Four Premier League Owners Join Bill Gates in Forbes 400 Rich List

Four American Premier League owners feature in the 2013 edition of The Forbes 400 Rich List, which was released on Monday.

The annual list highlights America's wealthiest and was once again topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is recorded as having a net worth of $72 billion.

There was no place in the 400 for Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner or Sunderland's Ellis Short, but the boardrooms at Manchester United, Arsenal, Fulham and Liverpool are all represented.

Here's how their respective owners stack up:

Malcolm Glazer (and family), who own United and also the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team, rank 102nd with a reported net worth of $4.5 billion.

The Glazers are behind Arsenal's majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, however, who has a tidy $5.3 billion to play with and comes in 84th.

Liverpool owner John Henry, who also presides over the Boston Red Sox baseball team, is way down the list in 327th, though a not-too-shabby $1.7 billion to his name would suggest Anfield's tradition is in safe hands.

Shahid Khan, Fulham's owner, makes Henry look like a small-time player in the cash stakes. His net worth is estimated at $3.8 billion to place him 122nd in the obscene wealth charts.

Including Glazer and Henry, the number of owners of American sports teams (franchises) totals 32. See this B/R report for full details, with the wealthiest being Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, with a net worth of $15.8 billion.

Allen also has a stake in the Seattle Sounders MLS team.

Perhaps the next step for American investment in the Premier League is for a club to attract one of America's young billionaires on the list.

Just imagine what Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $19 billion could do for a club.

If you couldn't get into the Champions League with that behind you, you may as well give up.