Forbes 400 Book: Tales Of The Richest People In America Since 1982

298 Pages·2014·5.26 MB·English

by  Tapio

Table Of Contents
Introduction
TRILLION-DOLLAR YEARS
CLASSICS
MUST I BE A SAINT?
THE BERKSHIRE BUNCH
Warren Buffett
LATE BLOOMER
YOU ARE WHAT YOU WEAR
David Rockefeller
TRAILER KING
HOUSTON TO DALLAS: MOVE OVER, J.R.
‘PIRANHA IS GOOD’
Forbes 400 Members By State
CHARACTERS
GUNS, GIRLS AND SEX TAPES: THE UNHINGED, HEDONISTIC
SAGA OF BILLIONAIRE STEWART RAHR, ‘NUMBER ONE KING
OF ALL FUN’
MADOFF’S MYSTERY MAN
George Lucas
SEAN PARKER: AGENT OF DISRUPTION
THE CABLE CAPITALIST
Ted Turner
THE REAL APPRENTICES
CHUCK FEENEY: THE BILLIONAIRE WHO IS TRYING TO GO
BROKE
THE PRICE OF THE GOOD LIFE IN 2013
CALLINGS
DAVID GREEN : THE BIBLICAL BILLIONAIRE BACKING THE
EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT
TED TURNER’S PLANS TO SAVE THE WORLD
SECRECY IS SUCCESS
Steven P. Jobs
CANCER MAN
UNDERCOVER BILLIONAIRE: SARA BLAKELY JOINS THE RICH
LIST THANKS TO SPANX
George Soros
LONG MEMORIES
SHAHID KHAN: THE NEW FACE OF THE NFL AND THE
AMERICAN DREAM
Back Cover
Table Of Contents
Introduction
Trillion-Dollar Years
CLASSICS
Must I Be A Saint?
The Berkshire Bunch
Warren Buffett
Late Bloomer
You Are What You Wear
David Rockefeller
Trailer King
Houston To Dallas: Move Over, J.R.
‘Piranha Is Good’
Forbes 400 Members By State
CHARACTERS
Guns, Girls And Sex Tapes: The Unhinged, Hedonistic Saga Of
Billionaire Stewart Rahr, ‘Number One King Of All Fun’
Madoff’s Mystery Man
George Lucas
Sean Parker: Agent Of Disruption
The Cable Capitalist
Ted Turner
The Real Apprentices
Chuck Feeney: The Billionaire Who Is Trying To Go Broke
The Price of The Good Life
CALLINGS
David Green: The Biblical Billionaire Backing The Evangelical
Movement
Ted Turner’s Plans To Save The World
Secrecy Is Success
Steven P. Jobs
Cancer Man
Undercover Billionaire: Sara Blakely Joins The Rich List Thanks To
Spanx
George Soros
Long Memories
Shahid Khan: The New Face Of The NFL And The American Dream
Introduction
Forbes has obsessively tracked the wealth of America’s richest people
for the past 33 years. It’s never been easy to get multimillionaires and
billionaires to open up—few want the secrets of their success revealed to
their competitors and the public, and fewer still want their finances out in
the open. But we strongly believe in disclosure and transparency. In
tracking American wealth, we are not only tracking America’s great
fortunes but its businesses, cultural leanings and sociopolitical issues.
Forbes follows these billionaires because following the money is crucial
to understanding how America operates.
Properly valuing these fortunes has never been easy. After all these
years and experience, the task remains a herculean effort. Forbes
reporters comb through a list of 600 or so strong candidates and then
start the difficult labor of sifting the richest from the merely wealthy.
Whenever possible, reporters sit down with potential Forbes 400
members in person. Employees, attorneys, handlers, competitors,
analysts and more offer their expert opinions to accompany the research
our wealth team does. That includes poring over thousands of SEC filings
and disclosures, court and probate records, federal financial disclosures,
and Web and print articles. Forbes looks at all assets: holdings in public
and private companies; real estate; planes, trains and automobiles (or
more appropriately, yachts, planes and Lamborghinis); vineyards; art
collections; car collections and more. We take debt into account as well.
After all, their business partners, counterparties and investors certainly
do before conducting business with them. We never assume or profess
to know what lies on a billionaire’s personal balance sheet, though some
400 members do provide information to that effect.
In structuring this collection of the best writing to appear in Forbes
400 issues over the years, we noticed a few themes that naturally
emerged. There were stories of entrepreneurs and strivers who had
pursued and ultimately found their callings. For some, like Hobby Lobby’s
David Green, that calling is distinctly religious. For others, like Spanx’s
Sara Blakely, they embody a purpose of character and sureness of vision
that, with the benefit of hindsight, transform their stories into nothing less
than the successful pursuit of the American Dream. Billionaires, of
course, are no exception to eccentricity as well, and several stories
showcased in the following pages profile larger-than-life personalities,
like Stewart Rahr, the self-professed ‘Number One King Of All Fun.’
Some pieces had a timeless quality to them, and crystallized many of the
themes that recur when reporting on the incredibly rich: The subjects of
these stories exhibit entrepre-neurial spirit, exploit marketplace gaps,
create new markets, compete against entrenched interests and so on. In
other words, these stories were and remain classics.
To supplement these longer profiles, we showcase the clipped but
magisterial tone found in the paragraph-long files written for each 400
member over the years. You’ll find that the best of these briefs on notable
rich listers range from the inspiring to the astounding, like the case of one
member allegedly living as a fugitive on a yacht equipped with guided
missiles in 1982. The ‘Spotlight On …’ sections sequentially feature files
for some of America’s most iconic billionaires that track their ascents
across the great arcs of their careers. It’s a unique way to read about the
rise of business visionaries like Steve Jobs and George Soros, as it
happened and in the context of their lifework.
The business of the rich is the public’s business. Each year The
Forbes 400 helps bring to light what America’s richest people have done
to amass their considerable fortunes, and it serves as a great proxy for
the state of business in America. If you want to know how the world
works, a good place to start is at the top.
TRILLION-DOLLAR YEARS
From the release of the iPhone in 2007 to the first transgender billionaire
in 2013, the Forbes 400 have added powerful newcomers while the top
10 have played an exclusive game of musical chairs.
CLASSICS