Category Archives: wealth

Adelson’s Losing Streak

Back in March, when his company, Las Vegas Sands, was trading at over $80 a share, I reckoned that Sheldon Adelson’s bubble was ripe for bursting. Today, it’s bumping along at about $11. Is Adelson still the richest Jew in … Continue reading

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On Being Rich

My blog entry about people on $250,000 a year being rich elicited a fair amount of response, both in the blogosphere and via email. One theme running through the responses was that it doesn’t matter how much money you make; … Continue reading

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$250,000 per Year Counts as Rich

Slate’s Moneybox column is mostly home to Dan Gross, but occasionally other people write for it too. Back in May, it was fine for Sam Grobart and Tara Siegel Bernard to write that "for a family of four living in … Continue reading

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Cognitive Disconnect of the Day

Susan Pulliam reports on hedge fund manager Thane Ritchie, son of options trader Joe Ritchie: Mr. Ritchie, who is tall, with blond hair, lives with his wife and three children in a modest, four-bedroom house. He says he doesn’t own … Continue reading

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Jeffrey Epstein and the Private Banking Industry

I’m glad to see that in between losing $57 million in Bear Stearns funds and spending 18 months in a Florida jail, Jeffrey Epstein managed to find the time to host the New York Times at his Caribbean island. As … Continue reading

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The Richest Jew in the World?

If you have the time, Connie Bruck has an enormous 12,500-word profile of Sheldon Adelson in the latest New Yorker – written, interestingly, without his cooperation. Let’s just say Adelson doesn’t come across as a very sympathetic individual: According to … Continue reading

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The Wealth of Randy Baker

Let’s say you’re the CFO of a company which is worth more than $65 a share. You get 200,000 options to buy shares at $30 apiece, and the shares are trading at $52. You could sell the shares immediately and … Continue reading

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Andrei Shleifer, Billionaire?

David Warsh has a great piece on Andrei Shleifer this week. Shleifer is known as a first-rate economist, and is also notorious for some shenanigans in Russia in the 1990s; Warsh makes a strong case that it’s time “to close … Continue reading

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BRICs: Over Half of the Top 25 Billionaires

Forbes has released its 2008 ranking of the world’s billionaires; it now takes $19.3 billion to crack the top 25. What jumps out at me? Indians account for four of the top ten; Russians account for seven of the top … Continue reading

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McDonald’s Datapoint of the Day

George Will: McDonald’s exemplifies the role of small businesses in Americans’ upward mobility. The company is largely a confederation of small businesses: 85 percent of its U.S. restaurants — average annual sales, $2.2 million — are owned by franchisees. McDonald’s … Continue reading

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Earnings Datapoint of the Day

Ken Rogoff: "If you are earning $540,000 an hour, it does not take too long to save up to buy an apartment, even in London." The sum in question is the minimum amount you need to earn in order to … Continue reading

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Ambani Joins Richest Man In World Stakes

The "richest man in the world" stakes are heating up. With Bill Gates seemingly more interested in giving his money away than in accumulating more of it, it seemed inevitable that Mexico’s Carlos Slim would take his place at the … Continue reading

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The Forbes 400 Fat Tail

Now that’s what I call a fat tail: have a look at the latest Forbes 400 list, which features 29 individuals worth more than $10 billion. There are three whose net worth has a 10 handle; two on 11; one … Continue reading

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WSJ Anoints Carlos Slim as World’s Richest Man

I was travelling over the weekend, and so I missed David Luchnow’s
profile
of Carlos Slim in the WSJ. Boy am I glad I found it now!
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Sun Valley: The Rich and the Reckless

Why doesn’t Barry Diller tie his shoelaces?
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Carlos Slim, The World’s Richest Man

Carlos Slim is now the
richest person in the world
. Congratulations, Mr Slim. In honor of the news,
let’s generalize wildly from this one datapoint.
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