James Packer: Not Australia’s Richest Man anymore.

I regret not having reporting on James Packer before. Of all the richest men of a specific country, Australia’s former Richest Man used to be one of my favourites. Just look at this guy: If you see him, you would think he’s the bodyguard to a billionaire, not one himself.

James Packer inherited his roughly $5 Billion fortune from his father, Kerry Packer who passed away in 2005. In Aussie Billionaire-style, the Packer empire comprises of a media and entertainment empire. James took over from his father and become one of the youngest billionaires in the world. He recently made headlines with allegations of acts fraud in his company, but direct links to him and his management was never proven.

Today James Packer has his sights squared on Las Vegas and Macau (China’s Las Vegas). He was reported to looking at buying a $1.8 Billion stake in one of the Vegas Strip’s most popular Casinos.

But… today the news came that Andrew Forrest (left), billionaire founder of Fortesque Metals Group Ltd have been reported to pass Packer as the Land Down-Under’s Richest Man. According to a West-Australian Newspaper, gains in Fortesque’s stock has yet again proved that Metals and Resource owning Billionaires are laughing harder to the bank than the Entertainment/ Internet/ Software Billionaires. Case in point: 2007 has been a great year for Lakshmi Mittal (Steel) and Carlos Slim (Mexican Resources and Telecommunication). Both Billionaires have made huge gains on traditional Richest men like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Billionaire Heiress: Marta Ortega-Perez

This is still one of my fav two subjects: Billionaires and their beautiful daughters. My previous post on this subject was extremely popular, so I have decided to highlight a few more “daughters-of –Inheritance”.

Forbes brought out their The 20 Most Intriguing Billionaire Heiresses – list. From this list, here is one lady that really got my attention: Marta Ortega Perez.

Marta is the daughter of Amancio Ortega, the Spanish Billionaire worth $24 Billion. Marta is currently being groomed to take over her father’s fashion empire with it’s prized jewel; the Zara Retail chain.

As with so many of the Billionaire Heiresses, Marta too is a passionate equestrian, but that is where the privileges end for her. She has to work her way up in the company… just like any other employee. She reportedly started in the Zara stores by restocking the shelves. Today she is in the company’s Marketing department.

I like that about her

J.K. Rowling day – Today July 21, 2007

That’s what I am calling today. And deservingly so: Today her seventh a final book in the very popular Harry Potter-series was released. This, and that the fifth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has been in the cinemas for a week now.

As an educated guess, I will say that today, more books will be sold than in any previous day in history. Last night thousands to millions of fans would have camped out in front of stores like Barnes and Noble to get there eager Muggle hands on the last Harry Potter book ever to be published: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Never in history has any other author been so successful and none so deserving. I did a lot of reading about her for this article and realised she is THE BEST RAGS-TO-RICHES STORY in the history of mankind.

In 1993 J.K. (Joanne) Rowling was living on a welfare grant of £69 (About $100 at the time) a week while calling a mouse-invested loft flat in Edinburgh, Scotland her home. Divorcee and mother of one, she struggled financially, but still persevered with her idea of a book about the life a boy wizard.

Her first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone was seen a big gamble by her American publisher, Scholastic. They took her in in 1997 and their gamble paid off royally!

Today J.K. Rowling is ranked 48th in Forbes Celebrity 100 list 2007 and has a net worth of a cool $1 Billion. Warner Brothers has cashed in on the more than $5 Billion in movie ticket sales the five movies has generated and Mattel has grossed over $300 million in movie paraphernalia.
J.K. Rowling will say goodbye to the successful franchise after “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” has been made into a movie, but the money will never cease to pour in. She has created an intellectual capital empire that is comparable to those created by The Beatles, Queen, Abba, U2 and George Lucas. Paramount Studios has even announced that a Harry Potter theme park will be opened in 2009!

Throughout, those close to her say that her ego has not taken control of her. She remains down-to-earth as a now mother of three. (Kids can do that to you…). The humility mst have been a product of her time spent defending the victims of human right abuses while working at Amnesty International; the job she held before becoming a full-time author.

Let July 21 2007 go down in the history books as J.K. Rowling day and as a great moment in publishing!

Brands - The most expensive thing you can buy - Interbrand Rankings

So three of my colleagues and I were stranded in the waiting lounge at Heathrow airport on Sunday, waiting for our plane to board. And we were bored. So I showed them my blog and we started talking about the theme. We talked about what the mega rich can buy with all that money and the subject changed to the most expensive stuff in the world. I told them about Updown Court, Lakshmi Mittal’s house and what the prices are on Gulfstreams and Mega Yachts.

Then Charl, our South African colleague raised an interesting point. These tangible luxuries are NOT the most expensive stuff a billionaire can acquire. They are mere fractions in comparison to the most expensive item you can buy: A brand.

The top brands in the world are worth billions. They are merely a design with brand value connected to it: Totally intangible. This made me go and look at the Interbrand ranking list again. I used their rankings in my studies at university and almost forgot what an interesting read it actually is. For that reason, I’m posting the 2006 ranking for you guys. As far as I know, the 2007 rankings have yet to be announced.

Billionaires’ worth are actually in large part comprised of a brand’s worth. Donald Tump’s name is so valuable, that it could sell almost any piece of property. So when they measure his net worth, they factor in what his brand name is worth. This is NOT money in the bank though: He has to sell that brand before he can see it in his bank account.

Interesting, right? These brands can be worth as much as $67 billion. Take Microsoft: And you wonder why Bill Gates is so rich? Take Warren Buffett as an example. He has a stake in Coca-Cola and Budweiser, two of the brands in the top 100. Billionaires get richer, the more people value their brands. Look at Louis Vuitton. Their monogram designs have catapulted them into top 20.

So forget the $200 million mega yacht, the $130 million house and $100 private jet. Or even the $70 million private island. Go and buy a multi-BILLION dollar brand!

The Interband ranking list for 2006. Just see which brand made the top 100.

Rank, Brand $million
1 Coca-Cola 67,000
2 Microsoft 56,926
3 IBM 56,201
4 GE 48,907
5 Intel 32,319
6 Nokia 30,131
7 Toyota 27,941
8 Disney 27,848
9 McDonald’s 27,501
10 Mercedes 21,795
11 Citi 21,458
12 Marlboro 21,350
13 Hewlett-Packard 20,458
14 American Express 19,641
15 BMW 19,617
16 Gillette 19,579
17 Louis Vuitton 17,606
18 Cisco 17,532
19 Honda 17,049
20 Samsung 16,169
21 Merrill Lynch 13,001
22 Pepsi 12,690
23 Nescafé 12,507
24 Google 12,376
25 Dell 12,256
26 Sony 11,695
27 Budweiser 11,662
28 HSBC 11,622
29 Oracle 11,459
30 Ford 11,056
31 Nike 10,897
32 UPS 10,712
33 JPMorgan 10,205
34 SAP 10,007
35 Canon 9,968
36 Morgan Stanley 9,762
37 Goldman Sachs 9,640
38 Pfizer 9,591
39 Apple 9,130
40 Kellogg’s 8,776
41 Ikea 8,763
42 UBS 8,734
43 Novartis 7,880
44 Siemens 7,828
45 Harley-Davidson 7,739
46 Gucci 7,158
47 eBay 6,755
48 Philips 6,730
49 Accenture 6,728
50 MTV 6,627
51 Nintendo 6,559
52 Gap 6,416
53 L’Oreal 6,392
54 Heinz 6,223
55 Yahoo! 6,056
56 Volkswagen 6,032
57 Xerox 5,918
58 Colgate 5,633
59 Wrigley’s 5,449
60 KFC 5,350
61 Chanel 5,156
62 Avon 5,040
63 Nestlé 4,932
64 Kleenex 4,842
65 Amazon.com 4,707
66 Pizza Hut 4,694
67 Danone 4,638
68 Caterpillar 4,580
69 Motorola 4,569
70 Kodak 4,406
71 adidas 4,290
72 Rolex 4,237
73 Zara 4,235
74 Audi 4,165
75 Hyundai 4,078
76 BP 4,010
77 Panasonic 3,977
78 Reuters 3,961
79 Kraft 3,943
80 Porsche 3,927
81 Hermés 3,854
82 Tiffany & Co. 3,819
83 Hennessy 3,576
84 Duracell 3,576
85 ING 3,474
86 Cartier 3,360
87 Moet & Chandon 3,257
88 Johnson & Johnson 3,193
89 Shell 3,173
90 Nissan 3,108
91 Starbucks 3,099
92 Lexus 3,070
93 Smirnoff 3,032
94 LG 3,010
95 Bulgari 2,875
96 Prada 2,874
97 Armani 2,783
98 Burberry 2,783
99 Nivea 2,692
100 Levi’s 2,689

Prince Azim of Brunei – When money is no object

Prince Azim of Brunei, 25 year old billionaire playboy spared no expense on his 25th birthday bash. His 200 strong guest list included current stars and those of yesteryear. Celebrities that attended included Jerry Hall, Olivia Newton-John, Faye Dunaway, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and even Pamela Anderson. But the star of the night was Prince Azim’s all time hero, Michael Jackson. The former star was paid $10 million to attend, and not even perform!

Every guest got goodie bags that included iPods, Bose Electronic goods, diamond jewelry and Crème de la Mer face creams that reportedly were worth thousands of dollars.

What a life you could lead if money was not an option! Prince Azim is the son of the Sultan of Brunei and known as the ultimate billionaire playboy; always with a beautiful celebrity on his side. Former dates included beauties like Naomi Campbell (Pictured with him), Mischa Barton and Scarlet Johannson.

He has never been shy to spend on celebrities as I reported in one of my previous posts. Mariah Carey got a $5.4 million necklace and to impress rap star Usher, he reportedly sent him a truck load of goodies that included designer track suits, sneakers, loads of Bling and electronic good worth hundreds of thousand dollars.

To say the least, Prince Azim is living the charmed life.

“Your royal highness, if you are reading this, I have my eye on this little… I promise it won’t cost too much… “ :)

Lakshmi Mittal’s House – The most expensive residential real estate deal ever done.

Earlier we reported about Updown Court, the world’s most expensive house and Donald Trump’s Florida Mansion, the most expensive house in the USA. Although these two mansions have the titles of being the most expensive houses, they still have to be sold. No body has ever paid that much ($139 million and $125 million respectively) for a residential building. Then who was the person that forked over the most amount of money in a residential real estate transaction?

The answer is Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel tycoon and the world’s fifth richest billionaire. His London residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens was bought from Formula One Boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for a staggering $114.89 million (£62.7 million). And for while the house held the Guinness World Record for the world’s most expensive house. The Mittal/ Ecclestone deal still hold the record as the biggest of its kind.

Another interesting fact: Prince Talal Bin Waleed's palace racked up a construction bill of over $200 million when it was build in the late 80’s. But the palace belongs to his country and not to him per se, so his residence cannot be counted as a “private residential house”.

Forbes' Top 10 Richest Billionaires in the world list 2007

It should not come as a surprise that I follow the Forbes anual Billionaires' list very closely. I follow the success stories of the people on the list and love to see how the list changes year-after-year. 2007 however, came as a huge shock to me: There are so many new faces to the top 10 and gone are some of the familiar ones.

Out of contention are the Waltons (Wal-Mart). The late Sam Walton's estate is being enjoyed by his wife and children; however they are not able to keep abreast with the onslaught of the new entrepreneurs on the list. Gone is our favouite Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich: He is going through the world's most expensive divorce!

The biggest winner on the list is Amancio Ortega who came from nowhere to land in the 8th position. Last year he did not even make the top 50! The Lucky S-O-B award this year goes David Thompson who makes his debut to the Forbes list on #10. Read his entry to see why this is a success none the less.

1. Bill Gates

Country: United States
Industry: Microsoft (IT)

No surprise here. He is still the Richest Man in the world. What is interesting though, is that the bulk of his investments are not in the Microsoft Corporation anymore! He and his wife spends the bulk of there time doing
charitable work.

2. Warren Buffett

Country: United States
Industry: Berkshire Hathaway (Investments)

The world's best investor keeps his number 2 position.

3. Carlos Slim Helu

Country: Mexico
Industry: Telecommunications in Northern and Latin America

One thing that I like about the top 3 Richest people in the world, is there willingness to donate money to good causes. Warren Buffett donates to Bill Gates' charity fund while Carlos Slim Helu donated $4 Billion to upliftment causes in his native Mexico. His empire has grown n the last year. Telecommunications is still one of the most lucrative industries to be in.



4. Ingvar Kamprad

Country: Sweden (Lives in Switzerland)
Industry: Retail (Ikea group)

The cheapo on the list. He loves to lead a very modest life; furnishing his houses with furniture from his stores and still driving his old 1988 Volvo station wagon. Live a little Ingvar. Read my blog and get a couple ideas what to spend those Billions on!

5. Lakshmi Mittal

Country: India (Lives in UK)
Industry: Steel

Magnate, Tycoon, Monopolist. These are three words that describe Mittal. He absolutely controls the world's steel industy. I think I should do an entry on his house in London; it's splendour is inspiring.

6. Sheldon Adelson

Country: US
Industry: Entertainment and conferencing

The ugliest man on the list! Yet, my absolute favourite. His story is very inspiring. He made his fortune through being a very good middle man. He started off by renting conference space $5 per square foot and renting it out for $200 per square foot. Simple and effective with huge profit margins. Click on the link and read his story. I'm inspired every time I read it. He loves to break the mould and build new business rules. Just read what he did in Las Vegas.

7. Bernard Arnault

Country: France
Industry: European Luxury Goods

The growing demand for luxury labels has got Arnault smiling all the way to the bank. With more than 3 million US $ millionaires in the world, Arnault has perfected the art of targeting the fairer sex of this group. And he just loves acquiring more fashion houses.

8. Amancio Ortega

Country: Spain
Industry: Clothing and accessories

As a student I dreamt of making my fortune in the same way as Ortega: Apparel. I still think it's a good business idea. Get a company that manufactures bags (as an example), and brand them with other people's non-clothing brands. When you buy an Aston Martin, you get a branded bag with it... who manufactured that bag? It's better to use established brands than start creating brand awareness for a new one.

This is kinda how Ortega made his fortune. His debut in the top 50 and it's in position number 8!

9. Li Ka-Shing

Country: Hong Kong
Industry: Asian Commodities

Commodities are a lucrative business, but getting in it is a b**ch. Ka-shing does not have the business ingenuity that the other on the list have, but he is probably the best leader of the bunch. More people work for him than any other on the list. To make money in commodities takes leadership: Working with and relying on Blue-collared employees to make the business work.

10. David Thomson (son of Kenneth)

Country: Canada
Inherited Income

Kenneth Thompson never made the top 10: He died before the honor could be bestowed upon him. Instead his son, David made his debut in the number 10 position. David took the reigns of Thompson Corp in 2006, after the death of his father. His personal and inherited wealth pushed him into the top 10. He is the first Canadian, which I know off that ever made it to the top 10. I would love to see if he could take the family owned company and increase his position in 2008.

Who wants to be a Billionaire celebutant? - From Paris and Nicky to Amanda Hearst

In this entry we take a look at a couple of billion dollar heiresses, who are either at the top of every major Hollywood party list, or creating headlines in some other way! Yet, all of them still have one thing in common - they all love to spend daddy’s money!


Paris and Nicky Hilton – Inheritance to be worth an estimated $80 million collectively.

The simple life! As great-grand daughters of Conrad Hilton, the founder of the Hilton Hotel chain, Paris and Nicky Hilton are amongst some of the most popular heiresses due to their exuberant lifestyles. Continuously making the headlines, these Hilton sisters are associated to big Hollywood names and flashy parties that have also granted them their high profile status! It’s been estimated that Paris earned $7 million in the past year, mostly for attaching her name to various fashion items and a video game. Nicky on the other hand, has kept a much lower profile than her older sister and has her own clothing line, Chick by Nicky Hilton, and has also announced that she too will follow her great-grand father’s footsteps with the opening of her own chain of hotels, called Nicky O Hotels.


Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Inheritance to be worth an estimated $580 million

One of the favorites! Although she’s the daughter of French Billionaire Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is best known for her frequent television shows, especially when she played Elaine in Seinfeld. Her onscreen reputation has rewarded her with an Emmy and a Golden Globe award, which has completely outshined the fact that she’ll inherit almost $600 million one day. Unlike most heiresses, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has taken the opportunity to make her own fortune without the help of her billion dollar father, and has even fronted as a comedienne on Saturday Night Live!


Georgina Bloomberg – Worth of inheritance more than $1.5 Billion

The bloom of riches! Her father, media mogul, Michael Bloomberg, is currently the mayor of New York, and also the 94th richest person in the world, but still that doesn’t get in the way of this ambitious 23 year old equestrian! Georgina Bloomberg is a two-time gold medalist at the North American Young Rider’ Championship, and has also competed at the World Championship! Collectively she has earned almost $300,000 from competitions and hopes to compete in the 2008 Olympics! She could very well have contributed to the tabloids as a celebrity heiress, but instead Georgina clearly prefers to create a buzz of her own.


Amanda Hearst - Worth of inheritance more than $2 billion

The blue-blood society’s new “It” girl! She has long surpassed the likes of Paris Hilton, and is making it clear that she’s the new premier of every high profile guest list! Amanda Hearst is the great-grand daughter of publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, and even has four uncles who made it to the annual list of the 400 hundred richest people in America! No wonder she spends over 130,000 dollars a year shopping for clothes, make-up and luxury vacations! The 22 year old student and model has such a high profile, that Hearst Corp.'s own Harper's Bazaar ran an article highlighting her exuberant lifestyle and shopping rituals.

Oh, the Rich has such expensive birthdays

This entry is about birthdays, and features the most expensive party, birthday gift and even most expensive cake. Birthdays are really special, so take a look at what some have done to make it even more special…

Most expensive birthday – $27.2 million

The Sultan of Brunei might have turned 60 this year, but his 50th birthday has to be the most memorable of all. After spending millions on caviar and the best champagne, the Sultan had to go one step further and fly in Michael Jackson for three performances that cost him 16 million dollars. Some of the guests included Prince Charles from England, and when you’re inviting royalty to your birthday you might as well host the most expensive birthday party in the world.


Most expensive birthday gifts in 2006 – Beyonce Knowles’s $1 million car

When Beyonce Knowles turned 25, boyfriend Jay-Z wanted to make her feel extra special, and so bought her a 1959 Rolls Royce convertible with an estimated value of $1 million. The car is iconic and a really expensive gift, but when it comes to gifts Mariah Carey’s has to be the most expensive this year. Mariah was preparing to perform in Madison Square Garden, when Prince Azim from Brunei, presented her with a $5.4 million necklace and matching ring.


Most expensive cake – $1.65 million

Delicious diamonds! Taking six months to create, this fruit filled cake is the proud work of an experienced Tokyo chef. Covered in 223 diamonds and unique patterns, the outside is a sparkling extraordinaire that will dazzle just about any party. Imagine the surprise on the face of your guests when you enter a room with this cake!


Most expensive birthday card – estimated at $56,000

A former art college secretary arrived at her surprise 70th birthday party, and found something more surprising than she could ask for. When former student, Damien Hirst sent her a birthday card, he tried to make the occasion extra special by sending one of his ‘dotted’ paintings instead. On the painting he wrote her a special message, and the painting is thought to be the most expensive birthday card in the world.