The once and future richest person in the world (once the Bezos divorce finalizes), Bill Gates will happily apply the dispassionate, sharp-elbowed logic that made him one of the most fearsome business minds of the past century—even when the subject, abstractly, is him, as well as the other, suddenly unpopular members of the Three Comma Club. 



“I think it’s fascinating that for the first time in my life people are saying, ‘Okay, should you have billionaires?’ ‘Should you have a wealth tax?’ I think it’s a fine discussion.” 



It’s a discussion that took place yesterday just a block from Trump Tower, home of America’s first-ever billionaire president. “My opinion is that there should be an estate tax and maybe even higher than we have today. Among The Forbes 400, I don’t think we’d get a majority—Warren [Buffett] and I are sort of against interest on that,” says Gates. “So I think there’s plenty of debate about how capital should be taxed, how estates should be taxed.” 



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But as for the kind of disincentivizing economics lamented by the Beatles in “Taxman” and increasingly championed by America’s far left, Gates remains clear: “The idea that there shouldn’t be billionaires—I’m afraid if you really implemented something like that, that the amount you would gain would be much less than the amount you would lose.” 



In looking at how Gates now deploys tens of billions philanthropically—both the money he and his wife Melinda put into their eponymous foundation, the world’s largest, and that given and pledged by Buffett—it’s critical to understand that perspective. 



Just as Gates views, correctly, that a tax system moving from progressive to confiscatory creates less wealth and innovation overall, he and Melinda examine issues systemically. 



“It’s more evocative to say you’re saving one life than to say you’re saving a million,” he says. “It’s a weird thing.” 



That worldview comes through in the 2019 edition of the Gateses’ annual letter, released this morning. Ostensibly, this year’s letter, which lays out their philanthropic observations and priorities, focuses on nine surprises that have inspired the Gateses to take action. In reality, it’s a valentine to the power of philanthropic investment—the idea of giving not to salve problems, but to solve them. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“I think it’s fascinating that for the first time in my life people are saying, ‘Okay, should you have billionaires?’”</blockquote>



The Gateses write about Becoming A Man (BAM), a group counseling program that helps teenage boys stay in school by channeling their anger. (Bill Gates says he had a “touching experience” sitting in on a group, and even took his turn to vent—about learning that global polio cases were going up.) 



And their “toilet fair” in Beijing, designed to inspire a next-gen toilet that can alleviate sanitation issues. Their fixation on Africa, whose young population promises to transform the global labor force. 



All of these initiatives tell a similar story. They’re about “picking novel ideas” or “off-the-wall theories,” as Gates says, and then proving that the concepts work. “Once you find a solution and want to scale that up, it’s usually government money.” 



That’s a sticking point when dysfunctional Washington can’t enact even the most obvious forward-thinking policies. Take foreign aid, less than 1% of the U.S. budget and an expenditure that, since the Marshall Plan, has consistently generated positive ROI, in terms of creating stability and vital trading markets and stemming deadly diseases. 



While Congress rejected President Trump’s proposed foreign aid cuts, Gates remains worried. “It just can’t be ignored, given the intensity of political debate over domestic issues—and if you have one party saying, ‘Hey, helping foreign countries, that’s kind of a sucker’s deal, does it even benefit us?’” 



This shortsighted nationalist streak is a global issue. “We’re very worried that if Brexit goes poorly, at least for a time, [the U.K.] might not see [foreign aid] as a priority at all,” he says. “If the French domestic stuff gets too painful, will they stay generous?” 



In education, Gates has faced similar headwinds. “You get into political policy things in terms of what you’re trying to achieve. It’s tricky.” The most obvious example here: his previous battle for the Common Core education standards, which critics like Diane Ravitch undermined by terming such efforts a “billionaire boys club.”



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“The attack that ‘Why should you even have a say in setting the agenda?’—that has a certain resonance to it,” admits Gates. 



So why should billionaires get to choose what problems we’re solving? 



“Philanthropy is there because the government is not very innovative, doesn’t try risky things and particularly people with a private-sector background—in terms of measurement, picking great teams of people to try out new approaches,” says Gates. “Philanthropy does that.”



Philanthropy, as practiced by the Gateses, also takes risks in the existential terrain political leaders would rather bury their heads in. Bill Gates still worries about nuclear proliferation, an area his partner-in-crime Buffett has championed. He’s been the global leader on the risks around pandemics and also, to a lesser degree, climate change, where his $1 billion Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund makes big bets. 



Artificial intelligence looms on the horizon as the newest threat brought on by innovation. “In the long run,” says Gates, “AI is a tough problem.”



Notably, Gates does not feel that way about social media. Last century’s boy wonder, who faced scrutiny for what the federal government saw as Microsoft’s monopolistic tactics, clearly has empathy for this century’s boy wonder, Mark Zuckerberg, now a lightning rod for Facebook’s role in the erosion of democracy, as most recently outlined by Facebook investor Roger McNamee. 



“I think what Roger [McNamee] has said is completely unfair and kind of outrageous,” says Gates. “They’re blaming Mark for everything. I mean, Trump was not elected because of Facebook. They say ‘filter bubble.’ All these polarization things. … Well, be clear. I get to read whatever I want to read, I get to listen to right-wing radio, I get to listen to Fox News. You kill Facebook and I can still live in my filter bubble. But filter bubble is not just my Facebook feed, so acting like, ‘Hey Mark, wake up someday and solve the filter bubble problem.’ No, Roger McNamee has no practical solution to the filter bubble thing.” 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“They’re blaming Mark for everything. I mean, Trump was not elected because of Facebook.”</blockquote>



(“It’s hard when you’re in this vortex,” adds Gates. “I was in such a vortex once upon a time. A little bit different because mine was more of a court-related thing than the broad view of whether the software was good or not.”) 



