The economic crisis may have wiped $300 billion from the wealth of America’s richie-rich club, but the net worth of many members, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, is still sufficient to buy “almost anything” that includes many countries of the world.
“Castles in France, islands in the Caribbean, private jets — with a collective $1.27 trillion at their disposal, the members of the Forbes 400 could buy almost anything,” business magazine Forbes said about its annual ranking of America’s 400 richest persons, whose collective wealth have declined from $1.57 trillion a year ago.
“How about a country? A quick glance at the CIA Fact Book (which chronicles economic, demographic and other details of all the countries) suggests the individual fortunes of many Forbes 400 members are as big as some of the world’s economies,” the magazine further noted. Bill Gates, America’s richest man with a net worth of $50 billion, has a personal balance sheet larger than the gross domestic product (GDP) of 140 countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Bolivia and Uruguay. “The Microsoft visionary’s nest egg is just short of the GDP of Tanzania and Burma,” it added.
Although his wealth has fallen by $7 billion dollars in a year, Gates has retained his title as the richest American for the 16th year in a row. Gates’ friend and legendary investor, Warren Buffett, ranked second richest with a wealth of $40 billion, lost $10 billion in a year and is the biggest loser on the list.
Still, he has a fortune equivalent to the size of North Korea’s economy, Forbes said, but noted that “The Oracle of Omaha probably would steer clear of that investment, though.”
The publication further said that one of the Forbes 400 members actually runs “a small chunk of a state in an official capacity: Mayor Michael Bloomberg.”
“While he is busy serving as the chief executive of New York City and grappling with its sluggish economy, his own personal balance sheet — amassed through financial information services and media company Bloomberg LP — equals the value of all the goods and services produced in South Africa’s Republic of Zambia ($17.5 billion).” Land developer Donald Bren, whose assets throughout the vicinity of Orange County, include 475 office buildings, 115 apartment communities, 41 retail centers, resort properties and new housing, runs Orange County — he certainly owns the most of it.