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That's four more than last year's total.
By KRIS HUNDLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2001
Times may be tough -- and getting tougher -- for many Americans, but 20 wealthy Floridians still made it onto Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the 400 richest Americans. That's up from 16 Florida entries last year.
The richest man in the state is once again Carnival Corp.'s Micky Arison, who ranked No. 36 with a net worth of $4.6-billion. Arison's Miami company, which includes Carnival, Cunard and Holland America cruise lines, had been doing well before Sept. 11, giving a boost to Arison's fortunes.
Next year might be a different story: Carnival's shares dropped precipitously and its bookings were at 50 percent to 60 percent of year-earlier levels immediately after the terrorist attacks. The cruise line reports bookings are bouncing back.
The wealthiest man in the Tampa Bay area ranks as No. 221 on the Forbes list: Bill Morean, chairman of Jabil Circuit Inc. in St. Petersburg. Morean has a net worth of $1.1-billion.
Four other multimillionaires with homes in the bay area or close ties made the exclusive list: Roy Speer, co-founder of Home Shopping Network, with $810-million; Edward DeBartolo Jr., former shopping center developer, with $800-million; Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with $740-million; and Bryan Zwan, majority shareholder in Clearwater's Digital Lightwave, with an estimated net worth of $600-million.
Zwan's wealth is sizable but it was barely enough to make Forbes' standards. The Bellair resident just squeaked onto the list at No. 391.
- Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727)892-2996.