7 Houstonians from energy sector make Forbes list of richest Americans

Rich List

Jeffery Hildebrand is the richest Houston resident of 2026. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes. American billionaires are so wealthy that it now takes an unprecedented $4.4 billion net worth to be considered one of the richest people in the country. And one local billionaire has regained the title as Houston's wealthiest resident.

The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. In all, 43 billionaires across Texas made it on the 2026 list, and 10 are based in Houston. Seven of them have ties to the energy industry.

Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand, 67, now reigns as the No. 1 richest Houstonian, the 9th richest Texan, and the 88th richest person in America for 2026. Hildebrand's net worth has surged $4.7 billion since last year, bringing his current net worth to $14.7 billion. He cofounded Hilcorp, one of the largest privately owned oil and natural gas producers in the U.S., in 1990 and served as its CEO until 2018. He still serves as the chairman of the company.

Kinder Morgan chairman Richard Kinder is the No. 2 richest in Houston. Kinder, 81, was dubbed Houston's richest billionaire in the 2025 Forbes 400 list. His net worth has increased from $11.1 billion to $12.9 billion in just one year. He is the 11th richest Texan and the 100th richest person in America.

Houston pipeline heir Randa Duncan Williams ranks 124th on the list with an estimated net worth of $11.7 billion. Fellow pipeline heirs Dannine Avara and Milane Frantz tie for 128th nationally. Each has an estimated net worth of $11.6 billion. Scott Duncan ties for No. 137 with an $11.3 billion estimated net worth.

Energy exploration chief executive George Bishop of GeoSothern Energy ranks No. 380 with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. Last year: $4.7 billion.

Here's how the rest of Houston's billionaires, outside of the energy industry, ranked on this year's list:

Toyota mega-dealer Dan Friedkin, 61, is the 102nd richest American with an estimated net worth of $12.9 billion, up from $9.7 billion last year. He most notably owns Gulf States Toyota, which sold $14.5 billion worth of Toyotas in 2025, per Forbes.
Hospitality honcho Tilman Fertitta, 69, has a net worth of $12.3 billion and is the 110th richest American. Fertitta owns hospitality corporation Fertitta Entertainment and the NBA team Houston Rockets. He most recently purchased the WNBA's Connecticut Sun and plans to relocate them to Houston under the Houston Comets name in 2027. He also keeps himself busy as President Trump's ambassador to Italy.
Texans owner and CEO Cal McNair, 64, ranks as the 218th richest person in America with an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion.

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A version of this article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Elon Musk is the richest person in Austin and in America. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Texas billionaire Elon Musk, Houston energy execs named richest in America by Forbes

report

SpaceX and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk has topped Forbes' list as the wealthiest person in America for the third time. Musk is one of seven Austin billionaires who have made the new Forbes 400, a list of the 400 richest people in the United States for 2024.

Forbes estimates Musk's net worth in 2024 as $244 billion, which is $7 billion less than his estimated net worth last year. Musk, 53, is the cofounder of seven companies, including SpaceX, xAI, The Boring Company, among others. He serves as the CEO of Tesla, which is headquartered in Austin.

In 2022, Musk famously acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal.

"Forbes estimates that the social media company, which he renamed X, is worth nearly 70 percent less as of August 2024.," Forbes wrote in Musk's profile.

Most recently, court filings revealed Musk shifted his plans to relocate X's headquarters from San Francisco to Bastrop, a city 30 miles southeast of Austin. He originally stated he would be moving the company's headquarters to Austin in July 2024, after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law that barred school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change.

A dozen of Houston's illustrious billionaires have also made the cut on the list. Houston hospitality king and Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is the 12th richest Texan and the 99th richest person in the United States, according to Forbes' list, released October 1.

Forbes estimates Fertitta's net worth in 2024 as $10.1 billion, which has steadily climbed from his 2023 net worth of $8.1 billion. Fertitta, 67, purchased the Houston Rockets in October 2017 for $2.2 billion. The billionaire also owns Texas-based hospitality and entertainment corporation Landry's. In 2019, Fertitta embarked on a new venture as an author.

"Fertitta released his first book titled Shut Up And Listen! in September [2019], detailing his experiences in the dining and entertainment industries," Forbes wrote in Fertitta's profile.

