FACTS ABOUT THE 400

Landed gentry. Eighty-seven members of the Forbes list made their fortunes principally from real estate, up from 73 last year. After real estate, manufacturing accounted for 75 of the Forbes 400 fortunes, media enterprises for 73, financial operations for 65, oil and gas for 30, retailing for 21, agriculture for 16 and high technology for 15.

Thank you very much. Eighty-four of the fortunes were inherited.

See you later, alma mater. At least nine members don’t have high school diplomas, including Kirk Kerkorian, the investor who controls MGM-UA; Carl Lindner, who made a fortune in insurance and banking, and Daniel Ludwig, the 91-year-old shipping and real estate magnate. At least 40 others finished high school only. Of the 296 who attended college, 242 graduated. Forty-six hold MBAs; 16 have law degrees.

Winning game plan. At least 26 own 30% or more of a professional sports team.

Aging gracefully. The youngest members--at age 32--are Texas oilman Lee Bass and William Gates III, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp. The oldest is 96-year-old Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, the New York Times Co. heiress.

New York, New York. Rich Americans are concentrated in the New York metropolitan area, home to 79 members of the Forbes list. Los Angeles is second with 33, followed by Dallas-Ft. Worth with 21, Chicago with 20 and the San Francisco area with 18. New York is also the richest state with 81 Forbes members, followed by California with 62; Texas, 36; Illinois, 22, and Florida, 18.

Poor relations. Eleven states have no members: Alaska, Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Golden door. Twenty-four are immigrants.