meijerbrothers.jpg
Doug and Hank Meijer at the Meijer Inc. headquarters in Walker in 2012. (Mlive file photo)
WALKER, MI -- Hank and Doug Meijer routinely top Forbes list as Michigan's richest but how do they stack up against the richest people in each of the 50 states?
Forbes is answering that question with a new 2015 ranking -- and an interactive map.
Overall, the brothers, who run the family-owned Midwest supercenter chain come in 18th place, behind hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, of New Jersey, with $10.4 billion and ahead of retailer John Menard Jr., of Wisconsin, with $9.1 billion.
Topping the list of 50 is Washington's Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $78.8 billion. (He is also the richest in the world after capturing the top spot back from Mexican media titan Carlos Slim Helu in 2014.)
In second and third places are Nebraska investor Warren Buffett with $70.2 billion and California tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison with $52.8 billion.
Hank and Doug Meijer, who are treated as one entity by Forbes, now have a fortune of $10.1 billion. That's down from Forbes' estimates of $10.7 billion in March. Magazines like Forbes have to do some educated guessing because the source of the Meijer billions, the privately-held Meijer Inc., doesn't release revenue data.
As for bragging rights, Michigan's richest are wealthier than the billionaires in the surrounding states of Wisconsin (Menard), Illinois (Ken Griffin with $6.7 billion), Indiana (Carl Cook with $6.7 billion) and Ohio (Leslie Wexner with $7.5 billion.)
Across the Midwest, the Meijers are the fourth richest in this Forbes contest. Buffet, of course, is top. Next is Kansas industrialist Charles Koch with $42.7 billion followed by Missouri resident and Enterprise Rental Car founder Jack Taylor with $12.7 billion.
Six states have no billionaires, only millionaires, according to Forbes' calculations. They are Alabama, North Dakota, Delaware, New Mexico, Vermont and Alaska.
RELATED: Richest billionaires in Michigan call Grand Rapids home