Ultimately, Gates, whose net worth, even after large donations to the foundation, approaches $100 billion, views philanthropy as a vital force for good. And he thinks that potential critics—even a loony potential British prime minister—will come around to that view. 



“When I met with Jeremy Corbyn for the first time, does he view me as the billionaire guy who collected more money than he thinks anybody is supposed to collect?” recalls Gates. 



“Or does he view me as the philanthropist who’s helping improve Africa and hopefully learn about education? Fortunately he was very nice, he viewed me as the second. But I’m sure he had to hesitate: ‘This guy is one of those people that maybe there should be none of’.”



-Randall Lane, Forbes Staff

China International Import Expo (CIIE) – Day One

Bill Gates Gets Why People Are Doubting Billionaires—And He Has A Defense (Even For Mark Zuckerberg)

billionaires

Fewer Billionaires, Poorer Billionaires On African Continent In 2019

After a turbulent few days on the stock market, fueled by rising tension between China and the U.S. over trade agreements as well as hostile attention towards tech companies for its data-use standards, technology shares continued its decline on Tuesday. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.9%.
The fortunes of two of the world&#8217;s biggest tech titans suffered big losses. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook&#8217;s</a> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> closed Tuesday $3.1 billion poorer while Amazon&#8217;s <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeff Bezos</a>, the richest man on Earth, ended the day down $4.6 billion, at $124.1 billion.
Since March 17, when news first broke about the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica’s improper use of data gathered via Facebook, Zuckerberg’s fortune has fallen by nearly $13 billion. Forbes pegs his net worth at the close of markets Tuesday at $61.3 billion. He’s ranked seventh richest in the world, down from fifth richest as of mid-February.
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Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in several British and American newspapers on Sunday to apologize for the social media giant&#8217;s role in Cambridge Analytica data incident. &#8220;This was a breach of trust, and I&#8217;m sorry we didn&#8217;t do more at the time,&#8221; the ad reads. &#8220;We&#8217;re now taking steps to ensure this doesn&#8217;t happen again.&#8221;
Amazon&#8217;s stock, meanwhile, fell alongside other tech stocks on Tuesday. After closing Monday in the green, Amazon stock dropped 3.7% on Tuesday. Bezos, who founded the e-commerce giant from a Seattle garage in 1994, owns 16% of the company&#8217;s stock.
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Bezos overtook <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/microsoft/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Microsoft</a> co-founder <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bill Gates</a> as the richest man on Earth in October 2017. He is also the only centi-billionaire on the Forbes billionaire rankings. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Angel Au-Yeung</a>, FORBES STAFF

Zuckerberg And Bezos Fortunes Shed Billions Amid Tech Stock Slide

One year after taking office, President Donald Trump’s fortune is down an estimated $400 million to $3.1 billion on the latest Forbes World’s Billionaires list. His net worth remains even from the most recent Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, released in October. What caused the year-over-year decline? Markets are partially to blame—retail real estate in New York City continues to struggle—but the president’s polarizing personality is costing him business as well.
The rise of ecommerce has pushed down the value of properties like Trump Tower, which sits in the heart of shopping mecca Fifth Avenue in New York City. Forbes estimates that the value of Trump’s most famous building declined $41 million in the last year.
Just around the corner, the president’s property at 6 East 57th Street has suffered even more. Piling onto the market challenges, longtime tenant Nike <a href="https://news.nike.com/news/new-york-city-flagship-store-5th-avenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://news.nike.com/news/new-york-city-flagship-store-5th-avenue">announced</a> it is vacating the space this spring. That leaves the Trump Organization in need of a new occupant at its roughly 65,000 square-foot property. “I don’t know of any tenants that need that much space other than department stores,” <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/12/06/donald-trumps-real-estate-business-is-losing-one-of-its-most-important-tenants/#3f7bfe35e037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Manhattan real estate broker Eric Anton. “And I don’t think there are any expanding department stores.”
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The president’s golf properties have been less affected by market shifts, but they seem more susceptible to political currents. Three of the president’s largest golf clubs are in states that voted for him, and revenues appear to be up more than 5% at all of them. The reverse happened in places where Trump lost to Hillary Clinton, with sales down an estimated 4% in the northeast and Los Angeles. Revenues are also down in Scotland, where the president owns two golf clubs.
The value of Trump’s hotel licensing and management company dropped an estimated $50 million in the last year, as the power of the Trump brand seems to be fading in markets like Toronto and New York, where investors have removed the president’s name from hotels. On Monday, workers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-trump-panama-hotel-showdown-appears-to-end-and-the-trump-name-is-coming-down/2018/03/05/41fa8498-2097-11e8-94da-ebf9d112159c_story.html?utm_term=.9c83cb1f9775" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-trump-panama-hotel-showdown-appears-to-end-and-the-trump-name-is-coming-down/2018/03/05/41fa8498-2097-11e8-94da-ebf9d112159c_story.html?utm_term=.9c83cb1f9775">reportedly pried</a> Trump&#8217;s name off of a third tower, in Panama.
Shortly before Trump became president, his lawyer promised no new foreign deals while Trump was in office, effectively shutting down one potential avenue for growth. Months later, the Trump Organization <a href="http://www.trump.com/getmedia/dfb731db-8915-47e7-a501-9f1ce10cc628/Trump-Hotels-AI-SCION-Announcement-FINAL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:http://www.trump.com/getmedia/dfb731db-8915-47e7-a501-9f1ce10cc628/Trump-Hotels-AI-SCION-Announcement-FINAL/">announced</a> plans for two new domestic brands, named Scion and American Idea. So far, they have only announced four deals. “I just think it’s an impossible mission,” says one hotel expert.
There are bright spots in the president’s portfolio. Downtown Manhattan office space is performing better than midtown retail, helping boost Trump’s most valuable property, 40 Wall Street, by an estimated $32 million.
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Real estate tycoon Steven Roth may be doing more to add to the president’s fortune than anyone else. As CEO of publicly traded Vornado Realty Trust, Roth oversees management of 1290 Avenue of the Americas in New York and 555 California Street in San Francisco, two properties in which Trump owns a 30% interest. Profits surged an estimated 15% at the New York building, and the market continues to thrive in San Francisco, boosting the value of Trump’s two holdings by a combined $71 million.
Forbes also uncovered additional information that bumped up the value of certain assets while diminishing the value of others. The president paid off a loan against Niketown, for example, and apparently drew down an additional $45 million in debt at his Washington D.C. hotel.
It all adds up to an estimated $3.1 billion fortune—a far cry from the $10 billion-plus that Trump <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150723222800/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-files-personal-financial-disclosure-statement-with-federal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:https://web.archive.org/web/20150723222800/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-files-personal-financial-disclosure-statement-with-federal">once claimed</a> but nonetheless enough to make him the richest president in U.S. history. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Dan Alexander</a>, FORBES STAFF

