This is the richest person in New Jersey

Forbes has updated its worldwide billionaires list, revealing the world’s richest people. That’s all well and good, but we want to know who is New Jersey’s richest person.

According to Forbes, and reported by roi-nj, the richest New Jerseyan is Rocco Commisso.

Not exactly a household name, but he’s worth an estimated $7.8 billion. While that fortune puts him at #93 on the list of richest Americans, it’s only good enough for 276th worldwide.

He made his money in the media arena; the Saddle River resident is the founder and CEO of cable company Mediacom, based in Chester, New York.

According to Forbes:

• He previously worked as CFO at Cablevision Industries, which was acquired by Time Warner in 1995.
• Commisso bought Italian Serie A soccer team Fiorentina in June 2019 for a reported price of between $150 million and $200 million.
• Commisso immigrated to America from Italy in 1962 at age 12. His first job was playing the accordion during movie theater intermissions.
• He earned a full scholarship to Columbia University, which named its soccer stadium for him in 2013 in recognition of his donations to the school.

Commisso is also the owner of the soccer team ACF Fiorentina, which plays in the Italian Serie A league. He acquired the team in 2019 and has since invested heavily in its development and success.

Commisso was born in Calabria, Italy in 1949 and immigrated to the United States in 1962.