ceo_pte
New Member
Billionaire ranks are thriving
The U.S. is the best country in the world. Don't think so... 11 of the 20 richest people in the world live right here... No other country even comes close.... If you think you are getting a deal at Wal-Mart, think again. A few others are making out good too... Who are they?
After two years of falling fortunes, the collective net worth of the world's billionaires jumped half a trillion dollars in the past year, to $1.9 trillion. The biggest gainer in sheer dollars was Warren Buffett, who added $12.4 billion to his net worth and now is only a few billion dollars shy of ending Bill Gates' 10-year reign as the richest person on the planet.
This year, Forbes reports a record 587 billionaires, including 64 newcomers hailing from 19 countries. Among them:
In a fairy tale as fantastic as her popular "Harry Potter" series, former welfare mother J.K. Rowling makes her debut on the Forbes list at 552.
So do two geeks who have barely turned 30: Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who created the ultrapopular Google search engine and are expected to take their company public this year.
Canadian impresario Guy Laliberté, creator of Cirque du Soleil, whose acrobatic extravaganzas are top draws at Disney World and on the Las Vegas strip.
Hong Kong's Michael Ying, whose Esprit line of apparel is spreading, Gap-like, around the world.
Thanks to rising oil prices, Russia minted eight new billionaires and now has a total of 25, the third-highest concentration in the world. Twenty-three of them live in Moscow, ranking it second behind New York as the city with the most billionaire residents. Hong Kong and Paris follow.
The youngest billionaire is Prince Albert Thurn und Taxis, just 20 and ranked No. 262 with a fortune of $2.1 billion. Compare that with the average age of all billionaires, which is 64, and an average net worth of $3.3 billion. Not a bad start.
Rising, falling and doing time
Two years ago, 83 former billionaires failed to make the cut. Last year it was 67. And this year? A measly six members of last year's list fell off -- a testament to the comeback of global markets. Most of the dropoffs owe their delisted status to divestments of holdings. But Canada's Eugene Melnyk was axed in the old-fashioned way -- stock in his pharmaceutical company, Biovail, took a dive after revelations of accounting irregularities. Computer Associates shareholder Sam Wyly just missed the cutoff.
Among the comeback club members were techies like Yahoo! founders David Filo and Jerry Yang and Ameritrade's J. Joseph Ricketts. Also returning were brothers Victor and William Fung, whose global outsourcing company, Li & Fung, supplies clothes and fashion accessories to retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Two members of the Forbes World's Richest People list and one former billionaire are behind bars: Russian billionaires Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who made their money from oil giant Yukos, and Italy's Calisto Tanzi, the former billionaire and Parmalat chief accused of masterminding one of the largest corporate frauds in history. All three await trial. Japanese billionaire Yasuo Takei recently pleaded guilty to wiretapping and agreed to pay a fine to be released from police custody. In the meantime, billionaire ex-convicts like Leona Helmsley and former Sotheby's Chairman A. Alfred Taubman enjoy their freedom.
Forbes' 20 richest billionaires
Rank Name Age Billions Residence
1 William Gates III 48 $46.6 Medina, Wash., U.S.
2 Warren Buffett 73 $42.9 Omaha, Neb., U.S.
3 Karl Albrecht 84 $23.0 Donaueschingen, Germany
4 Prince Alwaleed 47 $21.5 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
bin Talal Alsaud
5 Paul Allen 51 $21.0 Mercer Island, Wash., U.S.
6 Alice Walton 55 $20.0 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
6 Helen Walton 84 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
6 Jim Walton 56 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
6 John Walton 58 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
6 S. Robson Walton 60 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
11 Liliane Bettencourt 81 $18.8 Paris, France
12 Lawrence Ellison 59 $18.7 Redwood Shores, Calif., U.S.
13 Ingvar Kamprad 77 $18.5 Lausanne, Switzerland
14 Theo Albrecht 81 $18.1 Foehr, Germany
15 Kenneth Thomson 80 $17.2 Toronto, Canada
& family
16 Mikhail Khodorkovsky 40 $15.0 Moscow, Russia
17 Carlos Slim Helu 64 $13.9 Mexico City, Mexico
18 Michael Dell 39 $13.0 Round Rock, Texas, U.S.
19 Steven Ballmer 47 $12.4 Redmond, Wash., U.S.
19 Li Ka-shing 75 $12.4 Hong Kong , Hong Kong
The U.S. is the best country in the world. Don't think so... 11 of the 20 richest people in the world live right here... No other country even comes close.... If you think you are getting a deal at Wal-Mart, think again. A few others are making out good too... Who are they?
