German-born American entrepreneur John Kluge has an estimated net worth of $6.5 billion. He was born John Werner Kluge on September 21, 1914 in Chemnitz, Germany, but the family emigrated to the United States in 1922. He attended Wayne State University  for two years but earned his B.A. degree in economics from Columbia University in 1937.

Kluge was at one time the world's richest person in the United States reeling from faltering restaurant investments. Private equity firm Atalaya Capital Management bought his Steak & Ale and Bennigan's brands in 2008 for $13 million in cash and assumed debt after chains filed for bankruptcy. His Ponderosa and Bonanza steak house chains also filed for Chapter 11 in 2008.

Best known as a television industry mogul, the German immigrant invested $4 million in stocks in Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation in 1959. The company was the successor of the DuMont Television Network, which was spun off from DuMont Laboratories after the television network ceased operations in 1956. He became the board chairman and largest stakeholder in 1958.

Kluge gained control of the company in 1959 and began its expansion to broadcasting, including television and radio holdings. He bought an advertising firm in early 1960s and the company was later renamed Metromedia to reflect the diversity of its interests.

John Kluge dipped into restaurants in 1988 and sold Metromedia to WorldCom for $1.3 billion in 2001. He later ledged $400 million to alma mater Columbia University in 2007. The oldest member of the Forbes 400, he died at the age of 96, on September 7, 2010.

Earnings & Financial Data