St. Louis businessman David Steward remains Missouri’s richest person, with a fortune estimated at $12.3 billion, according to Forbes’ newly released ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Steward, 75, founder and chairman of St. Louis-based World Wide Technology, ranks No. 110 nationally on the 2026 Forbes 400. He leads seven Missourians who made the list, which this year required an estimated net worth of at least $4.4 billion.
Steward also remains among the wealthiest Black Americans in the country. Forbes lists Palantir Technologies co-founder Alexander Karp ahead of Steward, estimating Karp’s fortune at $18.8 billion. Karp, whose mother is Black and father is Jewish, has spoken ambiguously about his racial identity, telling The New York Times in 2024, “Some Black people think I’m Black, some don’t. I view me as me.”…