Top Billionaire Cities

Aren’t you curious about which cities are lived by the most billionaires on Earth?

Where are their homes in which they go back to after work?

Which of the places in the world will be the most preferred home-to-be by them?

According to Forbes, the cities mentioned below are home to many of the billionaires around the world.

Not surprisingly, on the top of the list is New York, which is regarded as the most populous city in the United States and one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Among all the 60 billionaires, the mayor Michael Bloomberg is the wealthiest, with a net worth of $18 billion. Other famous billionaires are fashion designer Ralph Lauren, real estate giant and media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

The second place goes to Moscow in Russia with rich oil and metal commodities. With a total of 50 billionaires, steel businessman Vladimir Lisin with a net worth of $15.8 billion is the richest there. Other prominent billionaires are investor Roman Abramovich, mining and lumber giant Alisher Usmanov and aluminium giant Oleg Deripaska.

Nevertheless, the third billionaire city is London in UK which benefited from the strong pound. The wealthiest resident is steel baron Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of $28.7 billion. Among all the 32 billionaires, airline and media magante Richard Branson, oil tycoon Leonard Blavatnik, hedge fund giant Alan Howard and the popular ones.

Istanbul in Turkey ranks fourth with 28 billionaires due to its location as a waterfront city. Thw richest resident there is Husnu Ozyegin with a net worth of $3 billion. Other powerful billionaires include chairman of Çukurova Holding Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, owner of construction company Sarik Tara and chairman of Dogus Holding Ferit Sahenk.

Fifth on the list is Los Angles in California. With a sum of 27 billionaires, it is well-known for the entertainment industry. The wealthiest resident is philanthropist Eli Broad with a net worth of $5.7 billion. Other notable billionaires include Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone and financier Michael Milken.

Billionaire Celebrity – JK Rowling

"There's always room for a story that can transport people to another place. "

A quote by JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series! Who wouldn’t have heard of her?

Do you know that she is the first billionaire from writing books and even more, is now richer than the Queen of England?

Harry Potter's magic has indeed touched a huge audience of all ages around the globe, it is not surprising that the novels have been translated into more than 60 languages, topped the best-selling lists all over the world and won her numerous awards in which some of them are  the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Whitbread Award for Best Children's Book as well as many other honours. 

Born on July 31st, 1965 in England, she has the ultimate passion for writing. Her first story, titled Rabbit was written at the age or five or six about a rabbit with measles. It is very interesting to note that the best-known British author internationally wanted to be a ballerina once before, but did not because of her thought that it was embarrassing due to her fatness.

She worked as a bilingual secretary before, under the claim of her parents that it would be a great career. However, she describes herself as the worst and disorganized secretary ever, as she actually wrote story ideas instead of taking notes during meetings! She was an English teacher and French teacher too. Her road to fame and fortune have been quite rocky and challenging. After her marriage ended in divorce, she suffered from poverty and depression while struggling to earn a living and raise her daughter alone. It was during this difficult time that she completed the first book of the Harry Potter series, in restaurants or cafes where they could stay warm.

Being a generous billionaire, she has supported a great number of charities and causes which include the Volant Charitable Trust, Maggie’s Centres for Cancer Care, UK Labour Party, Children’s High Level Group and also Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland.

The Rich Girls Club

I'm not sure about you, but there aren't many rich girls on Forbes' Billionaires List 2010. There are a few women though, and only a few Bachelorettes. In fact, most of the women that are Billionaires inherited their Fortunes from Daddy, Boyfriend or late Husband. Of the Top 10 richest female Billionaires, the Top 5 all inherited their fortunes. 

Here's one:  Alicia Koplowitz, she's worth more than $2 billion currently.

Alicia and her younger sister, Esther, are both billionaires, and inherited their company 'Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas' from their late father. Both of their husbands ran the company from the 1970s until 1989, when both marriages ended. Since then, the sisters ran the company jointly until 1997 when Alicia sold her share for $800 million to Esther. Alicia lost half her fortune in the 2008 economic downturn, and has only recouped $100 million since. Her single sister has been linked romantically to the heir of Spanish aristocratic house of Alba, the Duque de Huescar.

Now, Alicia is a Bachelorette, so we thought we'd go surfing and find her a love interest.

Here's what turned up:  Michael Bloomberg.

Alicia, meet Michael, New York City mayor.  He owns 88% of the financial data and news outfit he founded in 1982:  Bloomberg LP.  Michael was born in Boston, and is son of an accountant.  He has an M.B.A. from Harvard (what a surprise!), and also has an engineering degree from Johns Hopkins.  He became a trader at Salomon Brothers in the 1970s, and quit with $10 million in stock. (I'd quit smoking too if I was paid that much - quip.)  He has given away nearly $1 billion to charity in the past five years.  Michael created financial information services firm Innovative Market Systems to sell financial data and analytical tools to Wall Street.
And we even found Alicia a girlfriend too, I mean, single girls need a friend when they go out right?

