Top Stocks of the Forbes 400 Richest
Forbes magazine just released its Forbes 400 list, a rundown of the 400 richest individuals and families in the U.S. The question is, how can we invest on this list?
Obviously, many of these individuals made their fortunes by starting and running their own companies. If these companies are doing well and are publicly traded, then regular Joes like us have the opportunity to participate in the engines behind their wealth growth.
At Stockpickr we reviewed the list and culled the
companies connected to the richest 20 Americans
.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
, no surprise, makes the top of the list, as it has made the fortunes of some notable wealthy investors -- namely, Bill Gates, who is No. 1 on the Forbes 400 list with a net worth of $59 billion, Paul Allen at No. 11 and Steve Balmer, No. 16.
Microsoft recently dropped the price of its Xbox 360 game console in a move to take market share from
Sony's
(SNE) - Get Report
PlayStation3. Microsoft has a
price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 19 and a P/E-to-growth ratio of 1.4. The tech company also pays a dividend of 1.5%.
Microsoft also appears in last week's list of the
Top 10 Dividend Raisers by PEG
, as it just increased its dividend by 10%. There, Microsoft keeps company with
McDonald's
(MCD) - Get Report
, which raised its dividend 50% and has a P/E of 32 and a PEG of 2.2. Another stock in the portfolio is
Zenith National Insurance
(ZNT)
, which raised its dividend by 16% and has a P/E ratio of 6.
Next on the Stockpickr list is Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway
(BRK.A) - Get Report
. Buffett is No. 2 on
Forbes'
wealthiest list, with a net worth of $52 billion.
Berkshire, which already has a significant investment in railroads, recently reported that it purchased more options on
Burlington Northern
(BNI)
for almost 400,000 additional shares.
Berkshire's shares are trading not too far below their all-time high of $120,800, the most expensive shares -- in terms of dollar amount -- in the U.S. The stock has a P/E of 15.
Berkshire is part of Stockpickr's
portfolio, a list of such names as
Toyota
(TM) - Get Report
, which has a PEG of 1.4, and
MasterCard
(MA) - Get Report
, with a PEG of 1.7.
The third-wealthiest American, at a measly $28 billion net worth according to
Forbes
, is Sheldon Adelson, chairman, CEO and treasurer of
Las Vegas Sands
(LVS) - Get Report
, which is working on a large new resort in Macau. The stock has a P/E of 138 and a PEG of 2.4.
Las Vegas Sands is one of the holdings of the
, which has generated an average annual return of more than 18%. The Vice Fund also owns
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
, which has a PEG of 1.3, and
International Game Technology
(IGT) - Get Report
, which has a PEG of 1.9.
To see the rest of the companies connected to the richest 20 Americans, check out the
portfolio at Stockpickr.
At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.
James Altucher is president of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for
The Financial Times
and the author of
Trade Like a Hedge Fund
,
Trade Like Warren Buffett
and
SuperCa$h
. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback;
to send him an email.
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