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.

Surface Computers - Microsoft designed the next evolutionary step in computing

I have close to 14 blog articles which I have done the research for, but never actually took the time to write and publish them. But every now and again a story comes along that fascinates me so much, that I have to publish it immediately. This is such a story.

Microsoft is once again changing the face of computing: The latest evolutionary leap in computing. Ever watched the movie The Island with Scarlet Johansson and Ewan McGregor? In the movie the character that plays the director of the facility uses a “surface” / table computer. His desk becomes the computer, with “files” (computer files) scattered across the table. Just by touching the table and moving his fingers on it, he manipulates the files, type and operates the commands.

Well, Microsoft is making this all a reality. Click here to watch the video clip of a demonstration of the product.

This is really fascinating! I can see that these tabletop/ “surface” computers will soon replace our standard desktop PC’s. Pretty soon, your computer will be bought in a computer retailer and also available in furniture shops! Bill Gates will once again become the richest man in the world. Rumour has it that Carlos Slim Helu now holds this position. I will report on this shortly...

Source

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.