[2] Peter W. Bernstein and Annalyn Swan describe the Forbes 400 as capturing "a period of extraordinary individual and entrepreneurial energy, a time unlike the extended postwar years, from 1945 to 1982, when American society emphasized the power of corporations."

Bernstein and Swan also describe it as representing "a powerful argument – and sometimes a dream – about the social value of wealth in contemporary America.

[8] In the year 2000, Forbes 400 saw the highest percent of the gross domestic product represented by the list at 12.2% driven by the internet boom.

[11] In April 2018, an ex-Forbes reporter Jonathan Greenberg alleged that Donald Trump had inflated his actual wealth in order to be included on the Forbes 400 listing.

[4] The self-made score has been invoked in discussions about inherited wealth, economic mobility, and related subjects, with some commentators supporting Forbes' characterization of the list's members, and others challenging it.

In September 2012, the Institute for Policy Studies claimed that "over 60 percent" of the Forbes richest 400 Americans "grew up in substantial privilege".

In contrast, the Chicago Booth endorses the claim that most of the Forbes 400 are self-made, while emphasizing that the list's share of entrepreneurs has increased from 40% in 1982 to 69% in 2014.