The Billionaires' Club

[Blue_Tires]

The Billionaires' Club

Edited by Matthew Miller and Tatiana Serafin
Forbes.com

A nine-figure fortune won't get you much mention these days, at least not in these pages. This year, for the first time, everyone on The Forbes 400 has at least $1 billion. The collective net worth of the nation's wealthiest climbed $120 billion, to $1.25 trillion.

Surging real estate, oil and other asset prices paved the way for 28 new members. Developer John P. Manning used political savvy to build a $1.1 billion fortune, in part by brokering low-income housing projects.

Chesapeake Energy founders Aubrey McClendon and Tom L. Ward are two of the oil fortunes added to the list. Pouring 40 million caffeinated drinks a week landed Starbucks honcho Howard Schultz on our list of America's 400 richest.

Manny Mashouf placed his skimpy women's wear on TV shows like "Party of Five" and "Ally McBeal;" today he has a $1.5 billion fortune in Bebe clothing stores.

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/usrich06_article1.html

good to know we live in such prosperous times...certainly my billion is just around the corner, right??:sarcasm:

[BlueJazz]

1. I believe I'm on the list.

Number 679,712,417,612

[htuttle]

2. They'll be good eatin' someday!

...With a side of favre beans and a nice Chianti.

:evilgrin:

[Robbien]

3. From $120 billion to $1.25 trillion in just one year?

And making a billion from brokering low income housing means the buyers of low income housing have had to pay a collective billion more for their homes to Manning. A classic example of the meme "From the pockets of the poor to the off-shore banks of the rich".

[Mokito]

10. No, you got that wrong

It climbed with $120 billion to $1.25 trillion (this year).

[mopinko]

16. from you and me- the taxpayers

i would assume.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Wealth seems to be becoming concentrated in fewer and fewer hands

Economic growth and inflation doesn't account for that kind of steep increase in the accumulation of money.

[Raster]

17. It is undisputed fact. The wealth of this country IS concentrating in

fewer and fewer hands. The ultra-rich are getting richer. Mucher richer. And to add insult to injury, tax law is being rewritten constantly to favor the ultra-rich and shift the tax burden from the wealthiest to the poorest. This is just one of the many negative reprecussions of the bush* dynasty.

[mom cat]

5. The collective net worth of the nation's wealthiest climbed $120 billion,

to 1.25 trillion"!

The article does not say how long this increase took but that is a staggering ten fold increase.

[NOLADEM]

7. 10%, not ten fold

[mom cat]

8. Actually, 1.25 trillion is more than ten times 120 billion.

1,250,000,000,000 = 1.25 trillion
120,000,000,000 = 120 billion

[NOLADEM]

9. You are reading this wrong

Their collective net worth WENT UP $120B TO $1.25 T, or about a 10% increase. Their collective net worth DID NOT go up from $120B to $1.25 T.


The top five richest Americans have more than $120 B by themselves.

[w4rma]

11. Last year they were worth $1.13 trillion. This year they are worth $1.25

trillion. A gain of .12 trillion or $120 billion.

How many other folks in America got a 10% raise?

[Ragin_mad]

15. According to the property appraiser

My house went up 32% in value last year.

[AX10]

6. Oil and Real Estate?

The real estate market is overvalued. Their fortunes may soon wane if they don't diversify. Don't get me wrong, Real Estate is a great investment, especially in the long run. But the market is overvalued right now. As for oil, what else can be said? Bush in in power and he's an "oil man".

[saigon68]

12. The Greedy CHIMPANZEE has hoodlums like Negroponte

To suppress the poor and Rape a few NUNS

[michaelwb]

13. This is what gets me

"Developer John P. Manning used political savvy to build a $1.1 billion fortune, in part by brokering low-income housing projects."

Am I the only one who gets twitchy and disturbed by notion of becoming this wealthy off "low-income" housing?

Something stinks here.

[Blue_Tires]

14. TTT n/t

[Lerkfish]

19. something has always stunk about extreme wealth.

its like how my uncle explained gambling to me:

its cool when you win, that means you put a small amount of money and got a whole lot out. But look around you. when you win, that means everyone else had to lose. Their losses are funding your windfall. It isn't money you WON, its their money they LOST.

Extreme wealth, unless its from an invention or creative endeavor, usually results from screwing over someone else.

[Name removed]

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