Donald Trump Drops $400 Million On Forbes Billionaires List

The descendants of Walmart founder Sam Walton saw their fortunes shrivel by $15 billion on Tuesday, after the world&#8217;s largest retailer reported slowing online sales growth and a drop in profits over the holidays.
Shares of Walmart plunged by 9% after the retailer said its online sales grew 23% in its latest quarter, which was about half the rate of the previous quarter. While online sales still make up a fraction of the retailer&#8217;s overall revenue, Walmart has been investing heavily in its e-commerce capabilities. The numbers were likely enough to spook investors about the retailer&#8217;s traction in the fight against Amazon.
Walmart also logged a smaller quarterly profit from a year ago, with net income declining 42% to $2.18 billion and missing analyst expectations.
Jim, Rob and Alice Walton, children of founder Sam Walton, watched their fortunes fall by $4.1 billion apiece on Tuesday. Their sister-in-law Christy Walton, wife of deceased brother John, saw $628 million knocked off her net worth. Her son Lukas, 31, who received a larger share of his father&#8217;s estate, lost $1.2 billion on paper.
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The Waltons are still among the wealthiest people on the planet thanks to the outsized success of the big box retailer. Jim is the world&#8217;s 15th richest person with a net worth of about $44.3 billion, immediately followed by brother Rob (No. 16 with $44.1 billion) and sister Alice (No. 17 with $44 billion)
Their sizeable stake in Walmart&#8217;s stock, which has climbed 36% in the last twelve months, makes up the lion&#8217;s share of their fortune. Altogether, Jim and the other heirs own just under half of Walmart&#8217;s stock. Only two family members &#8211; Rob and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2016/04/20/billionaire-jim-walton-to-step-down-from-wal-mart-board-in-shakeup/#52075a32fd00" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jim&#8217;s son, Steuart</a> &#8211; are currently involved with the company through their seats on the board.
Ann Walton Kroenke and sister Nancy Walton Laurie, who inherited a stake in Walmart from their father Bud Walton (brother to Sam), also lost a few hundred million dollars each on Tuesday.
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Walmart has been investing heavily in its online capabilities and workforce in recent years, with investors eager to see signs that its efforts are paying off. It has snapped up e-commerce companies like Jet, Moosejaw and ModCloth and been trying to leverage its massive physical footprint, such as offering discounts on items that shoppers can order online and pick up in the store and turning stores into e-commerce fulfillment centers.
The retail juggernaut has also been shelling out big money to attract and keep quality workers. In January, it said it would be <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2018/01/11/walmart-raises-minimum-wage-after-tax-reform/#223e4edb73c9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raising the minimum wage </a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2018/01/11/walmart-raises-minimum-wage-after-tax-reform/#223e4edb73c9" target="_self">to $11</a> for more than one million of its U.S. hourly workers as a result of sweeping new tax legislation. It has also doubled down on its training programs to help entry-level workers climb the ranks into management. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Lauren Gensler</a>, FORBES STAFF

Walmart Heirs Lose $15 Billion As Stock Rocked By Sputtering Online Sales Growth

Some of the world&#8217;s richest people &#8211; including Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos &#8211; lost billions apiece on Monday as stocks took an ugly nosedive.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,175 points, or 4.6%, marking the largest one-day drop the blue-chip index has ever seen and wiping out its gains for the year. The Dow, which tracks 30 U.S. companies, is now down 2% so far this year. The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq also fell by about 4% each on Monday.
Warren Buffett was hit the hardest by the sell-off: The drop shaved $5.3 billion off his net worth &#8211; a nearly 6% drop in just one day. He is still the third-richest person in the world with a net worth of $84.6 billion, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/#version:realtime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes real-time billionaire rankings.</a>
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was next in line, shedding $3.6 billion, or 4.7% of his net worth, as shares of his social media company dropped 5%. He finished the day with $73.1 billion to his name.
Amazon&#8217;s Jeff Bezos, the richest person on the planet, saw his fortune drop $3.2 billion. That erases <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2018/02/02/jeff-bezos-adds-3-4-billion-to-fortune-as-amazon-investors-cheer-record-profits/#4c957c231a72" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the $3.2 billion he gained</a> one day last week after his company announced blockbuster quarterly results. He is still worth an astounding $115.7 billion, which puts him $25 billion ahead of the second-richest person on the planet, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2018/01/24/jeff-bezos-gains-2-8-billion-reaches-highest-net-worth-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Jeff Bezos Gains $2.8 Billion, Reaches Highest Net Worth Ever</a>
Meanwhile, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin each lost $2.2 billion as shares of their parent company, Alphabet, fell by 5%. Oracle founder Larry Ellison&#8217;s fortune also dropped by $2.2 billion.
Altogether, the six billionaires that suffered the most from the market rout saw their fortunes shrivel by a whopping $18.8 billion in a single day. Many of the world&#8217;s richest people have their net worth tied up in shares of their publicly-traded companies and are vulnerable to fluctuations in the market.
To be sure, these billionaires have benefited hugely from a relentless bull market that is coming up on its nine-year anniversary. The S&amp;P 500 gained 19% in 2017, driven in part by record corporate profits and an improving economy. Jeff Bezos, for instance, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/10/27/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-is-the-richest-person-in-the-world-again/#ca192ca19480" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has become $28 billion richer</a> in just the last four months as shares of Amazon rose 30%. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Lauren Gensler</a>, FORBES STAFF

