Finance news. My opinion.

The super-rich got even wealthier this year, despite the stumbling economy.

Forbes magazine released its annual list of the 400 richest Americans on Wednesday, and their combined net worth climbed 8% this year, to $1.37 trillion. Wealth rose for 217 members of the list, while 85 saw a decline.

Bill Gates is yet again the richest man in America. The founder of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), the world’s largest software maker, is first on the Forbes list with an estimated fortune of $54 billion, up from $50 billion in 2009. He’s followed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who is worth $45 billion.

Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500), stood at No. 3 with $20 billion.

Christy Walton took the No. 4 spot, while members of her family — whose fortune comes from Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) — took spots 7 through 9.

Charles and David Koch, of private energy conglomerate Koch Industries, tied for No. 5 at $21.5 billion each. Both men saw their wealth skyrocket by $5.5 billion from 2009.

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, rounded out the list at No payday loans. 10 with $18 billion.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who clocked in at No. 35 on the list, saw his wealth rise 245% over the year — the largest percentage increase on the list.

Forbes said 16 new members joined the list this year, including Facebook’s Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin. At 26 — 8 days younger than Zuckerberg — Saverin is the new youngest on the list.

By contrast, 34 people fell off the list this year. One notable drop-off is Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, who is facing 185 years in prison,

Despite the recession, finance and investment industries continued to dominate the list; 55 members are from the finance industry, while 54 are from the investments sector.

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Cal Expo is out of the land-swap proposal for a new downtown arena, but project proponents say the arena effort continues.

The Cal Expo board of directors failed to pass a motion on Friday to continue investigation its possible role in a three-way land swap for a downtown arena, ending Cal Expo's consideration after three years of talks for one arena proposal or another.

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Nexant Inc. said Tuesday it received $43 million in funding from investors that include Oak Investment Partners and Intel Capital.

San Francisco-based Nexant provides intelligent grid and clean energy software.

Oak Investment Partners has an office in Palo Alto. Intel Capital is the funding arm of Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC).

“Our clean energy investment strategy targets companies that deliver solutions designed to increase the overall efficiency of the energy market,” said Bandel Carano, managing partner of Oak Investment Partners. “We identified Nexant as a successful and profitable company that is ready to be taken to the next level."

Click here to read the press release.

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Rice University has been ranked among some of the world’s best universities in the latest poll by Times Higher Education Magazine based in London.

The local university placed at No. 47, up from No. 100 last year and is the only Texas-based school that places in the top 200.

Harvard has the list’s top spot payday loan lenders.

Criteria for the ranking included the teaching and learning environment, research published and the ratio of international and domestic staff and students, among other data points.

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StorSimple Inc. on Tuesday named Ian Howells chief marketing officer.

The Santa Clara company is a cloud storage vendor.

Howells has about 25 years of experience, the company said, most recently at Alfresco.

Before that he was was responsible for worldwide marketing at SeeBeyond before its acquisition by Sun Microsystems Inc cash advance. Howells was also the first employee of Documentum in Europe, where he had both European marketing and global marketing roles.

The company was founded by CEO Ursheet Parikh and President Guru Pangal.

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Public hearings are set for Tuesday’s Wichita City Council meeting on the creation of three Community Improvement Districts.

The districts would allow developers to collect sales tax revenue to help pay for the cost of their projects.

A Community Improvement District is a special tax zone in which businesses charge a slightly higher tax rate. The revenues generated through the new tax are passed through to a developer who is making improvements in the district.

Tuesday’s hearings will cover proposals for CIDs at three locations:

• Central Park Place Shopping Center, which covers an area surrounding but not including a new Lowe’s home improvement store in the 2600 block of North Maize Road. Developer Brad Saville is seeking a 1 percent sales tax.
• Bowllagio mixed-use entertainment district, which would cover an area on the northeast corner of Kellogg Drive and Maize Road. Development group Maize 54 LLC is seeking a 2 percent sales tax guaranteed personal loan approval.
• A proposed Sav-A-Lot grocery store at Washington Boulevard and Pawnee Avenue in the Planeview area of southwest Wichita. Rob Snyder is the developer of the $2 million project, which is meant to establish a low-cost grocery store in a low-income neighborhood.