After two years of falling fortunes, the collective net worth of the world's billionaires jumped half a trillion dollars in the past year, to $1.9 trillion. The biggest gainer in sheer dollars was Warren Buffett, who added $12.4 billion to his net worth and now is only a few billion dollars shy of ending Bill Gates' 10-year reign as the richest person on the planet.
This year, Forbes reports a record 587 billionaires, including 64 newcomers hailing from 19 countries. Among them:
In a fairy tale as fantastic as her popular "Harry Potter" series, former welfare mother J.K. Rowling makes her debut on the Forbes list at 552.
So do two geeks who have barely turned 30: Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who created the ultrapopular Google search engine and are expected to take their company public this year.
Canadian impresario Guy Laliberté, creator of Cirque du Soleil, whose acrobatic extravaganzas are top draws at Disney World and on the Las Vegas strip.
Hong Kong's Michael Ying, whose Esprit line of apparel is spreading, Gap-like, around the world.
Thanks to rising oil prices, Russia minted eight new billionaires and now has a total of 25, the third-highest concentration in the world. Twenty-three of them live in Moscow, ranking it second behind New York as the city with the most billionaire residents. Hong Kong and Paris follow.
The youngest billionaire is Prince Albert Thurn und Taxis, just 20 and ranked No. 262 with a fortune of $2.1 billion. Compare that with the average age of all billionaires, which is 64, and an average net worth of $3.3 billion. Not a bad start.
Rising, falling and doing time
Two years ago, 83 former billionaires failed to make the cut. Last year it was 67. And this year? A measly six members of last year's list fell off -- a testament to the comeback of global markets. Most of the dropoffs owe their delisted status to divestments of holdings. But Canada's Eugene Melnyk was axed in the old-fashioned way -- stock in his pharmaceutical company, Biovail, took a dive after revelations of accounting irregularities. Computer Associates shareholder Sam Wyly just missed the cutoff.
Among the comeback club members were techies like Yahoo! founders David Filo and Jerry Yang and Ameritrade's J. Joseph Ricketts. Also returning were brothers Victor and William Fung, whose global outsourcing company, Li & Fung, supplies clothes and fashion accessories to retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Two members of the Forbes World's Richest People list and one former billionaire are behind bars: Russian billionaires Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who made their money from oil giant Yukos, and Italy's Calisto Tanzi, the former billionaire and Parmalat chief accused of masterminding one of the largest corporate frauds in history. All three await trial. Japanese billionaire Yasuo Takei recently pleaded guilty to wiretapping and agreed to pay a fine to be released from police custody. In the meantime, billionaire ex-convicts like Leona Helmsley and former Sotheby's Chairman A. Alfred Taubman enjoy their freedom.
Forbes' 20 richest billionaires
Rank Name Age Billions Residence
1 William Gates III 48 $46.6 Medina, Wash., U.S.
2 Warren Buffett 73 $42.9 Omaha, Neb., U.S.
3 Karl Albrecht 84 $23.0 Donaueschingen, Germany
4 Prince Alwaleed 47 $21.5 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
bin Talal Alsaud
5 Paul Allen 51 $21.0 Mercer Island, Wash., U.S.
6 Alice Walton 55 $20.0 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
6 Helen Walton 84 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
6 Jim Walton 56 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
6 John Walton 58 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
6 S. Robson Walton 60 $20.0 Bentonville, Ark., U.S.
11 Liliane Bettencourt 81 $18.8 Paris, France
12 Lawrence Ellison 59 $18.7 Redwood Shores, Calif., U.S.
13 Ingvar Kamprad 77 $18.5 Lausanne, Switzerland
14 Theo Albrecht 81 $18.1 Foehr, Germany
15 Kenneth Thomson 80 $17.2 Toronto, Canada
& family
16 Mikhail Khodorkovsky 40 $15.0 Moscow, Russia
17 Carlos Slim Helu 64 $13.9 Mexico City, Mexico
18 Michael Dell 39 $13.0 Round Rock, Texas, U.S.
19 Steven Ballmer 47 $12.4 Redmond, Wash., U.S.
19 Li Ka-shing 75 $12.4 Hong Kong , Hong Kong
