And the wealthiest Americans are...

WASHINGTON - Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates holds the top spot among the super-rich with with a fortune of $50 billion.

Warren Buffett, who's worth $40 billion, comes in No. 2 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, followed by Oracle founder Lawrence Ellison ($27 million) and members of the Walton family, owners of Walmart. The four Waltons have fortunes between $21.5 billion and $19 billion.

"There's a lot of people who think most of the people on this list grew up with a silver spoon, but, in fact, 274 of the 400 are entirely self-made, meaning came from humble origins. Another 52 inherited a small fortune and turned it into a very large one," says Forbes reporter Duncan Greenberg.

A number of locals from the D.C. metro area make the list, but if you thought Nationals owner Ted Lerner or Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would be the richest of them, you'd be wrong.

They are on the list, Lerner at No. 97 and Snyder at No. 347.

Snyder wasn't even on the list last year.

"He has a net worth of $1.1 billion. He was not on the list last year, but got on because the value of the team has held up pretty well during the recession," Greenberg says.

Two members of the Mars family who live in Northern Virginia rank in the top 20. Mars makes those M&Ms and Snickers you're always snacking on, as well as Pedigree pet food.

Of the 400 richest, here are the individuals who live in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland:

• No. 19 - Forrest Edwards Mars of McLean (Mars candy)
• No. 19 - John Mars - Arlington (Mars candy)
• No. 97 - Theodore Lerner - Washington (Washington Nationals)
• No. 123 - William Conway, Jr. of McLean (Carlyle Group)
• No. 123 - Daniel D'Aniello of Vienna (Carlyle Group)
• No. 123 - Mitchell Rales of Washington (Danaher Corp.)
• No. 123 - Steven Rales of Washington (Danaher Corp.)
• No. 123 - David Rubenstein of Bethesda (Carlyle Group)
• No. 183 - Winnie Johnson-Marquart of Virginia Beach (SC Johnson & Sons)
• No. 326 - J. Willard (Bill) Marriott of Potomac (Marriott hotels)
• No. 326 - Richard Marriott of Potomac (Marriott hotels)
• No. 347 - Daniel Snyder of Potomac (Washington Redskins)

If you're wondering who the youngest on the list is, it's Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. He's 25 and worth $2 billion.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)