2 San Antonio billionaires make Forbes list of richest Americans

Primary Journalistic Dispatch & Direct Reporting

Charles Butt, seen here with the late Flaco Jimenez and Gov. Greg Abbott, receiving Texas State History Museum Foundation honors in 2019.

The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes . And two members of San Antonio's H-E-B family are among the richest in the nation.

Charles Butt and Eleanor Butt Crook are the two local H-E-B family members who made the cut among America's richest billionaires for 2026.

In-Depth Developments & Factual Context

The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. In all, 43 billionaires across Texas made it on the 2026 list.

Charles ranks as the 18th richest Texan this year, while Eleanor ranks 38th statewide.

Charles Butt, 88, is the chairman of the Texas cult-favorite grocery chain, and he ranks as the 137th richest American this year. Forbes estimates his net worth at $11.3 billion, up from his 2025 net worth of $10. 3 billion.

Industry Impact & Strategic Analysis

Eleanor, 94, is the 367th richest American with a current net worth of $4.7 billion, up from $4.4 billion last year. Forbes says the H-E-B heiress' city of residence is technically San Marcos, which is halfway between San Antonio and Austin.

Other billionaire members of the family , like H-E-B CEO Howard Butt III and Dallas-based President of Shareholder Relations Stephen Butt, have a net worth of $3.2 billion, but that's not enough to qualify as one of America's richest billionaires. Instead, they join a growing group of 590 American billionaires that are "too poor to make the cut" this year, according to Forbes .

"With the AI and data center boom in full swing and the U.S. stock market near an all-time high, it now takes a record $4.4 billion to rank among the nation's 400 wealthiest people," the publication said . "That's $600 million more than last year and $2.7 billion more than a decade ago.

Forward Outlook & Market Perspective

Texas' richest billionaires Elon Musk, 55, is the country's richest billionaire and the richest person in Austin. His net worth has more than doubled in the last year, from $428 billion to $908 billion.

Walmart heiress Alice Walton , 76, who currently leads as the richest woman globally , is also the richest woman in America, the third-wealthiest person in Texas, and the richest Fort Worth resident for 2026.

Walton's net worth has grown by $12 billion since last year , bringing her current net worth to $118 billion. She is the only daughter of late Walmart cofounder Sam Walton. She focuses her attention on other endeavors like the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas. Forbes still lists her residence as Fort Worth.

Walton is one of only 62 women billionaires on the Forbes 400 list, making up just 16 percent of the total list.

San Antonio's arts and cultural organizations that rely on city funding are hoping for good news on September 17. That is when the City Council adopts a 2026-2027 budget , which may still call for spending cuts for what some local officials consider non-priorities. As of now, the proposed total $4.4 billion budget includes $41 million in reduced expenditures as city leaders face an estimated $158 million budget shortfall, declining revenues, economic uncertainty, and the potential for a property tax rate hike. Current council members say they do not want to cut funding for basic, essential services, such as public safety, street repairs, or the upkeep of parks. Nor do they want to be the first council members in more than 30 years to raise the property tax rate. As a result, the city is looking at measures such as cutting library positions and closing some senior nutrition programs to help close the budget deficit. But Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has also suggested cuts to funding that the city typically provides to local arts and culture organizations and agencies. In July, Jones sent a letter to local business, foundation, and philanthropic leaders, encouraging them to consider three-year funding commitments for 15 organizations that she identified for budget reductions. Some of those targeted groups include Avenida Guadalupe Association , Diez y Seis de Septiembre Commission , DreamVoice - the organizer of yearly DreamWeek programming - San Antonio Book Festival, San Antonio Botanical Garden , and the San Antonio Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission , which organizes the city's annual MLK march. In all, the proposed 2026-2027 budget offers $7.85 million for 40-plus local arts and cultural agencies as well as artist grants and events, a number on par with the funding levels in the 2025-2026 budget. The aforementioned arts and cultural organizations eyed for proposed cuts received more than $2 million from the city's 2025-26 budget, combined. The proposed 2026-2027 budget also calls for nearly $241,000 in reductions in the city's World Heritage office, including the elimination of the city's gastronomy program , and a decrease in the number of outdoor exhibits at the World Heritage Center on the South Side. Jones' open appeal to the business and donor communities was met with little fanfare from civic leaders, and those cuts are reflected in the budget proposal. That has not stopped officials and advocates of local arts and cultural organizations and other nonprofits from rallying public support for those causes ahead of the final council budget vote. The Nonprofit Council , a San Antonio nonprofit that has 250-plus local organizations in its membership rolls, held a September 2 press conference at City Hall, where attendees voiced their objections to the proposed budget cuts. Cory McRae, the Nonprofit Council's advocacy chair, said budget cuts could negatively impact thousands of San Antonians served by member organizations, some of which entirely count on the city budget for their funding. "This is more than about a budget line. It's about what's happening when organizations serving families, young people, seniors and people in crisis have fewer resources to do the work," McRae said. The San Antonio Book Festival , for its part, launched a petition drive and submitted a guest opinion piece to the San Antonio Express-News , urging city leaders to reconsider the budget cuts aimed at nonprofits such as the annual literary event. SABF officials said their festival not only has a $3 million economic impact on the city, it also promotes local, regional, and independent authors and their publications, and shines a spotlight on the importance of literacy with the distribution of free books to thousands of local students. "This is not frivolous spending. It is public investment in the intellectual, economic and cultural future of our city," the commentary stated. Outside of Jones' plan, another budget proposal is prompting reactions of a different kind. City leaders are contemplating requiring organizers of Fiesta events to cover half of expenses tied to police security and other city support services. The Conservation Society of San Antonio, which organizes Night In Old San Antonio , plans to lay off some event staff and revamp programming to account for a possible reduction in available money for event costs. Officials with the conservation society are putting a positive spin on things, inviting community members to offer ideas on enhancing NIOSA, regardless of how the festival may look next year. "We're hitting the reset button to completely rethink San Antonio's premier Fiesta event 'A Night In Old San Antonio'," the conservation society said in a Facebook post. "Right now, we feel we can dream bigger. So, we're redesigning the experience from the ground up, and we can't do it without your voice."

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