Alicia, meet Oprah Winfrey, also worth just over $2 billion...we all know Oprah Winfrey, don't we?

Billionaires' Playground

Interested in going on a vacation?

Where have you been thinking?

London? Paris? Los Angeles?

Would you like to know where those celebrities billionaires went for their holidays?

I'll tell you, they love the Caribbean sun and heat.

Let's talk about Oprah Winfrey,the well known American television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. She loves the crystal-clear Caribbean water and the region's perfect palm trees of Antigua which brings her serenity. She used to own a 60-acre Maui getaway and a 42-acre estate in Montecito, California. However, the latter get caught in a fire 2 years ago, which brought her a massive lost in investment.

Oprah's house in Mentecito, California.(Palace alike?)

There is another successful billionaire who have the same interest with Oprah, which is Richard Branson of the Virgin Group. He owned the 74-acre Necker island, which forms part of the British Virgin Island. It is surrounded by turquoise waters and comes fully staffed with a water sports crew, a personal chef and a masseuse.

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Richard's private island.

 

If one day you would ever be a billionaire,
where about would you head to?

Home of Billionaire - Bill Gates

I've always been thinking where about do those billionaires stayed, do you have the same thought with me? 

I would like to own such a luxury house in my future, would you?

Let's have a look at some photos of the well known billionaire, Bill Gates's home.

 the landscape view

the front view

He lives in the exclusive suburb of Medina, Washington, in a huge earth-sheltered home in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington. 

His house takes up 66000 square-feet of the land, which is 33 times larger than the median American residence size. Through an assessment in the previous year, 2009, his house worth US$147.5 million. 

Luxury life huh? Not yet, you haven't have a look inside his house, he has 7 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, 6 kitchens and 6 fireplaces incorporated in his house. (I wonder why would he need so many bathrooms and kitchens? =P )

And here are the awesome features of his house:

• 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system
• a domed library with two “secret” bookcase doors
• 1,000-square-foot dining room
• pressure sensitive floor where at any given time family member or security can know who is in the residence by the weight of their footstep. ( I won't want people to know my weight! Would you? )
• light would automatically turns on and speakers would be hidden beneath the wallpaper to allow music to follow you from room to room. ( I personally feel that followed by a music like that is rather creepy. )
• Visitors to Bill Gates House are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance and this small chip sends signals throughout the house, and a given room's temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences. ( It's a big "Wow" for me. )
• no visible electrical outlets anywhere. ( No mess right?Housewives' favorite. =D )
• there are virtually no knots of wood on his house from exterior view.
• floor is heated everywhere including the driveway and walks. ( Great idea in winter to keep the feet warm. )
• doors are blended so well with the walls that it is hard to see them. ( Cool but wouldn't he bang on the door one day when he isn't fully awake? )
• an additional 10-cars parking in a subterranean arched concrete building which can be changed into a basketball court through an electronic transformation.
  
• underground theater in a concrete shell.
• auto sensor of the entry gate where it will opens fully by the time he arrived by.
• master bathtub can be filled to the right temperature and depth by him as he drives home from work.

It's really awesome right? Let's work towards our dream. =)

Will education make you a Billionaire?

Or, which education is most likely to lead you to be a billionaire?

According to Forbes, out of all the college educated people, more have graduated from a Harvard School than any other institution.

Steve Balmer, now CEO of Microsoft, graduated from Harvard in 1977.  Summer Redstone earned two degrees and completed them in three years.  He progressed his career from lawyer to CEO of Viacom and is now the largest shareholder of VIACOM and CBS Corporation.  Michael Bloomberg is now New York City major, and he apparently still supports his Alma Mater.

However, not all Billionaires completed university. 

William (Bill) Gates III took a leave of extended absence from the Harvard Business School when he began Micro-Soft and never returned.

Mark Zuckerberg did the same thing after he had rolled out Facebook to other campuses outside Harvard.  Clearly these two Harvard students didn't need to graduate.

Forbes reports, however, that many of these students probably didn't know they would be billionaires when they entered the Ivy League School.  Instead, it was their internal drive that caused them to continue to strive to achieve beyond their best.

New Billionaire - Isaac Perlmutter

Ever wonder where do superheroes like Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America and X-Men come from?

Have you heard of Marvel Comics? Well, that’s where they’re created.

And now, let’s welcome a new billionaire‚ Issac Perlmutter!!!

Yes, he is the CEO of Marvel Entertainment. 


This man, age 67 years, is now worth 1.6 billion US Dollars!

More commonly known as "Ike", he was born in Israel but has a Jewish-American ethnic background. Who would have thought that this successful businessman's first fortune was made from selling surplus goods to dollar stores? He started with $250.  In between, he stood outside Jewish cemeteries, touted for work services, sold toys and beauty products on the street and even owned shares in an electric razor manufacturing company.

