The Aspen 80
The influence of ultra-wealthy homeowners in the Aspen area is inescapable. The building and maintaining of palatial residential developments, and catering to their occupants, forms the bedrock of much of the local economy, but this sector often plays as an enigma in its local-culture footprint. Seldom do we get to know who is actually driving the development trends.
Similarly, there’s an overarching narrative that there are a lot of billionaires who own homes in and around Aspen. But just how many? Fifty? One hundred? One-twenty-five? And who’s counting?
The assertions tend to be vague. Part of the reason why Aspen Journalism undertook our latest long-term investigative project, published this month in collaboration with Aspen Sojourner magazine, was to stake out factual cairns in this multi-layered landscape. With The Aspen 80, refreshing an effort our media outlets collaborated on back in 2014, we dig through public records to see how many among the ranks of the world’s billionaires can also be tied to local property ownership. By our criteria, which requires someone to be listed individually on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list and to have a direct tie to an ownership interest in a property located in Pitkin County, we found 80 households (though there may be more that we did not uncover). Collectively, these 80 are worth nearly $680 billion — surpassing Argentina’s GDP — and own stakes in at least 167 properties valued around $3.4 billion, about 5% of the county’s total property value.
And while we don’t attempt a definitive count of folks who approach our criteria but don’t meet it, it’s clear that including all households directly related to a Forbes billionaire, contain members of a family listed on the Forbes America’s Richest Families list or are tied to individuals who may be considered a billionaire but not by Forbes would get the count north of 100 or more.
Why does it matter? For one, this is a segment of the local property market that is growing, as roughly one-third of the 80 purchased their properties after 2014. It’s a staggering concentration of billionaires — or, at least, billionaire-owned property — in a county with just over 17,000 full-time residents.
Beyond that, it’s illuminating to take a peek into the details of the size, amenities and values of so many local properties and to better understand the backgrounds of their owners — where they came from, and how they came into the fortunes necessary to play in this particular pool. It colors in the map of our neighborhoods in a way that had escaped me previously. So we invite you to dig in and check out the searchable list of Pitkin County’s billionaires and our analysis of what we found. Thanks to AJ Data Editor Laurine Lassalle for her database building and research, Catherine Lutz for her wordsmithing, Brent Gardner Smith for his help getting the project off the ground and to Aspen Sojourner Editor Ted Katauskas for keeping us on track and formatting the package for the magazine’s summer issue, on newsstands now.
Real-time streamflow tracker
Also in this edition of The Roundup, we share Lassalle’s new real-time streamflow tracker, presenting stream-gauge readings from the Roaring Fork and Colorado River basins updated in real time with an interactive mapping feature. This is your one-stop shop for a comprehensive picture of local streamflow, including how much is being piped underneath the Continental Divide to Twin Lakes and the Front Range from the headwaters of the Roaring Fork basin. These trackers show that this season’s peak flows came in well below normal and continue to lag, as detailed by Water Desk Editor Heather Sackett in her recent edition of The Runoff.
Restoring the riparian corridor
And don’t miss Sackett’s latest feature story taking stock of a 10-year effort to restore the riparian corridor of Rifle Creek just downstream of the Rifle Gap dam. One impact of the dam is that it collects sediment behind it, meaning the water released downstream is clean and erosive, making 12- to 15-foot-deep vertical creek banks out of what was once a shallow stream course. A local ranch owner set out a decade ago to remedy the situation, and with support from friends, neighbors and the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, embarked on a three-phase project that has resulted in thousands of plantings of native vegetation. The project has made a major difference on its landscape and is inspiring similar conservation efforts both locally and regionally.
Thank you, as always, for reading and supporting the valley’s only nonprofit, investigative focused newsroom producing reporting you will not find anywhere else.
– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism
The Aspen 80
Property records analysis shows where the Forbes list and local owners overlap
By Catherine Lutz, Laurine Lassalle, and Curtis Wackerle | June 12, 2025
Aspen Journalism’s investigation into the billionaires of Aspen finds 80 Forbes‑listed billionaires linked to Pitkin County, collectively worth nearly $680 billion — surpassing Argentina’s GDP — and owning stakes in at least 167 properties valued around $3.4 billion. While their presence boosts local employment and philanthropic giving, it drives traffic, competition for workers and housing costs.
Real time local streamflow
Stream-gauge readings from the Roaring Fork and Colorado River basins updated in real time with an interactive mapping feature
By Laurine Lassalle | June 19, 2025
Stream-gauge readings from the Roaring Fork and Colorado River basins updated in real time with an interactive mapping feature. Peak flows occurred around June 3–4, with the Fork reaching 3,050 cfs at Glenwood and the Colorado hitting 11,400 cfs near the state line. Recent readings show Stillwater at 198 cfs (45%), Maroon Creek at 724 cfs (63%), Crystal River at 607 cfs (48%), and Colorado at Glenwood at 4,370 cfs (43%)—all well under average.
Riparian restoration on Rifle ranch marks 10 years
John Powers hopes Rifle Creek project can be living lab for improving habitat
By Heather Sackett | June 18, 2025
David Anderson, director and chief scientist at CNHP, said conditions on the ranch have changed dramatically for the better over the past decade due to the restoration work.
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