| I have always been fascinated with wealth, and have | | | | 3. Luck - and Timing |
| enjoyed reading about the Forbes 400 for years. "All | | | | 4. Winning Is Everything |
| The Money In The World: How The Forbes 400 | | | | Part Two: Making It |
| Make - And Spend - Their Fortunes" by Peter W. | | | | 5. Blue - collar Billionaires |
| Bernstein and Annalyn Swan was an extremely | | | | 6. West Coast Money |
| fascinating and enjoyable read. If you are interested | | | | 7. Entertainment and Media |
| in the superrich, this book paints a revealing portrait | | | | 8. Beyond Wall Street |
| of the wealthiest of the rich and shows how they | | | | Part Three: Spending It |
| succeed, how fortunes are made in various industries, | | | | 9. Conspicuous Consumption |
| and how, once made, they are saved, enhanced, and | | | | 10. Heirs |
| sometimes squandered. | | | | 11. Family Feuds |
| This thoroughly researched book provides abundant | | | | 12. Giving It Away |
| anecdotes and insights as well as compiled data in | | | | 13. Power and Politics |
| illuminating tables, sidebars, and factoids. Did you | | | | Afterword: Money and Happiness |
| know that Bill Gates comes in as the thirteenth | | | | Appendix: The Forbes 400, 1982-2006 |
| richest American if you converted past riches into | | | | This is a vastly entertaining behind the scenes look at |
| today's dollars? (Actually 2006 dollars when the book | | | | the superrich. I found it fascinating to read about |
| was being researched) John D. Rockefeller's wealth | | | | those billionaires I was familiar with, but also those |
| would be 305.3 billion dollars when converted to 2006 | | | | extremely wealthy that you never really hear about. |
| dollars. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined don't | | | | It made me feel good to read about the money |
| make a third of that. Did you know that in 2006 the | | | | these Forbes 400 members give away to help |
| average net worth of 400 members without a | | | | others, and then sometimes shake my head |
| college degree exceeded the average net worth of | | | | wondering when you see what some of these |
| those with a degree by a considerable margin - $2.8 | | | | people spend money on. Forget about the enormous |
| billion? That's partly due, of course, to the Gates | | | | cost of purchasing a yacht, but think about the |
| factor. Did you know there were 97 immigrants from | | | | upkeep running into tens of millions of dollars a year |
| 34 different countries that made the Forbes list over | | | | and you may wonder as I did why Paul Allen wants |
| the last twenty-five years? The book is filled with so | | | | to own two of the top ten U.S. owned yachts. |
| many interesting stories and facts. | | | | Octopus at 414 feet is number two, and Tatoosh at |
| The book also shows that money is not everything. | | | | 301 feet 8 inches is number four. If you are |
| The superrich have problems just like everyone else, | | | | wondering, Larry Ellison's Rising Sun at 452 feet 8 |
| and sometimes those problems are at a greater | | | | inches is number 1, and no one knows who owns |
| scale. So while this book describes those that may | | | | number seven's Laurel at 240 feet and number nine's |
| seem unobtainable to most, you also realize that | | | | charter yacht Reverie at 229 feet, seven inches. |
| they are still people just like everyone else. Well, | | | | If you want to read an extremely interesting and |
| maybe not like everyone else, but they are still | | | | fascinating book about wealth and those that have |
| people. | | | | accumulated the most of it, read "All The Money In |
| Chapters include: | | | | The World." Besides being entertained, you just might |
| Part One: What It Takes | | | | learn some insights to help you accumulate more |
| 1. Education, Intelligence, Drive | | | | wealth yourself. After all, you will see that if these |
| 2. Risk | | | | people can do, so can you or anyone else. |