Buffett, Zuckerberg & Bezos Lose Billions As Dow Drops Over 1,000 Points

African Billionaire Fortunes Rise

The average member of The Forbes 400 is, at 67,  old enough to retire. But 14 members of the new Forbes list of America&#8217;s 400 richest people &#8211; including the fourth richest person on the list &#8211;  are under 40. Ten are self-made tech entrepreneurs, four inherited their fortunes from their families, and all of them are men. The youngest member of The Forbes 400 for the third year in a row is 27-year-old Evan Spiegel, the founder of Snapchat and the CEO of its parent company, Snap.
The youngest members of The Forbes 400 are more likely to drop out of college than The Forbes 400 as a whole: 28% of list members under 40 are college dropouts, compared to only 11% of the overall list. Two of these dropouts are Harvard roommates and Facebook cofounders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, both 33, who left college after their sophomore year to work on building Facebook full-time.
Zuckerberg is the richest member of The Forbes 400 who is under the age of 40. With a $71 billion fortune, he is worth more than the rest of the under 40’s combined. At only 33, Zuckerberg controls a social media platform used by more than a quarter of the world’s population. In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, he is grappling with the role Facebook played in spreading Russian-sponsored ads and fake news. His second daughter, August, was born in August 2017. At the birth of his first daughter, Max, in December 2015, Zuckerberg pledged to give away 99% of his Facebook stock in his lifetime and formed the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as an entity to do so. In September, Zuckerberg said he would sell up to 75 million Facebook shares (worth up to $12.8 billion on the day he made the announcement) in the next 18 months to fund his philanthropy.
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The second richest under-40 on the list is Facebook cofounder Moskovitz, who is just a few days younger than Zuckerberg. In 2008, Moskovitz left Facebook and founded software start-up Asana, but his estimated $13.6 billion net worth still stems mainly from his Facebook stock.
The only newcomer among the under-40s this year is Rishi Shah. He became a billionaire after his start-up, Outcome Health, which places tablets in doctors’ offices so that pharmaceutical companies can advertise their drugs, raised $600 million at a $5 billion valuation in May. But the start-up’s lofty valuation is already in question: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/10/04/sizzling-startup-outcome-healths-drug-marketing-shows-signs-of-struggle/#5eebd7435ac1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes reported in October</a> that some drug companies are dissatisfied with Outcome’s results and that Pfizer got a full $4 million refund for one ad campaign. Outcome says it provides “meaningful returns” and that the majority of its customers renew their deals.
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The youngest Forbes 400 member, Evan Spiegel, has had a rollercoaster year. In March 2017, Snap had its initial public offering and the net worths of cofounders Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, 29, initially rose as high as $5.4 billion on the first day of trading. But Snap stock dropped nearly 40% from its IPO through late September as user growth slowed and Facebook&#8217;s Instagram launched copycat features. Over the summer, Spiegel married former Victoria&#8217;s Secret model Miranda Kerr.
With a $13.2 billion fortune, Wal-Mart heir Lucas Walton is the richest under 40 who inherited his fortune. He is a grandson of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, and inherited his stake in the retail giant after his father, John Walton, died in a place crash in 2005.
The number of billionaires under 40 on this year’s list is the same as it was last year. While Shah joined the list this year, beer heir Alejandro Santo Domingo turned 40 in the past year. His brother Andres Santo Domingo and nephew Julio Mario Santo Domingo III, who are both Forbes 400 members, are still under 40.
Here are all of The Forbes 400 members under the age of 40:
Mark Zuckerberg, Age 33
Net worth: $71 billion
Dustin Moskovitz, Age 33
Net worth: $13.6 billion
Lucas Walton, Age 31
Net worth: $13.2 billion
Scott Duncan, Age 35
Net worth: $5.5 billion
Andres Santo Domingo, Age 39
Net worth: $4.8 billion
Nathan Blecharczyk, Age 36
Net worth: $3.8 billion
Brian Chesky, Age 36
Net worth: $3.8 billion
Joe Gebbia, Age 34
Net worth: $3.8 billion
Rishi Shah, Age 31
Net worth: $3.6 billion
Robert Pera, Age 39
Net worth: $3.2 billion
Bobby Murphy, Age 29
Net worth: $3.1 billion
Evan Spiegel, age 27
Net worth: $3.1 billion
Sean Parker, age 37
Net worth: $2.6 billion
Julio Mario Santo Domingo III, age 32
Net worth: $2.4 billion
Net worths for The Forbes 400 were calculated using closing stock prices from September 22, 2017.
&#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Kate Vinton</a>, FORBES STAFF