Snyder also is proposing that his Sav-A-Lot project be designated as a tax increment financing district. A TIF district would allow Snyder to receive new property tax revenue that the city receives as a result of the new development. Snyder would receive this money on a pay-as-you-go basis, so the city would not need to issue debt for the project. The designation would provide the developer with an estimated $400,000.

The TIF proposal also is on Tuesday’s city council agenda.

The council meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 455 N. Main.

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This is a weekly roundup of promotions, appointments and employee accomplishments in the Birmingham metro area. For more People on the Move, check out the Birmingham Business Journal’s print edition each week. Send announcements to twest@bizjournals.com.

ARCHITECTURE

Scott P. Phillips at Nelson Design Group recently passed the Architectural Registration Examination to become a registered architect in the state of Alabama. He has worked at NDG since 2007 and currently serves as senior project manager for the firm.

EDUCATION

The Superintendents Leaders Network, a joint project of the Alabama Best Practices Center and the School Superintendents of Alabama, has selected 17 local leaders for the 2010-2011 class. Local participants are Craig Witherspoon of Birmingham city schools and Phil Hammonds of Jefferson County schools.

LEGAL

Balch & Bingham lawyers recognized for the Best Lawyers in America for 2011 include: Matthew A. Aiken for corporate law and health care law, Suzanne Ashe for corporate law and securities law, S. Allen Baker Jr. for Commercial Litigation and Personal Injury Litigation, Eason Balch Jr. for Energy Law and Government Relations Law, R. Bruce Barze Jr. for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Product Liability Litigation, Walter M. Beale Jr. for Corporate Law, M. Stanford Blanton for Energy Law and Government Relations Law, H. Hampton Boles for Banking Law and Real Estate Law, James A. Bradford for Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Law, Gregory P. Butrus for Energy Law, Steve F. Casey for Personal Injury Litigation and Land Use & Zoning Law, Gregory C. Cook for Commercial Litigation, J. Foster Clark for Public Finance Law, R. Allen Deer for Banking Law and Corporate Law, Bingham D. Edwards Jr. for Tax Law and Corporate Law, Michael L. Edwards for Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation, J. Thomas Francis for Public Finance Law, Michael Freeman for Environmental Law, Commercial Litigation and Personal Injury Litigation, P. Stephen Gidiere III for Environmental Law, Ed R. Haden for Appellate Law and Energy Law, Leigh Ann Hodge for Employee Benefits Law, Cavendar C. Kimble for Health Care Law and Insurance Law, James W. King for Employee Benefits Law, Randolph H. Lanier for Real Estate Law, Lyle D. Larson for Energy Law, Alex B. Leath for Tax Law, Project Finance Law and Public Finance Law, Jack B. Levy for Corporate Law and Employee Benefits Law and Health Care Law, William D. Lineberry for Nonprofit/Charities Law, Colin H. Luke for Health Care Law and Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Dan H. McCrary for Energy Law, Steven G. McKinney for Environmental Law, Carey Bennett McRae for Health Care Law, Howard W. Neiswender for Trusts and Estates and Tax Law, Phillip Nichols for Antitrust Law, James L. Noles for Environmental Law, Kathryn J. Ottensmeyer for Public Finance Law, Richard L. Pearson for Banking Law and Securities Law, Eric T. Ray for Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law, Laura Schiele Robinson for Employee Benefits Law, Alan T. Rogers for Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation and Insurance Law, William H. Satterfield for Environmental Law, William E. Shanks for Employee Benefits Law and Trust & Estates, Lisa J. Sharp for Labor and Employment Law, Felton W. Smith for Real Estate Law, Marion Jefferson Starling, III for Labor & Employment Law, S. Chris Still for Energy Law, Will Hill Tankersley Jr. for Antitrust Law and Intellectual Property Law, Timothy J. Tracy for Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, Corporate Law and Mergers & Acquisitions Law, Andrew Tunnell for Energy Law, Jesse S. Vogtle Jr., for Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law and Commercial Litigation, W. Clark Watson for Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law and Banking Law, Lois W. Woodward for Banking Law, William S. Wright for Banking Law, Real Estate Law and Land Use & Zoning Law, Stephen A. Yoder for Banking Law and Lee H. Zell for Commercial Litigation.

