Despite the imbalanced and weary economy that roams in America, there are people so rich that would make even King Solomon blush. Think of it this way, America’s richest people are worth a combined $1.53 trillion. This almost the equivalent to the GDP of the neighboring Canada. The total wealth of the richest people is up 12 percent in 2011 through August 26. One of the richest people in America is still Bill Gates.

Bill Gates is a famous American business magnate, investor, philanthropist and the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft. He is consistently ranked among the world’s richest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009. Although Bill Gates has been often criticized for his business tactics, as he has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations.

Coming in second in the top of the five richest people is American business magnate and investor, Warren Buffett. Aside from being one the richest people, Warren Buffett is also considered as one of the most successful investors, since he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The third in the top of the richest people in America is the inventor of the Oracle software, business magnate Larry Ellison. Over the years, Oracle has become one of the world’s leading enterprise software companies. Just like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison is involved in many charitable organizations. Forbes magazine published a list of the charitable donations made by the richest people and has stated that Larry Ellison has donated 1% of his wealth over the course of 2004.

Charles Koch is the fourth of the richest people in America, as the co-owner, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company by revenue in the United States, according to a 2010 Forbes survey. The fifth richest man in America is Charles Koch’s brother, David Koch. He is the co-owner of the same company and a major patron of the arts and a funder of conservative, liberal and libertarian political causes, including the Tea Party Movement. Of course, there are more than these five richest people on the list, but these people are the ones that made it to the top and managed to keep their position, by means of hard work and determination.