14 Under 40: Meet The Youngest Billionaires On The Forbes 400 2017

Shortly before Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, reportedly Nigeria’s first black billionaire, and founding president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. The royal honor came after he helped the British during World War II with his fleet of trucks. He was so wealthy that during the Queen’s visit in 1956, she was chauffeured around in his Rolls-Royce – apparently the only one in the country at the time – on the request of the colonial administration.
Profiled in September 1965 by TIME magazine, Ojukwu made his money by importing dried fish for resale, and diversifying into textiles, cement and transport. When he died a year later, his wealth was an estimated $4 billion in today’s economic value.
His son, Chukwuemeka, who also ended up a billionaire, returned from Oxford University at 22 with a master’s degree in history and led his fellow Igbos into the Nigerian civil war as head of the secessionist state of Biafra in 1967.
Their hometown Nnewi, in the southeastern state of Anambra, either by good fortune or hard work, has bred more naira billionaires than any other town in Nigeria, and possibly Africa. The Igbos, who sometimes refer to themselves as the ‘Jews of Africa’, have entrepreneurship in their blood. They have built themselves from the ground up, with little help from the government, after a controversial policy left them all with 20 pounds each, regardless of their bank balance, at the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970.
Nicknamed the Japan of Africa, Nnewi is famous as a hub for automobile spare part dealers, and most recently, Innoson, Nigeria’s first indigenous car assembly plant. The town is also known for its factories that manufacture household goods and is home to the biggest road transport companies in the country. Nnewi, with a little over two million residents, is a 30-minute drive from the Onitsha – the biggest outdoor market in West Africa – on the banks of the Niger River.
These are 10 of the most prominent naira billionaires from Nnewi, in no particular order:
<ul>
<li>Cletus Ibeto: The Ibeto Group has been described as the largest industrial enterprise in southeast Nigeria. Starting out as an apprentice to an already established auto spare parts dealer, Ibeto eventually branched out on his own and effectively ended importation of lead acid car batteries in Nigeria in the late 80s. The result is a conglomerate dealing in hospitality, motor products, real estate, petrochemicals, agriculture and cement.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Cosmas Maduka: One of the country’s foremost car dealerships, Coscharis Group, is the brainchild of a man who lost his father at four and had to drop out of school to sell bean cakes, a popular food staple. His company, one of the largest car dealerships in Nigeria that deals with BMW, Jaguar, Range Rover and Rolls-Royce, has diversified into agriculture.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Innocent Chukwuma: Another school dropout, he is the founder of Innoson Nigeria Limited which produces sport utility vehicles, commercial buses and passenger cars at the first indigenous assembly plant in Nigeria. The company has factories in Nnewi and Enugu and has the governments of Anambra and Enugu states, as well as a few federal agencies, among its customers.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Gabriel Chukwuma: The elder brother of Innoson, Gabriel is invested in sports, real estate and hospitality. As chairman of Gabros International Football Club, he oversaw its rise into the Nigerian Premier League and partnership with English side, West Ham FC before selling to fellow Nnewi entrepreneur, Ifeanyi Ubah. He began business as a patent medicine dealer.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Alexander Chika Okafor: Chicason Industries, and one of its products – A-Z Petroleum, are household names in Nigeria. The conglomerate has made significant inroads in the mining, manufacturing, and real estate in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Okafor is its founder and chairman.</li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
<li>Augustine Ilodibe: An orphan and mass server in the Catholic church, young Ilodibe was gifted £35 by one of the priests and he initially invested in motor spare parts trading. By the sixties, he pioneered the interstate luxury bus transport service; for years, he was the sole importer of these buses. After helping organize vehicles for the Biafran side during the civil war, he established the hugely popular Ekene Dili Chukwu Transport, his main cash cow and later diversified into brewery and agriculture.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Ifeanyi Ubah: The flamboyant businessman funded parts of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign ahead of the 2015 presidential polls and unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of his home state, Anambra, in 2014. His wealth comes from investments in oil and gas, as well as exportation of motor spare parts and, recently, from sales of football players. In June 2015, Ubah – described by one Nigerian newspaper as ‘the new sugar daddy of Nigerian football’ – completed the purchase of Gabros FC for N500 million and renamed it Ifeanyi Ubah FC.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Louis Onwugbenu: The head honcho of Louis Carter Industries dropped out of school in 1967 when the Nigerian civil war broke out. He got his nickname from weekly trips to Lagos to sell motor spare parts under the popular Carter Bridge in the city. His reinvested profits allowed him to diversify into manufacturing car batteries and pipe fittings, agriculture, food processing, real estate and, by the age of 30, he was already a naira multimillionaire. The headquarters of his conglomerate sits in the Carter Industrial Estate, spanning many acres in Nnewi.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Obiajulu Uzodike: Nigeria is one of the foremost cable producers in the world due to many indigenous manufacturers across the southeast. One of the top cable companies is Cutix Nigeria, whose founder, Obiajulu Uzodike, cut his teeth in the business as a staff at a US-based aircraft and military wires and accessories company. By 1982, the Harvard Business School alumna and civil war veteran set up Cutix with N400,000 ($1,200), nurturing it to eventually become the first indigenous firm in the southeast to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.</li>
</ul>
-Written by Eromo Egbejule

