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Sep21
Forbes 400 Lists Richest People in the US - I Am Not One of Them

In the midst of distressing recent financial news, at least 400 people can take heart that things aren’t as bad as their people tell them it is.Forbes 400 list.gif

Forbes Magazine announced its 25th anniversary edition of the Forbes 400, a list of the 400 wealthiest people in America today. This group did not have a bad year after all, as “the collective net worth of the nation's mightiest plutocrats rose $290 billion to $1.54 trillion.” The increase is more than double the increase of $120 billion achieved in 2006. If the 400 were a plutocracy, it would rank 36th on the International Monetary Fund’s list of countries ranked by gross domestic product ahead of slacker nations such as Greece, Vietnam, Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Denmark,  Hungary, Venezuela, Ireland and nearly 200 other sovereignties. Bill Gates richest American.jpg

Last year was the first time everyone in the Forbes 400 found a number with nine zeros behind it on their bank statement. To be last on this year's list, you had to show $1.3 billion in wealth.

While Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) still tops the list, the Apogee Weblog  noted that five of the 2007 Forbes 400 derived their wealth from Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG):

5.        Sergey Brin

5.        Larry Page

48.    Eric Schmidt

204.  Omid Kordestani

271. Kavitark Shriram

google-stock-certificate.jpg


While founders of tech companies Microsoft, Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL), Google and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) were in the top 10, according to Forbes, it was private equity firms and hedge funds that made the most headway.

“Wall Street led the charge, despite this summer's market jitters. Nearly half of the 45 new members made their fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. Money manager John Paulson joins the list after pocketing more than $1 billion short-selling subprime credit this summer.”

A mini lesson right there in capitalism for you. A guy makes a billion while thousands lose their homes – all in based on the same market. Thanks for reading.

It was not all Wall Street however. Owning energy and oil/gas stock was not a bad place to be. Harold Hamm took Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR), his oil and gas operation public in May and found himself on the list. John Arnold, a 33-year-old former Enron trader now runs hedge fund Centaurus Energy and amassed $1.5 billion fortune from the market. Brothers Charles and David Koch, owners of the nation's largest privately held company, Koch Industries, added $5 billion apiece to their fortunes this year on surging energy and commodities prices and moved into the top 10. There were 25 billionaires listed that obtained their wealth from oil and gas. A mini lesson right there in capitalism for you. A guy makes a $5 billion while millions of people can’t afford gas for their cars – all in based on the same market. Thanks for reading.

Then there are the gamers. Brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, founders of Station Casinos, Inc. (NYSE:STN) made the list at 380th joining Sheldon Adelson (3rd), creator of the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Convention Center. His company, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) is up 260% since going public in 2004. Stephen Wynn (86th) and the  biggest gainer of all 400, Kirk Kerkorian, who’s net worth grew $9 billion as shares of MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM) casino rose 135% over the past year. A mini lesson right there in capitalism for you. A guy makes $9 billion while millions put coins in machines and drink free cocktails – all in based on the same market. Thanks for reading.

While Googlers, gas producers and gamblers (Vegas and Hedge funds) moved up, some stalwarts dropped off.

“Seven members of last year's list have died, including media mogul Barbara Cox Anthony; she is replaced by her two children, James Kennedy and Blair Parry-Okeden. Other notable deaths include Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) scion Helen Walton, real estate mogul Leona Helmsley and Cargill grain heir W. Duncan MacMillan.”

“Fifty people couldn't keep up. They include online gambling titans Ruth Parasol and J. Russell DeLeon, whose PartyGaming Internet poker company's stock has fallen 75% in the past 12 months. Also dropping off the list is caffeine king Howard Schultz, whose Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) stock has languished over the past year, and Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) heir Dorrance Hill Hamilton, who had appeared on every Forbes 400 list since 1982.”

One thing is certain, I am not going to make it next year if all I can muster is this blogging gig.

cartoon by Chris Gash for Forbes 

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2 Comments


I noticed I missed it too. I discussed it at www.BizPlusBlog.com. The thing that I find most interesting is how difficult it is to get on this thing. I increase my income each year and the amount of money required to join this group only keeps growing. Great post.
RESPECTED SIR / MADAM, An help appeal to all american richest people for a mentally handicapped /autistic patient. i have also attach a photograph of my son My son is now 10 yrs old.He does not speak.sometimes he utters one or two words;that is also quite illegible.if anybody calls him,he doesnot respond or understand for somebody calling him.he even doesn't turn his head.he does not express his need to urinate or to evacuate the bowels.he urinates or discharges faeces standing with his clothes on.he cannot distinguish among fire,electrical,goods or glassware.he often catches dangerous things and flings.he doesn't play with toys.he puts some rocks or broken pieces of items in a place and continues to spin them while muttering.sometimes, he keeps his hands on his chest and begins to rotate.he gets afraid if he sees any unknown person.he scratches known people with his claws.if anybody deters him or gets hold of him,he bites his own arms.we have shown him many doctors in Bangladesh.the doctors says,he will improved if he finished his proper treatment.for a better treatment in Bangladesh needs much money.but unfortunately we are poor family,we don't have that much money to treatment him even he have some of the operation to do but for financial problem we can't do the operation.so,hence we ardently appeal to the american richest people for help for giving him the proper treatment.hence we ardently appeal to American richest people for help,for this mentally handicapped /autistic boy.My family and i will always be praying for the peace and prosperity of your country.My son may get better with a little sincere attention from you.The older our son is getting,the more despaired we are becoming. i'm ending my letter here,wishing a long and peaceful life for all the American citizens. YOURS FAITHFULLY MOHAMMAD TAHER. RING:008801819367172 ADDRESS:C/O,BISMILLAH STORE SAPLA BUILDING(4th floor) road-14,block-b, chandgaon R/A. postal code:4000 CHANDGAON,CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH.

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