Billionaires in 2006

On Yahoo! Finance this morning, the featured article is:

The Richest on the Planet
Forbes.com

This year’s list features a record 793 billionaires, 102 more than last year, including eight from China. Their average net worth: $3.3 billion. See who made the cut and whose net worth has fallen (sorry, Martha).

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Some interesting tidbits from the article:

"The world's wealthiest also continue to find new ways to make money. Consider the appearance of online gambling tycoons. PartyGaming, the company that operates the popular PartyPoker site, went public in London last June, turning three of its founders into billionaires overnight. Among the three is American Ruth Parasol, the list's only new self-made woman."

"Canadian playboy Calvin Ayre went down to Costa Rica a decade ago and began taking bets over the Internet. Most of his revenue comes from the U.S., where online gaming is illegal. Now he too is a billionaire, and one, at least so far, beyond the extraterritorial reach of the U.S. law enforcement and tax authorities."

"Seventy-eight women make the list, 10 more than last year..."

"Twelve people return to the list including Hiroshi Mikitani, founder of Japanese Internet shopping mall Rakuten."


Check out this Slideshow: Billionaires Under 40 !



See the full article here:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/bill06_article1.html

It makes for a good dose of motivation, in addition to being a great read! ;-)