Abby Johnson, the CEO of Fidelity [profile], is the richest person in Massachusetts ... depending on who you count as "in Massachusetts."

Abigail Johnson Fidelity President, Chief Executive Officer

For two years running, Forbes has named Johnson "the wealthiest person in Massachusetts" on the Forbes "The Richest Person In Every State" list, and that list was just created last year. Yet now Massinvestor's brand new affluenceIQ list, highlighted by the Boston Globe, of the "50 richest people in Massachusetts" says that Johnson is only #2 in the Bay State.

The discrepancy comes down to one person who's even richer than Johnson: casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson. While Forbes counts Adelson as being in Nevada, affluenceIQ counts him as being in Massachusetts, as he "maintains a $5M residence in Newton." Adelson's net worth ($26.4 billion by affluenceIQ's estimate, $26.1 billion by Forbes') makes him the richest person in either Massachusetts or Nevada, it seems.

As a side note, the lists offer slightly different net worth estimates for Johnson, too; Forbes estimates $14.7 billion, while affluenceIQ estimates $15.2 billion.

And Abby Johnson is not the only member of her family on affluenceIQ's list of the 50 richest people in Massachusetts. Abby's father, Fidelity chairman Ned Johnson, is #3 with $8.5 billion. Abby's brother, Pembroke Real Estate president Edward C. Johnson IV, is #9 with $2.5 billion. And Abby's sister, Elizabeth Johnson, is #10 with $2.5 billion. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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