Billionaires are mysterious like black holes, with their wealth hard to pin down. The late Fayez Sarofim, a hidden billionaire who made his fortune through private investments, may have been responsible for a record-high $7 billion estate tax payment in February 2023. Sarofim’s meticulous investment strategy in blue-chip US stocks over six decades likely made him a secret billionaire. Despite Forbes estimating his net worth far lower, Sarofim’s estate managed over $31 million at his death, and his philanthropic efforts amounted to hundreds of millions. The secretive nature of private-investment management and financial practices make the true extent of billionaire’s wealth murky.
https://sherwood.news/power/who-died-and-left-the-us-7-billion-fayez-sarofim/