NONPROFITS

Four Alabamians and a nonprofit foundation were honored in Tuscaloosa Aug. 19 as the 2010 recipients of statewide awards from the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation. This year’s honorees are Birmingham attorney Ed Gentle, filmmaker and educator Melanie Jeffcoat, longtime ACCR advocates Mark Berte and Hill Carmichael and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

REAL ESTATE

James L. Dye, senior vice president of RealtySouth, was named by the Birmingham Association of Realtors the 2010 Realtor of the Year, which is the highest individual honor bestowed by the local organization and recognizes outstanding leadership and service. Mickey Green of Coldwell Banker Green & Co. received the 2010 Tom Rast President’s Cup, which is a lifetime achievement award. Kelli Gunnells of Daniel Homes LLC was named 2010 Residential Sales Associate of the Year. And Jackie Minor Morgan, a representative for Reli Title, received the 2010 Earline Cummings Affiliate of the Year award.

RESTAURANTS

Birmingham resident and Whataburger franchisee Jerry Baird, along with his son, Hudson, recently scaled the Kilimanjaro and planted a Whataburger flag at the top to celebrate the Southern burger chain’s 60th anniversary. Baird opened Birmingham’s first Whataburger in August 2005.

UNIVERSITIES

Krishan Chawla, professor in the UAB Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is the recipient of the 2011 Educator Award from The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. The award is given annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to education in metallurgical engineering and/or materials science and engineering. Chawla will be formally presented with his award at a dinner in San Diego, Calif., during the 140th TMS Annual Meeting in March 2011.

Isabel Scarinci associate professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine and associate scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, has received an “honorable distinction” award from the Municipal Health Secretariat in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, for her work to help pass a smoking-free law at the town and state level there.

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A state policy discounting home loans for disabled veterans has been extended to spouses of troops killed in the line of duty.

Texas Veterans Land Board Chairman Jerry Patterson announced the change this week, saying he was prompted by a letter from a Longview loan officer. The broker was angered that the wife of a fallen Marine could not qualify for the benefit. And within 24 hours of sending the letter, the rule was changed.

The benefit, which was created in the wake of World War II, allows qualified borrowers up to $325,000 on a 30-year loan at a 3.49 percent rate. Recipients can also qualify for up to $80,000 for land or up to $25,000 for home improvements.

"This was an easy decision for us at the VLB - it was the right thing to do," Patterson said.

For more information on the discount, click here.

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Discretix Technologies Ltd. on Monday named Coby Sella its new chief executive.

Santa Clara-based Discretix focuses on embedded security products.

Sella was former senior vice president and general manager of Zoran Corp.'s (NASDAQ:ZRAN) Mobile division.

The company also announced that Gal Salomon, the company’s founder and outgoing CEO, has been appointed chairman of the board.

"The massive global demand for smartphones and the resulting rollout of premium content services have lead to rapid expansion of Discretix’ embedded security and content protection businesses in both Asia-Pacific and North America," the company said business card templates.

Discretix said Salomon will focus on the development of strategic opportunities including new markets, acquisitions and alliances.

Prior to joining Zoran, Sella held various positions at DSP Group, IBM and National Semiconductor.

Click here to read the press release.

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