Bill Alfond Net Worth

Bill Alfond has an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Bill Alfond profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $1.6 billion in 2019.

Bill Alfond is an American investor and philanthropist whose fortune traces back to a Maine shoe company. His father, Harold Alfond, bought an old mill in Maine in 1958 and built it into Dexter Shoe Company, a maker of boots and casual shoes that sold millions of pairs a year. Bill worked in the family business himself, serving as president of its bowling shoe division until the company was sold.

The sale is what turned the Alfond family into billionaires. Warren Buffett bought Dexter Shoe, and Harold took payment in Berkshire Hathaway stock rather than cash. As Berkshire shares climbed over the following decades, that stock grew far beyond its original value. When Harold died in 2007, he left his Berkshire shares to his children, and Bill became one of the heirs whose wealth Forbes now tracks.

Where the Alfond money comes from

The core of Bill Alfond's wealth is Berkshire Hathaway stock. Forbes notes that Harold Alfond sold Dexter Shoe to Buffett for about $420 million in Berkshire shares. Taking stock instead of cash proved to be a smart call, since the value of those shares rose sharply as Berkshire kept growing. The family's stake is now worth billions, and Bill is one of three living heirs who are billionaires thanks to that deal.

Alfond also holds sports investments. He and his brother Ted are minority investors in Fenway Sports Group, the company that owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is a director of Dexter Enterprises LLC as well. Outside of business, he and his wife Joan started the Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation in 1986, and he serves as a trustee of his old school, The Governor's Academy.

How his Forbes estimate has changed

Forbes put Bill Alfond at $1.6 billion in 2019 and $1.4 billion in 2020. His estimate then rose to $2.3 billion in 2021 and $2.8 billion in 2022, before slipping to $2.5 billion in 2023. Because his wealth is tied so closely to Berkshire Hathaway stock, these moves largely follow the price of Buffett's company rather than any single business decision of his own.

The trend turned upward again after that. Forbes estimated him at $3.1 billion in 2024 and $3.5 billion in both 2025 and 2026 on its World's Billionaires List. As of October 20, 2026, Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker showed him at $3.7 billion. Over the full stretch, his estimate has more than doubled, a gain driven by the long climb in the Berkshire shares his father received for the shoe company.