CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — Marshall University President Brad Smith is now the richest person in West Virginia, beating out Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) for the title, according to Forbes.
Forbes said in its 2023’s Richest Person in Every State report that Smith, who recently retired from being CEO of Intuit, has an estimated worth of $700 million. Gov. Justice was named the Mountain State’s wealthiest resident in 2019, which was the last time Forbes released the list. They said Justice was no longer a billionaire as of 2021 “due to heavy debts.”
Smith, who is from Kenova and lives in Huntington, was named president of Marshall University in January 2022.
West Virginia is one of three states without a billionaire, according to Forbes. The other two states are Alaska (Jonathan Rubini and Leonard Hyde; $400 million) and Delaware (Elizabeth Snyder; $900 million).
Forbes said Smith is one of the youngest on the list at 59 years old. Lukas Walton, 36, Larry Page, 50, Elon Musk, 51, and Ken Griffin, 54, are younger than Smith. Smith is the same age as Jeff Bezos and Robert Faith.
The top five richest people in the nation are Musk ($230 billion), Bezos ($149 billion), Larry Ellison ($146 billion), Warren Buffett ($117 billion) and Page ($105 billion), according to Forbes.
