wrote, “His company, Heico, purchased two refinery maintenance companies last fall, looking to buy more.”
Another name with a Memphis connection is Paul Tudor Jones II, a Memphis University School graduate whose hedge-fund success puts him at No. 224 on the list, with a net worth of $2.8 billion. According to Forbes, Jones’ flagship fund is believed to have lost only 5 percent and another fund actually gained 36 percent. Forbes says the 54-year-old resident of Greenwich, Conn., “Hunts, fishes on private estate in Zimbabwe” and that his poverty-fighting Robin Hood Foundation raised $56.5 million in one night last May.
Another Tennessee resident on the list is Thomas Frist Jr. and family, at No. 430 with $1.7 billion.
In all, according to Forbes, the financial meltdown wiped out $2 trillion from the net worth of billionaires. The number of billionaires fell by one-third, to 793
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