New York: The annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans was announced and the biggest gainer on the the list was Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, whose wealth more than tripled to $6.9 billion, putting him in 35th place.

Bill Gates was ranked the richest person in the United States, with $9 billion more than Warren E. Buffett. Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, topped the Forbes list with $54 billion, an increase of $4 billion from last year.

Warren Buffett, the legendary investor who runs Berkshire Hathaway, easily held on to the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list with $45 billion, and he proved better than Mr. Gates at amassing wealth, gaining $5 billion over last year as the financial crisis ebbed.