Skift took a look at the recent Forbes 400 list and pulled out all the people that had a connection to the travel industry. It found 30 people on the list who were in some way involved with travel.
It’s no news that there’s money to be had in travel. In fact, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, in 2012, global tourism was responsible for $2.1 trillion to global GDP and 101 million jobs.
So who’s on the list? The top spot for the richest travel investor goes to Jack Taylor, the founder of Enterprise Rent A Car, with a net worth of $11.4 billion, and who comes in at No. 36 on the overall list. But maybe more impressive is the Pritzker family, the owners of Hyatt; 10 members of the family are on the Forbes 400 list.Based upon the rankings, hotels, casinos and cruise lines seem to be the most lucrative areas of travel investment. But then again, so is online media: Barry Diller of Expedia has a net worth of $2.1 billion.
According to Skift’s list, here are the top five richest people in the travel industry, with their overall Forbes listing:
| 36 | Jack Taylor and Family | Enterprise Rent A Car | $11.4 billion |
| 61 | John Malone | Cable TV, Expedia | $6.7 billion |
| 61 | Elon Musk | Tesla Motors | $6.7 billion |
| 70 | Micky Arison | Carnival | $5.9 billion |
| 118 | Barbara Carlson Gage | hotels, restaurants | $3.9 billion |
Looks like it’s time to go and brainstorm a new travel app that rents cars in a luxury casino on a cruise.