LGBTQ billionaires

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Among LGBTQ individuals, there are about a dozen known billionaires, according to Forbes . [1] As of 2025, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani are the wealthiest openly people who identify as either gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or transsexual. [2] [3]

Contents

History

In 1992, record executive, film producer, and media titan David Geffen came out, and is recognized as the first openly gay billionaire in the world. [4]

In 1999, Dolce and Gabbana co-founders and billionaires Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana announced in an interview that they were a gay couple. [5]

Giorgio Armani, one of the richest LGBTQ billionaires GiorgioArmani.jpg
Giorgio Armani, one of the richest LGBTQ billionaires

In 2000, Jon Stryker, a grandson of Homer Stryker, who founded Stryker Corporation, a medical technologies company, announced that he was gay around the same time as the launch of his Arcus Foundation, one of the largest funders of LGBT charitable organizations. [6]

On August 16, 2013, Jennifer Pritzker made headlines by announcing that she identifies herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings. This announcement made Pritzker the world's first openly transgender billionaire. [7]

In 2014, Apple CEO and billionaire Tim Cook became the first openly gay chief executive of a Fortune 500 company. [8]

In October 2015, Norway's second richest billionaire Stein Erik Hagen came out as bisexual on the Norwegian talk show Skavlan. [9]

At the 2016 Republican National Convention, billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel announced that he was, "Proud to be Gay". [10]

For most of his career, Giorgio Armani was known for being private about his personal affairs. In 2024, he talked openly about his sexuality and his male and female partners. [11]

In 2024, Forbes estimated that United Therapeutics founder Martine Rothblatt, who is transgender, has a net worth greater than one billion dollars due to the appreciation of her company's stock. [12]

List

LGBTQ billionaires
Name Net worth
US$ (billions)		LGBTQ identityCitizenshipRef.
Peter Thiel 16.3 Gay man
  • Germany
  • New Zealand
  • United States
 [2] [13]
Giorgio Armani 11.8 Bisexual man Italy [3] [14] [1]
David Geffen 8.7 Gay man United States [13] [15]
Jon Stryker 5.6 Gay man United States [13] [16]
Barry Diller 4.7 Bisexual man United States [17] [18]
Tim Cook 2.5 Gay man United States [13] [19]
Stein Erik Hagen 2.5 Bisexual man Norway

[1] [20] [21]

Jennifer Pritzker 2.5 Trans woman United States [13] [1]
Domenico Dolce 2.4 Gay man Italy [13] [1]
Stefano Gabbana 2.4 Gay man Italy [13] [1]
Tom Ford 2.2 Gay man
  • United States
 [22]
Sam Altman 1.5 Gay man United States [1] [23] [24]
Martine Rothblatt 1.1 Trans woman United States [1] [12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Forbes (April 2, 2025). The Richest People In The World.
  2. 1 2 'Forbes (March 8, 2025). Peter Thiel $16.30. Real Time Net Worth.
  3. 1 2 Forbes (March 8, 2025). Giorgio Armani $11.6. Real Time Net Worth.
  4. ↑ Cohan, William D. (October 30, 2014). Praise for Coming Out From Someone Who Did. New York Times.
  5. ↑ Vogue (August 14, 2015). Domenico Dolce Apologizes for His Controversial Remarks. see “We made our first interview saying we are gay in 1999. It was a question, can you imagine, so late?” Gabbana says.
  6. ↑ Interview with Jon Stryker: A Journey to Inclusive Philanthropy. Global Giving Matters.
  7. ↑ Solomon, Brian (September 16, 2013). "Jennifer Pritzker Becomes First Transgender Billionaire". Forbes .
  8. ↑ Goldman, David (October 26, 2018). Tim Cook: Being gay is God’s greatest gift to me. CNN.
  9. ↑ "Norway's Second Richest Billionaire Comes Out As Bisexual". Towleroad. October 2015.
  10. ↑ Selyukh, Alina (July 21, 2016). 'I Am Proud To Be Gay,' Tech Investor Peter Thiel Tells GOP Convention. NPR.
  11. ↑ Duncan, Charlie (October 17, 2024). Giorgio Armani opens up about his sexuality and male partners: ‘I’ve never talked about this’. PinkNews.
  12. 1 2 Chang, Richard J. (July 18, 2024). The planet's latest billionaire is a helicopter-flying transgender woman hell-bent on curing her daughter's disease. Forbes.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Robehmed, Natalie (March 3, 2014). "Meet The World's LGBT Billionaires". Forbes.
  14. ↑ "#174 Giorgio Armani". Forbes.
  15. ↑ Forbes (March 7, 2025). David Geffen $8.7B. Real Time Net Worth.
  16. ↑ Forbes (March 8, 2025). Jon Stryker $5.6B. Real Time Net Worth.
  17. ↑ Diller, Barry (6 May 2025). "Barry & Diane: The truth about us, after all these years". New York (magazine). Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  18. ↑ Forbes (May 8, 2025). Forbes Diller $4.7. Real Time Net Worth.
  19. ↑ Forbes (March 8, 2025). Tim Cook. $2.5B. Real Time Net Worth.
  20. ↑ Forbes (March 7, 2025). Stein Erik Hagen. $2.3B. Real Time Net Worth.
  21. ↑ "Norway's second richest billionaire comes out as bisexual on chat show watched by 3m viewers". The Independent.
  22. ↑ "Profile - Tom Ford". Forbes.
  23. ↑ "Sam Altman". Forbes.
  24. ↑ Forbes (March 8, 2025). Sam Altman $1.1B. Real Time Net Worth.
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