The Small Town Of The Super Rich

For the 30 years FORBES has been tracking global wealth, only five people have ranked on our annual compendium of wealth as the richest person on the planet. In between those annual lists, at least two people have briefly become the world&#8217;s richest, the most recent of whom was Jeff Bezos, who overtook Bill Gates as No. 1 on July 27 as Amazon stock surged.
Gates has held the title for 18 of the past 23 years. So who were the other richest people in the world in the three decades FORBES has been tracking wealth?
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/07/28/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-reign-worlds-richest-lasted-just-hours/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Reign As World’s Richest Lasted Just A Few Hours</a>
Amazon founder and CEO Bezos<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/07/27/jeff-bezos-overtakes-bill-gates-to-become-worlds-richest-man/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> overtook Bill Gates</a> to become the richest person in the world on Thursday morning July 27, with a fortune topping $90 billion for the first time ever.When markets opened Thursday, Bezos had a net worth of $90.6 billion, putting him $500 million ahead of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
Gates was previously surpassed on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/#version:realtime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes’ real-time rankings</a> for just two days nearly a year ago by Spanish clothing retail tycoon <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/amancio-ortega/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amancio Ortega</a>. Forbes started tracking billionaires around the globe in 1987.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/richlist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">African Billionaires</a>
Bezos became the seventh person to hold the title of the world’s richest person and the third American to top the global ranks besides Gates and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
The founder of Spanish clothing retailer Inditex (known in the U.S. for its Zara stores), topped Gates as the richest on Forbes&#8217; real-time rankings for a few hours in Oct. 2015 and for two days in Sept. 2016 but just as quickly fell out of the top rank. Ortega, the world&#8217;s wealthiest retailer, typically earns more than $400 million in dividends a year.
When shares of Ortega’s business Inditex ticked up 2.5% in 2016, his fortune <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2016/09/08/amancio-ortega-richest-bill-gates-world-spain-inditex-microsoft-zara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was boosted by $1.7 billion</a>, then fell 2.8% two days later.
The son of a railway worker from La Coruña, Spain, Ortega is as reclusive as he is rich. He started his career as a store clerk in his hometown before opening his own business. Beginning with less than $100, he and his then-wife Rosalia Mera began making lingerie, pajamas and nightgowns in their living room.
In 2010, a billionaire from a country other than the U.S. or Japan topped the list for the first time: telecom tycoon <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2010/03/09/worlds-richest-people-slim-gates-buffett-billionaires-2010-intro.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Carlos Slim Helu</a>. Riding the surging stock price of his telecom firm America Movil, the Mexican tycoon beat out Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the world&#8217;s richest. He held onto the top spot for four years.
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Warren Buffett</a> rose to the top in 2008. Gates&#8217; fortune had tumbled after Microsoft&#8217;s failed attempt to merge with Yahoo. That was also the year Gates stepped down as Microsoft chairman to focus on the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation. He reclaimed the top ranking in 2009 with a much smaller fortune of $40 billion.
An American first took the top spot on Forbes annual World&#8217;s Billionaires list in 1995. That was the year Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates climbed to number one with a net worth of $12.5 billion. He was one of just 365 billionaires that year and has held the title of world&#8217;s richest for 18 of the past 23 years.
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2016/03/05/the-four-people-besides-bill-gates-whove-been-the-worlds-richest-person-in-the-past-30-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gates&#8217; rise</a>, though meteoric, was not instant. He cofounded Microsoft in 1975 but didn’t top our list for another two decades. In 1995, Microsoft stock was rising as tech firm valuations skyrocketed. Gates&#8217; net worth was $12.9 billion, and it continued to grow astronomically over the next four years.
At its height, in 1999 near the peak of the Internet-fueled boom, Gates’ fortune reached $90 billion. Today, he remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen.
In 1991, Taikichiro Mori became the world’s richest person with a $15 billion fortune. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2016/03/05/the-four-people-besides-bill-gates-whove-been-the-worlds-richest-person-in-the-past-30-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">An economics professor</a>, he quit the university in 1959 and went into business, constructing office buildings in Tokyo’s Minato ward. He had 65 office buildings with 7.7 million square feet of floor space when Forbes first named his fortune the world’s largest.
The richest person on FORBES&#8217; very first World Billionaires List in 1987 was Japanese billionaire Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who had a $20 billion net worth at the time. Tsutsumi was one of 140 billionaires around the world on that first ranking of the world&#8217;s 10-figure fortunes, worth a combined $295 billion.
Tsutsumi&#8217;s wealth came from real estate and retail through his Seibu Group at the height of the Japanese real estate bubble. After being beaten out by Mori in 1991, Tsutsumi was back on top two years later with a $9 billion fortune and was also the richest person the next year for the last time.
A decade later, Tsutsumi had a fall from grace: His Seibu Group was delisted in 2004 due to years of reporting errors. He was arrested the next year, fined $42,000 and received a four-year suspended prison sentence. Tsutsumi fell off of the Billionaires List entirely in 2007. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kate Vinton</a>, FORBES STAFF