Here’s an interesting bit about him: The famous behind-the-scenes hero of Marvel Entertainment is unexpectedly publicity-shy! He disguises himself when attending movie premieres until the state that no one could recognise him, not even his close friends! Isn’t that unbelievable? His heavy Israeli accent is believed as the reason for his shyness in public. He tends to keep a low profile, that is why photographs of him are particularly difficult to be found online and little is known about his early background. Also, he is described as the type of guy that wouldn’t be noticed deliberately. Being observant and absorbing everything that happens around him, he is often taken to be a relaxing person who does not seem to worry about anything. Do not bear such thoughts in mind, as he is well known for progressing ahead and preparing for the next challenge in life.  

Believe it or not, penny pinching is also one of this new billionaire’s traits! It is said that he keeps each and every publishing cost under his thumb, which includes toilet paper, paper towels, paperclips, staples and even coffee! How astonishing!

Billionaire You've Never Heard Of - Ty Warner

Have you ever heard of Ty Beanie Babies?

Do you have one or have you ever had one of them?

Do you know who was the inventor of these cute plush toys?

Let me tell you,
his name is Ty Warner,
aged 66 years old.

He invented these small toys stuffed with plastic beans called Ty Beanie Babies back in 1993.

His invention and talent in marketing earned him $6 billion back in those years,
but now his net worth has dropped to $2.9 billion.
But that amount still makes him a Billionaire.

It's not surprising that not much people know about who he is because he likes to keep himself out of the public spotlight.
He really is a secretive guy - even his corporate phone number is not on the phone list.


But we managed to dig up part of his story and are about to share it with you, take a look.

• Ty began attending college at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan where he studied Drama.
• He went to work selling plush animals for a San Francisco based toy company called Dakin in 1962. 
• He heads to Sorrento, Italy after leaving Dakin looking for business inspiration. 
• In Italy he discovered a nice range of soft, cute and cuddly plush cats which he had never seen in the U.S. 
• In 1986, Ty, Inc. was incorporated.

He really is a generous guy where he donated:

• $6 million to the Andre Agassi Foundation for underprivileged children in Las Vegas 
• $3 million for the creation of Ty Warner Park, $8M for the Ty Warner Sea Park in California 
• 10,000 Beanie Babies for children in Iraq.

Are you Billionaire material?

What was your first job?
Do you remember?

Today's Billionaires have had a range of different first jobs.  Below are some of them - can you find your first job here anywhere?

According to Forbes, paper routes are the most common first jobs of Billionaires. 

Paper routes? 

But these guys didn't just collect and deliver papers.  Take a look how:

• Sheldon Gary Adelson borrowed $200 from his Uncle when he was only 12 years old, so he had the money to cover the costs of selling newspapers on two street corners in Boston.  Today, Wikipedia cite him as America's 13th richest American, with a fortune approaching $14.7 billion.  He is currently Chairman and CEO of The Las Vegas Sands Corporation.  Were you this entrepreneurial at only 12 years of age?
• In 1940, at the same age, T Boone Pickens expanded his 28-house paper route to 156 by taking over the routes of his competitors.  Can you imagine then that in the 1980s that he was a well known corporate raider and takeover operator?  Today, at 82 years of age, he chairs the hedge fund BP Capital management.  He is now worth about $1.4 billion, and is ranked as the 290th richest person in the United States.
• Finally, Patrick Joseph McGovern Jr, also a paperboy in his youth is now worth $4.7 billion and is the chairman and founder of International Data Group (IDG).  Apparently he worked on the features staff of The MIT Tech newspapeer while at MIT.  Forbes credits him with learning the essence of customer service whilst there:  "...your job is to find customers and keep them happy...and doing all you can to make your customers successful", says McGovern. 

Other first jobs of today's Billionaires included talent agency trainee, TV set repairer, petrol station attendant, walnut bagger, audio and movie technical assistant and many more.

Ready for a paper route now? 

Maybe your children are?  In any case, the true test of your Billionaire potential seems to be what you achieved in that first job, and how you achieved it, rather than what kind of job it was.

Now, do you remember your first job?

Eye$ on Billionaire$

Do you like to keep your eyes on where the money is?


We do too!  We are students studying Commerce - Finance and Accounting - at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.  (Links are in green.)


Welcome to our BLOG:  Eye$ on Billionaire$


Developing and posting to this BLOG is part of our assessment for the subject IT & Society.  Why visit this BLOG regularly?  Well:  over the next five weeks we will be posting regular updates on the topic of "The World's Billionaires", including:

- How to assess if you are Billionaire material?
- What educational qualifications might help make you a Bilionaire?
- Who are the world's top Billionaires and why?
- How do Billionaires make comebacks?


Did you know, for example, that 69 business professionals in India entered the Billionaire's list in the second half of 2010?  Interested? We hope so.


Positive feedback welcomed

If you agree, please do leave appropriate and respectful comments about our topic "The World's Billionaires" in the box below.  It'd be great if you could take a moment to do the poll (above left) as well.


All the best, and remember:  keep your Eye$ on Billionaire$!


Here's the planning thumbnail of this BLOG we developed just the other day at the University Library: