Group+1B



by Craig Vollgraff
First published by Forbes magazine in 1982, the Forbes 400 documented the 400 richest people in the United States, ranking them by their net worth. In 2007, in a reflection of the increasing globalization of the world, the Forbes 400 became a list of the world’s billionaires.

The first Forbes 400 had 22.8% of the list composed of oil fortunes, with 15.3% from manufacturing, 9% from finance and only 3% from technology driven fortunes. These percentages as well as countries of origin of those on the list would change dramatically over the next 28 years. Technology directly helped to propel Bill Gates (Microsoft), Carlos Slim Helu (Telecommunications), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Paul Allen (Microsoft), and Michael Dell (Dell Computer) to the list of the world’s richest people, and was indirectly involved in the fortunes of S. Robson Walton (Walmart), Lakshmi Mittal (ArcelorMittal Steel) and others.

In 2000, the Forbes list of the World’s Richest People had 6 Americans in the top 10 slots. In 2010 that number had shrunk to 3. In 2000, Bill Gates was the richest man in the world, in 2010 the richest man in the world was Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico. In 2000, only 5 countries were in the top 10, by 2010, 8 countries were represented. In 2010 Forbes found that while the United States still had the largest number of billionaires at 403, China was second with 128, and India third with 69.

With the effects of technology and globalization in full force, the rich are becoming a more diverse group... younger, richer, and from more diverse backgrounds. Next we will look at the trends shaping wealth mobility.


 * **Forbes 400: The World’s Richest People 2000** ||
 * **Rank** || **Name** || **Citizenship** || **Net Worth** || **Residence** ||
 * 1 || Bill Gates || United States || 60.0 B || United States ||
 * 2 || Larry Ellison || United States || 47.0 B || United States ||
 * 3 || Paul Allen || United States || 28.0 B || United States ||
 * 4 || Warren Buffett || United States || 25.6 B || United States ||
 * 5 || Karl Albrecht || Germany || 20.0 B || Germany ||
 * 6 || Prince Asauld || Saudi Arabia || 20.0 B || Saudi Arabia ||
 * 7 || S. Robson Walton || United States || 20.0 B || United States ||
 * 8 || Masayoshi Son || Japan || 19.4 B || Japan ||
 * 9 || Michael Dell || United States || 19.1 B || United States ||
 * 10 || Kenneth Thomson || Canada || 16.1 B || Canada ||
 * **Forbes 400: The World’s Richest People 2010** ||
 * **Rank** || **Name** || **Citizenship** || **Net Worth** || **Residence** ||
 * 1 || Carlos Slim Helu || Mexico || 53.5 B || Mexico ||
 * 2 || Bill Gates || United States || 53.0 B || United States ||
 * 3 || Warren Buffett || United States || 47.0 B || United States ||
 * 4 || Mukesh Ambani || India || 29.0 B || India ||
 * 5 || Lakshmi Mittal || India || 28.7 B || United Kingdom ||
 * 6 || Larry Ellison || United States || 28.0 B || United States ||
 * 7 || Bernard Arnault || France || 27.5 B || France ||
 * 8 || Eike Batista || Brazil || 27.0 B || Brazil ||
 * 9 || Armancio Ortega || Spain || 25.0 B || Spain ||
 * 10 || Karl Albrecht || Germany || 23.5 B || Germany ||
 * 10 || Karl Albrecht || Germany || 23.5 B || Germany ||



by Mariana Gonzalez
A very important factor showed up by the //FORBES 400// is the considerable wealth mobility of their members. The Primary sources of wealth are changing over time and it is inevitable not to notice how over the past years “intangibles” are becoming more important than material resources (Suarez-Villa, 2000). According to the //FORBES 400// between 1982 and 2005, publishing/communications and real state are tied as the most common form of wealth, these two sources represent the 13% of the list. Banking, finance and technology-related industries represent 12% each one (Keister, 2005). For instance, these trends show the importance and growth of high-tech industries. This transition can be considered as a new era of knowledge, intangibles and creativity, and today these trends are becoming the major forces of change.

Invention plays also one of the most important roles of this new generation of the //FORBES 400// members. Inventive knowledge is at the root of technological change (Suarez-Villa, 2000). Invention is determining today the course of technology and it is setting the foundation for what may become major transformations affecting work, life and human survival. People who are now part of the //FORBES 400// list, are creative minds such as Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

media type="custom" key="7583975" width="169" height="169" align="center"

The emerging of this new trends in wealth mobility, are setting the stage for a global technology environment that little by little will take us to a “new world” full of high-tech industries. The rapid production of those trends can become a imperative priority for any society wishing to become a leader in the globalization technology. Becoming a major source of diffusion for inventive knowledge and achieving a rapid reproduction of creativity are also essential requirements on the road towards global technological leadership and also to be part of the world’s richest people.

Next we will look at the richest men in the world.



**The Richest Men Worldwide: Carlos Slim Helu and Bill Gates** **By Paola Diaz**

Carlos Slim Helu is the first non-American to top the Forbes billionaire list since 1994 (Stevenson, 2010). In 2000, Slim was not even among the top ten world billionaires. Slim’s wealth increased more in the past year because his cellphone holdings rebounded in value.
 * Carlos Slim Helu **
 * ** Net worth: $53. 5 billion ** ||
 * ** Fortune: Self-made ** ||
 * ** Source: Telecommunications ** ||
 * ** Age: 70 ** ||

In the 1990s, Slim acquired Telmex, Mexico’s national telephone company. Slim was awarded the only cellular telephone license, which he used to establish America Movil. America Movil controls 71 percent of Mexican cellular practices and is the leading wireless services provider in Latin America (Harrison, 2010).

In addition to America Movil, Slim has Internet-related businesses and banks, energy, construction and mining companies, insurance and real estate firms, retail chain stores, restaurants, plants that make auto parts, cigarettes, etc (“Carlos Slim Helu,” 2010). According to Bloomberg News, Slim also holds a 7 percent stake in The New York Times Company. In 2007, Slim’s wealth was equal to 7 percent of Mexico’s annual economic output, according to Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. ** William “Bill” Gates III ** **
 * Net worth: $53.0 billion ||
 * Fortune: Self-made ||
 * Source: Microsoft ||
 * Age: 54 ||
 * [[image:Bill_Gates.jpg height="217" align="right"]] Harvard drop-out and creator of the most used software nowadays, Bill Gates remained the world’s richest man from 1995 to 2009. Today, Gates ranks second in the Forbes billionaire list.

Gates co-founded Microsoft and created the standard operating system for the personal computers, MS-DOS, which was replaced by Windows (Lowe, 1998). The rise of the Internet brought along more computer users and this made it necessary for the world to share a common computer language (Lowe, 1998). In 1996, Microsoft expanded its offerings to include computer networking and the World Wide Web (Edstrom & Eller, 1998). By 1998 Microsoft employed 25,000 people in 58 countries (Lowe, 1998). According to Forbes.com, 60 percent of Gates’ fortune is held outside of Microsoft. Investments include Four Seasons hotels, Televisa and Auto Nation.

** Factors that have contributed to Gates and Slim’s wealth **

Technological advancements changed society and the lifestyle pace became faster. Businesses migrated to the net and there was a switch to mobile devices (May, 2000). Access to information became increasingly important. Consumers demanded to have this access anytime, anywhere. Along with the digital revolution came an increase in globalization. These two changed consumption activities and patterns among people (Rattle, 2010). Society demanded better and faster telecommunications. Lastly, the companies of Gates and Slim have focused on innovation and capitalism creating strategies that block competition. Next we will profile the world's youngest billionaire.



By Matthew Kenyon
Born on the 14th of May in 1984, Mark Zuckerberg ranks as the youngest billionaire in the world, according to Forbes magazine. At 27-years-old, Zuckerberg is worth an estimated $6.9 billion as a co-founder of Facebook and controls about 25% of the company. After dropping out of Harvard University at the age of 20, Zuckerberg moved to Palo Alto, California, to focus his attention on the soon-to-be popular social take charge of the design, infrastructure, and technology development that would help make Facebook one of the most heavily trafficked sites on the web (Vargas, 2010).

Although it is obviously his most successful creation, Zuckerberg worked on several other projects before Facebook, the most notable being Facemash, a website that compared his Harvard co-eds side-by-side and prompted students to choose which one was ‘hot’ and which one was ‘not’. Zuckerberg faced disciplinary action from Harvard for Facemash and was forced to take it down immediately. Facebook was created a mere three months after and Zuckerberg dropped out later that year (Vargas, 2010). After Facebook experienced a high degree of early success, Zuckerberg spent a substantial amount of time battling legal allegations over the next few years. After paying an estimated $65 million to fellow Harvard classmates Tyler Winklevoss, Cameron Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, who accused Zuckerberg of stealing script from their University-based site, Zuckerberg also had to give around 5% of the Facebook stock, along with an undisclosed amount of money, to former friend and partner Eduardo Severin (Thomas, 2007).

Zuckerberg exemplifies some of Easterbrook’s most central themes of Sonic Boom: the higher frequency of instant success and the virtual reality that the Internet is making the world a flatter place. Despite being a college dropout, he was able to create a site with 500 million members worldwide, 70% of which are outside the United States.




 * Profile of Warren Edward Buffett**
 * By Kevin Grinnell**

Mr. Buffett is referred to by many as one of the most successful and prosperous investors the world has ever seen. According to //Forbes,// Warren Buffett is currently ranked as the third wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of over 47 billion dollars. Buffett is the primary shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which is a conglomerate holding company that manages a number of subsidiary companies (Jordan, 2008).

According to the //Wall Street Journal,// "Berkshire Hathaway has averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years, while employing large ammounts of capital, and minimal debt." How has Buffett (80yrs of age) conformed and adapted to different technologies throughout the years to help build his empire (Wong, 2010)? First let’s look at Buffett’s investment philosophy. Buffett is a” value investor” which means he is constantly searching for stocks that he believes are undervalued by the market. Like a bargain hunter, the value investor tries to find those items that are valuable but not recognized as such by the majority of other buyers.

Last fall Berkshire Hathaway bought 10% of BYD for $230 million. BYD is a battery manufacturing company, and has also begun selling a plug-in electric car with a backup gasoline engine, a move putting it ahead of GM, Nissan, and Toyota. Some believe BYD has a shot at becoming the world's largest automaker, primarily by selling electric cars, as well as a leader in the fast-growing solar power industry. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has already seen their 230 million dollar investment skyrocket to an estimated $1.6 billion (Gunther, 2010).

Easterbrook’s Sonic Boom emodies the never before seen growth, progress and change in our current economy. Buffett’s continuing forsight and willingness to invest in international companies that represent these very concepts, has helped put him on that ever so sacered Forbes list.

As you can see, technology and globalization have had a profound effect on the Forbes 400. Today the rich are richer than ever and a more diverse group than at any time in history. What will the future bring? We expect the list to change at an even faster pace, with even younger members from even more diverse backgrounds. In exponential times the one constant is change.



References:
Easterbrook, Gregg. (2010). Sonic boom: globalization at mach speed. New York, NY: Random House.

Thomas, Owen. (2007, July 20). A brief history of mark Zuckerberg's legal woes. Retrieved from http://valleywag.gawker.com/280901/a-brief-history-of-mark-zuckerbergs- legal-woes

Vargas, Jose. (2010, September 20). The face of Facebook. The New Yorker, Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas

Edstrom, J. and Eller M. (1998). //Barbarians Led by Bill Gates.// New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company Inc. Lowe, J. (1998). //Bill Gates Speaks.// Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Rattle, R. (2010). //Computing Our Way to Paradise: The Role of Internet and Communication Technologies in Sustainable Consumption and Globalization//. Lanham, Maryland: Altamira Press.

May, P., (2000). //Mobile Commerce.// Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

The New York Times (2010, March 10). Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of Billionaires. //The New York Times.// Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/business/11forbes.html

Stevenson, M. (2010, March 10). Carlos Slim, ‘World’s Richest’ Person, Has More Money Than Bill Gates According to Forbes. //The Huffington Post//. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/carlos-slim-worlds-riches_n_494325.html

Carlos Slim Helu (2010). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 1p.

Harrison, C. (2010). Mexico’s Big Cellular Problem: Carlos Slim. //Bloomberg Businessweek//, 22-23.

Jason Gunther. Buffett's Safety Net. (2010, December). American Conservative), 9(9), 4. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Alt-press Watch (APW). (Document ID: 2192126221).

Steve Jordon. (2010, July 4). Warren Watch: Analysts say Berkshire's share price could rise by 25%. Omaha World - Herald, A.8. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2073553781).

Kandy Wong. (2010, October 1). Buffett bullish on BYD's electric cars and buses. South China Morning Post,1. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID:2151080271).

Keiser, Lisa. (2005). Getting Rich: American's New Rich and How They Got that Way. New York, United States: Cambridge University Press.

Suarez-Villa, Luis. (2000). Invention and the Rise of Technocapitalism. Boston, United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publications.

Bernstein, Peter. (2007). All the Money in the World: How the Forbes 400 Make and Spend their Fortunes. New York: Random House