Besides Jeff Bezos: 6 People Who’ve Also Been The World’s Richest

Africa’s Billionaires

As democracy gradually spread around the world, capitalism was favored over the more repressive feudal system. It meant that those who were not born of royalty, nor had genetic ties to nobles, could amass their own fortunes through innovation, hard work, perseverance and a bit of luck. It finally meant that peasants could elevate themselves from the depths of poverty to unfathomable heights of wealth.
Many would argue that there has never been an economic system in modern civilization that has liberated more people from poverty and created more millionaires and billionaires than capitalism. However, in some circles, particularly among the socialists and labor unions, there is an argument that this wealth has been accumulated through the exploitation of others. They argue that the bearers of capital offer workers lower than acceptable compensation and they in turn receiving preposterous amounts in profits.
We ought to bear in mind that no one is forced to work; every individual in the free world has the choice to be a part of the labor market and join an organization to work for in exchange for remuneration. A major proponent of capitalism is that it provides an environment for entrepreneurship. After all, all the colossal corporations of the past two centuries started small and over time grew. Today, they consistently post higher annual earnings than the entire GDP of smaller nations.
At the helm of capitalism lies the CEO, the captains who steer their companies. CEOs bring vast knowledge and experience to the party – many having studied in some of the most prestigious universities and business schools around the world.
The reality is that the CEO has one of the most challenging jobs. They are tasked with the laborious task of driving revenue for shareholders; representing the firm as its head; ensuring that all the divisions of the company function effectively, notwithstanding defining the corporate culture of the firm and instilling it in its employees.
Then there’s the socialist ideology that affirms that capitalism is a modern form of slavery masqueraded as the archetype economic system that was founded in principle on human liberty. Evidence has shown that socialist states have failed to address inequality and have compounded the issue by creating elitist factions who benefit at the expense of the majority.   It is almost paradoxical that CEOs are viewed as employees of the organization when there is a level of self-interest at play. CEOs are often granted equity in the firms they represent as a part of their remuneration packages. They then have the added incentive to protect their stake by enacting management policies and tactics that will drive profitability, sometimes at the expense of the ordinary worker. The mining sector is a prime example: when the price of commodities such as gold and platinum rises, the shareholders benefit from the increase in profits. However, when demand subsides and prices fall job cuts become the order of the day.
Several years ago, my management lecturer said the compensation that CEOs receive ought to be globally competitive.
“Great CEOs are in high demand and as such their remuneration should reflect this, but more importantly should perturb them from seeking better opportunities abroad.”
This is the world that the capitalist system has created. Instead of asking whether it is fair that CEOs earn vast amounts of money compared to others, the question should be whether this system of self-interest masqueraded as capitalism is one that is just and equitable, especially in South Africa, where there are skewed levels of income between low-income and high-income households.
Despite capitalism’s faults, there has never been a system that comes closer to benefitting all. Until such a system is conceptualized, we will continue to debate the exorbitant salaries of CEOs and why capitalism continues to fail us.

equity and  equality

Africa billionaires are lining up to put their money where their mouth is in the fight against Ebola.
At least five FORBES AFRICA cover millionaires are putting up to $50 million to fight the disease. It’s being seen as Africa solving its
own problems.
The millionaires include: Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote of Dangote Group; Strive Masiyiwa, the Founder and Chairman of global telecommunications group Econet Wireless; Patrice Motsepe, the Founder and Executive Chairman of African Rainbow Minerals; Jim Ovia, Chairman and Co-Founder of Zenith Bank and Mohammed Dewji, the CEO of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited.
The fund, called the Business-to-Rescue Fund, was launched on November 8  at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, the first meeting between the AU and the Africa’s private sector.
“Africa is becoming conscious of synergies that exist between entrepreneurship and development and Econet Wireless Group has been involved in the fight against Ebola as early as April,” says Masiyiwa.
Masiyiwa said business was affected by everything that threatens life in the African economy.
“Our focus is the economy and well-being of our generation. The African people will not allow Ebola to persist like the HIV/Aids pandemic.”
Kola Karim, the Managing Director and CEO of Shoreline Energy International, says leading billionaires have set up a benchmark fund of between $30 million to $50 million.
“It’s unfortunate that the Ebola has caused this much pain without a quick response both from governments and businesses. It is the responsibility of the governments and the private sector to make interventions when serious problems like Ebola attack the region,” says Karim.
Political analyst at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for the Study of Democracy, Gideon Chitanga, says entrepreneurs are playing a role of corporate social responsibility.
“Africa has seen a surge in the number of billionaires in the past decade and it is time that these billionaires start giving back to communities where they are generating their wealth from,” says Chitanga.

Forbes Millionaires  Shell Out  To Stop Ebola

Africa billionaires are lining up to put their money where their mouth is in the fight against Ebola.
At least four FORBES AFRICA cover millionaires are putting up to $50 million to fight the disease. It’s being seen as Africa solving its own problems.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29651 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2-244x300.jpg" alt="" width="244" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2-244x300.jpg 244w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2-300x368.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2-600x737.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2-768x943.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2-834x1024.jpg 834w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dangote-2.jpg 833w" sizes="(max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px" />
The millionaires include: Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote of Dangote Group; Strive Masiyiwa, the Founder and Chairman of global telecommunications group Econet Wireless; Patrice Motsepe, the Founder and Executive Chairman of African Rainbow Minerals and Jim Ovia, Chairman and Co-Founder of Zenith Bank.
The fund, called the Business-to-Rescue Fund, was launched on November 8  at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, the first meeting between the AU and the Africa’s private sector.
“Africa is becoming conscious of synergies that exist between entrepreneurship and development and Econet Wireless Group has been involved in the fight against Ebola as early as April,” says Masiyiwa.
Masiyiwa said business was affected by everything that threatens life in the African economy.
“Our focus is the economy and well-being of our generation. The African people will not allow Ebola to persist like the HIV/Aids pandemic.”
Kola Karim, the Managing Director and CEO of Shoreline Energy International, says leading billionaires have set up a benchmark fund of between $30 million to $50 million.
“It’s unfortunate that the Ebola has caused this much pain without a quick response both from governments and businesses. It is the responsibility of the governments and the private sector to make interventions when serious problems like Ebola attack the region,” says Karim.
Political analyst at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for the Study of Democracy, Gideon Chitanga, says entrepreneurs are playing a role of corporate social responsibility.
“Africa has seen a surge in the number of billionaires in the past decade and it is time that these billionaires start giving back to communities where they are generating their wealth from,”
says Chitanga.

