Unit 31
Meet the Ten Richest People in the World in 2000 (II)
5. King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
Age: 77. Nationality: Saudi Arabian. Marital Status: Married. Children: 1. Worth: $28 Billion.
Born in Riyadh in 1923, the King has spent his life on one diplomatic mission after another. He came to power in 1982, and all of his money is in oil, investments, property, and the sweat of his people. All because of the great defining factor of birth. Yes, birth and dumb luck.
4. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
Age: 53. Nationality: Bruneian. Marital Status: Married. Children: 10. Worth: $30 Billion.
The money of the 29th Sultan of Brunei is in, say it with me now, oil, gas, investments, and yes, the ever-popular sweat of his people. Especially that oil thing, which has made so many billionaires in the Middle East. The illustrious Sultan also has two wives and ten kids.
3. Gardner Paul Allen
Age: 46. Nationality: American. Marital Status: Single. Children: 0. Worth: $30 Billion
Another Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen is the buddy who dropped out with Bill Gates to build the software company that now holds a monopolistic stranglehold on the world. Paul dropped out of Microsoft some time ago to spend his time privately investing his money. He pursues his dream of a "wired world" by buying up cable operators and other technology-related companies. It's not all tedious tech stuff, though. Paul was also smart enough to invest in sports teams. Single guy, $30 billion, owns a couple of sports teams, knows Bill Gates personally...
2. Warren Edward Buffet
Age: 68. Nationality: American. Marital Status: Married. Children: 3. Worth: $36 Billion.
Strangely enough, Buffet's investment style is conservative, leaning more to the long-term buy. Warren owns about 40 percent of the investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathawa, and at over $47,000 a share, it will be a while before anyone buys him out.
1. William H. Gates III
Age: 43. Nationality: American. Martial Status: Married. Children: 2. Worth: $90 Billion.
We should all just face the fact Bill Gates will one day rule the world. By the time Windows 2015 comes out, all will fear Bill's wrath. The son of a lawyer father and teacher mother, Gates dropped out of Harvard University to work on Microsoft. The rest, as they all too frequently say, is history. Microsoft became this huge international corporation, and is currently fighting off anti-trust investigations and accusations that it holds a monopoly. When Bill rules the world, he's going to fire those federal court judges with extreme prejudice. They'll never work on his planet again!
So to get onto our list of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Billionaires, you must: join Microsoft (preferably early on), be an oil baron, drop out of college, get married, have 3.1 kids, inherit lots of money, and bleed your people dry. Tell your friends! |