The Forbes 400list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies.

According to the report, America's elite class is now worth $5.4 trillion collectively, which is a $1 trillion jump since 2023.

“The Forbes 400 is richer than ever, and it’s harder than ever to be one of the 400 richest people in America," said Forbes senior editor Chase Peterson-Withorn in a press release.

In all, 43 Texas billionaires made the list. Newcomers include Houston-based Westlake Corporation co-owners Albert Chao, James Chao, and their respective families. According to their Forbes profiles, the Chaos own nearly 25 percent of Westlake Corporation, which produces low-density polyethylene that is used for food packaging and other products.

"His father, T.T. Chao, moved the family from Taiwan to the U.S. and founded Westlake in 1986," Albert Chao's profile says. "Albert and brother James Chao are credited with helping launch the company. Albert was CEO from 2004 to July 2024, when he became executive chairman. James was chairman from 2004 to July 2024, when he became senior chairman."

Here's how the rest of Houston's billionaires fared on this year's list:

Oil and gas chairman Richard Kinder ranks No. 112 nationally with an estimated worth of $9.3 billion.
Houston pipeline heir Randa Duncan Williams ties for No. 126 with an estimated net worth of $8.6 billion. Fellow pipeline heirs Dannine Avara and Milane Frantz tie for 130th nationally. Each has an estimated net worth of $8.5 billion. Scott Duncan ranks No. 137 with an $8.3 billion estimated net worth.
Toyota mega-dealer Dan Friedkin and Houston oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand tie for 156th nationally with an estimated net worth of $7.6 billion.
Houston Texans owner Janice McNair ties for No. 210 nationally with an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion.
Energy exploration chief exec George Bishop of The Woodlands ranks No. 266 with an estimated net worth of $5 billion.

Missing from the 2024 list is local hedge fund honcho John Arnold, who ranked No. 345 nationally in 2023 but now ranks No. 991 in 2024 with an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion. As of October 1, Forbes estimates Arnold's net worth at $2.9 billion.

Find all the Texans on the new Forbes 400 list here.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Kanin Energy raises up to $100M for waste-heat-to-power projects

fresh funding

Kanin Energy, a member of the Greentown Labs climatech and energy incubator in Houston, recently raised as much as $100 million in capital to grow its energy-as-a-service platform.

S2G Investments led a round of up to $50 million, and the Canada Growth Fund chipped in an additional $50 million. The money will primarily support Kanin’s development and operation of waste-heat-to-power projects.

Kanin—founded in 2020 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada—builds and runs onsite power assets for large-scale energy users. The startup says its energy-as-a-service offering lowers power costs, boosts power reliability and decreases emissions.

The company operates a waste-heat-to-power project at Ohio’s University of Dayton. The project supplies zero-emission electricity.

Kanin has a pipeline of projects totaling about 50 megawatts of capacity. This includes a waste-heat-to-power plant at the Phillips 66 Mewbourn gas-processing plant near Greeley, Colorado.

“Kanin was built on the belief that industrial facilities already hold the solution to their own energy challenges, they just need the right partner to execute,” Janice Tran, CEO of Kanin, who is based in Houston, said in a release. “At a time when power costs continue to rise, [our] solutions are an important tool for our industrial customers to manage their costs, operations, and emissions.”

Marisa Sweeney, principal at S2G, says waste heat is a largely underused resource for lowering power costs, alleviating grid congestion and improving power reliability.

The waste-heat-to-power process captures thermal energy from industrial activities and converts it to electricity. This happens without using extra fuel or generating more emissions.

Kanin says up to 58 percent of energy consumed by industrial processes is lost as waste heat. This heat winds up in the atmosphere at thousands of facilities in North America, including oil-and-gas operations, cement plants, and steel mills, the startup says.

Kanin was founded in 2020 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It opened offices at Greentown Labs Houston in July 2022.

Houston-based ENGIE wins national award for clean energy leadership

top honor

Houston-based ENGIE has been recognized for its work in the clean energy space.

The battery storage and energy infrastructure company recently won the 2026 Green Power Leadership Award in the Market Innovation category for its work advancing 24/7 renewable energy solutions. The awards honor individuals and companies advancing sustainability and renewables in the energy industry through innovation and leadership.

