According to Forbes latest list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, the wealth of the super-rich has grown during the last year. In the meantime, as the rich get richer, the middle class continues to shrink, widening yet more the gap between the wealthy and the poor.



Richer prosperous



About 12.5 percent of the economy is made up by the 400 wealthiest citizens in our country, according to NBC News. These 400 individuals, according to Forbes, saw a $1.7 trillion boost in total net worth, or a 13 percent boost, in the last year.



The average net worth per person in the 400 is higher than it has ever been at $4.2 billion.



Forbes discovered that 261 of the richest 400 all saw their income go up. The increases in wealth were attributed to stock growth and a rebounding real estate market.



The usual suspects



The names of the rich are just as anticipated. Bill Gates, Buffett, Larry Ellison, Charles and David Koch (tied for fourth) and Christie Walton are the top five people just like they were in 2011, though there was a rise in net worth.



Gates, chairman of Microsoft, has headed the list for the last 19 years. He saw his worth grow by $7 billion to $66 billion. Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, saw his worth rise by $7 billion. Larry Ellison, head of Oracle Corp, got the largest raise, however, with an increase of $8 billion.



Zuckerberg not doing well



A notable exception to the trend of increasing net worth was social network mogul Zuckerberg, who lost nearly half of his net worth after his cash cow Facebook went public. This year, he is scraping by on $9.4 billion.



More of gap than people want



In a separate study last week, the Economic Policy Institute discovered that the gap between the wealthiest Americans and the average family has more than doubled in the last half-century. According to the report, the country's top one percent of earners made about 125 times that of a middle-income household in 1961. In 2010, it had escalated to a ratio of 288 to one.



During the last few decades, there have been decreases in payment for most of Americans while the wealthy are making more than ever.



The Economic Policy Institute report learned that the gap was increased a ton since the Good Recession started, regardless of the truth that it has been occurring for a long time.