BW0A9892

Forbes Millionaires Shell Out To Stop Ebola

Rich Africans may make their money in Africa, but enjoy spending it in London. After all, London has it all. Nobody is going to be imprisoned because their face no longer fits. The legal system is fair and what’s yours remains yours. Best of all, London has a world-class financial system, which is quite happy to take an African’s wealth and grow it for them. Even with a first-world tax system, London boasts 45 billionaires, making it the world’s fourth richest city.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3170" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10_IMAGINE_Interior-1024x668-300x196.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="196" />
<h4>Education</h4>
For successful Africans, nothing is more important than educating their children for future success. Britain is rather good at this, and school is where you make friends and contacts for life. It defines your social status. A recent Tatler article on wealthy Nigerians highlighted Florence Otedola, the 20-year-old King’s School-educated daughter of Femi Otedola, one of Nigeria’s richest men. Boarding fees for King’s in 2014-15 are $55,700, and according to Tatler, Nigerians spend $500 million every year at British universities and schools such as Benenden, Wycombe Abbey, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Eton, Harrow and Bradfield.
&nbsp;
<h4>Concierge service</h4>
Rich people employ a concierge business to open doors in London, and rich Africans are no exception. Veronica Voronina is CEO and Founder of her own concierge business, The Anonymous, which has a number of wealthy African clients. The idea is to allow the superrich to plug into a network of excellence.
“Our database is our best asset. We source the best of everything – doctors, lawyers, property agents, party planners, nannies, restaurants, hotels, even the best diamonds,”
says Vorinina.
It’s all about price and quality.
“Rich people didn’t get rich by wasting money.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3172" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Claridges-Royal-suite-white-flowers-1024x655-300x192.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="192" />
<h4>Houses</h4>
Many wealthy Africans have business interests in London. So, even if they are only there for a few weeks a year, Africans like to buy. The preferred areas are Knightsbridge, Belgravia, St John’s Wood, and Kensington and Chelsea. The most controversial development is One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, described as the most expensive residential development on earth. One apartment reputedly sold for $230 million. Several billionaire Africans have bought there, but few live there; it is an investment not a home. Upper-class Londoners, priced out of their natural habitat by international interlopers, are said to be increasingly unhappy.
&nbsp;
<h4>Hotels</h4>
Africans fly around the world in pursuit of business deals and the hotel they choose to stay in often defines their social status. The most prestigious hotels to namedrop are the grand old London hotels, The Lanesborough, The Dorchester and Claridges. The Royal Suite at Claridges will set you back around $82,000 per week. And of course the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge is the quintessential business hotel chain. Younger entrepreneurs may prefer boutique hotels like Andre Balazs’ Chiltern Firehouse hotel. All reek of exclusivity.
&nbsp;
Shopping
Wealthy Africans love to shop. Their favorite stores in London are Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Selfridges. It’s a well-oiled world of shopping by appointment, private openings, personal shoppers and trips to private shopping departments, as well as limousines and drivers to carry the shopping home. The shopping company Premier Tax Free reports that Nigerians account for 46.3% of total African sales in London and the fastest-growing region for international sales in Britain this year has been Africa, whose spend has grown by 45% year on year.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3173" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Claridges-Royal-Suite-sittingroom-version-2-1024x655-300x192.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="192" />
<h4>Experiences</h4>
The Beatles sang money can’t buy you love. But according to concierge company, The Anonymous, money can buy pretty much everything else. One client, convinced the world was coming to an end, decided to splash out. Alongside gas masks and copious quantities of food, they wanted the best, no expense spared, holiday ever. A private jet was hired for a three-week trip around the United States. Helicopters flew the family over the Grand Canyon and New York. The client splashed $25,000 on the illusionist Criss Angel and then went to Universal Studios in Florida on a VIP pass. Hopefully the holiday offset any disappointment that the world still exists.
&nbsp;
<h4>Private jets</h4>
For mere mortals, travel is conducted by commercial plane and train. For the uber-wealthy transport is done by private jet. And if you don’t own one, you charter one. Charter companies like Little Blue will fly you to Paris for the weekend for around $20,000. Nigerians don’t just use private jets to carry themselves; they take their lifestyle with them.
“If someone wants basic food &#8211; milk, bread, cheese, yogurt – I’ll go somewhere, like Whole Foods, and pick up the employer on the way to Farnborough (a small airport on the outskirts of London), load it on the plane and send it off,” says Ansema Fagapona, who works with rich families.
&nbsp;
<h4>Superyachts</h4>
Yachting is as much about the exclusive lifestyle as it is about owning a boat. With it comes access to a world beyond the reach of mere mortals. For those who can afford it, glittering European destinations like Monaco, Cannes and the azure seas of Sardinia beckon, and few luxury experiences are better than being on a yacht.
To order a new superyacht at one shipyard, tycoons need to put their names on a five-year waiting list. A weekly charter of the stunning 65-metre superyacht, Imagine, at $710,000 per week may be the preferred option.
&nbsp;
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3174" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Dining_room_-032-1024x768-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />
<h4>Celebrations</h4>
What is better than going to an Akon concert with friends to celebrate your 16th birthday? How about a private Akon gig? Did I mention that the 15 friends were all flown to a private island near Dubai, transported in limousines and given Michelin-star catering? Wealthy Africans certainly know how to party. And if you would like to treat your wife on your wedding anniversary, why not hire the renowned Cipriani’s Italian restaurant in Mayfair for a night. You and your beloved can be the only diners on the night, with Beverly Knight on vocals  to add a special touch of romance. Ahhh.
&nbsp;
<h4>Polo</h4>
Polo is famously the sport of kings and was introduced to Lagos in the 1930s through the Lagos Polo Club. Today, in Britain, you will find oil and gas supremo Kola Karim playing polo with Prince William and Prince Harry at Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s private estate, and at Cowdray Park, the best polo ground in the country. The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup is the most prestigious competition and Nigeria’s Prince Albert Esiri has competed several times. A team of four players, each with a dozen or more top polo horses, would need millions of dollars to play a sing

Tag: Billionaires

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The Small Town Of The Super Rich

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Africa’s Billionaires

equity and equality

Forbes Millionaires Shell Out To Stop Ebola

Forbes Millionaires Shell Out To Stop Ebola

How Africans Splash Their Cash