The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), a San Francisco-based environmental nonprofit, grants the awards each year during the Renewable Energy Markets conference. Past recipients include companies like Microsoft, Salesforce and Google. Other award categories include Education & Awareness, Impactful Procurement and Leader of the Year.

"This recognition reflects ENGIE's commitment to developing innovative solutions that give customers greater transparency, accountability and confidence in their sustainability strategies," Anne-Laure Chassanite, interim CEO of ENGIE North America and CEO of ENGIE Resources, said in a news release.

Specifically, the honor recognizes ENGIE's Energy+ 24/7 solution, which helps customers better understand the impact of their energy consumption while also pushing sustainability efforts. ENGIE assists organizations and the public in gaining insight into renewable energy and hourly electricity consumption to see where clean energy is being utilized most effectively.

"As the market continues to evolve, we believe the future of renewable energy procurement lies in helping organizations better understand the impact of their electricity consumption and make more informed energy decisions,” Chassanite added in the release.” Our 24/7 offering is helping establish a new standard by combining innovation with practical, scalable solutions that support meaningful progress toward sustainability goals."

ENGIE's US Energy+ team was also recognized for its customer-focused renewable energy solutions.

"This achievement is the result of the dedication and innovation of teams across ENGIE who are continually challenging what's possible in the energy transition," Chassanite also said in the release.

In June, ENGIE’s 24/7 signed an agreement with Aker BioMarine to supply Texas-sourced clean energy to the Norwegian company's Houston manufacturing site.

Fervo and Google strike major deal and more top energy transition news

Top Energy News

Editor's note: September is a big month for the energy sector in Houston, bringing marquee events to town, alongside big news headlines. From a Fervo-Google powerhouse deal to NVIDIA's $2 billion investment, here are the five most-read energy transition headlines published September 1-15, 2026:

Fervo Energy strikes largest-ever power deal with Google

In its largest-ever purchase agreement, Houston-based geothermal company Fervo Energy will supply 396 megawatts of power to tech powerhouse Google. The deal includes an option for Google to expand capacity by about 600 megawatts, for a total of 1 gigawatt, by June 2030, according to Fervo. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Google will purchase carbon-free energy from Fervo for a potential data center in Utah, where Fervo is building its more than $2 billion Cape Station geothermal project. Continue reading.

In $2 billion deal, NVIDIA takes 20% stake in Woodlands-based Lancium

Lancium has partnered with AI leader NVIDIA. Photo courtesy Lancium

With an initial investment of $2 billion, AI chip manufacturer NVIDIA just acquired a 20 percent stake in The Woodlands-based Lancium, which develops large-scale campuses that combine AI data centers and onsite power supplies. Lancium didn’t disclose the dollar amount. The Information, a news website, reported NVIDIA’s investment totaled $2 billion, with the possibility of an additional $1 billion if Lancium achieves certain milestones. Continue reading.

Meet the 80+ startups pitching at Houston Energy and Climate Week

One of the highlights from Houston Energy and Climate Week is hearing directly from the up-and-coming founders working to reshape the energy landscape. This year, dozens of startups from Brazil to Berkeley and from right here in the Bayou City will compete for cash prizes and bragging rights while showcasing their concepts at HECW pitch events. Continue reading.

San Antonio company breaks ground on 347MW solar project outside of Houston

Crews have broken ground on the forthcoming 347-megawatt direct-current SunRoper Solar project in Wharton County, Texas, that will add capacity to the ERCOT grid. The solar project, which is slated to begin operations in December 2027, will provide electricity to an undisclosed Fortune 100 company under a long-term power purchase agreement. Continue reading.

UH team lands $2.9M DOE grant to develop next-gen magnets with AI

University of Houston researchers are leading an effort to find alternatives to a key element of the U.S. economy. A UH-led coalition is exploring the use of AI to design and manufacture next-generation permanent magnets for the energy and industrial sectors. The project seeks to develop new, more sustainable magnets that reduce U.S. reliance on vulnerable foreign sources of critical minerals, primarily China. A nearly $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy supports the work. Continue reading.

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