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

Turtle Island, Fiji - Heaven on Earth

Okay, so my girlfriend is putting a squeeze on me: She saw the following You Tube clip and now wants to experience “heaven on earth”. She showed me the clip and while I said, “It will be perfect for my blog”, she said “Yes, but its time you treat me to something like this”. Woman!

It does seem perfect: The perfect Holiday destination. Like I said in one of my previous posts, my ultimate fantasy is to own my own private island one day. But for now, I might just lok into visiting this beautiful island for a well deserved break.

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… “ :)

Asus S6 Leather bound Notebooks - Luxury Computing

Okay. So do you wanna know what I bought with the money made on the deal named in the Diana Carmichael article? I bought myself the Leather bound, luxurious S6 Laptop from Asus. Pictured is two hide options. I have the lighter colored one.

If you absolutely need to impress clients or colleages. Get this beauty. I love to go down to a street cafe during lunch. But being the busy person that I am, I take my notebook with me to get some work in while munching on my ceaser's salad. So many people, strangers, come up to me just to feel the soft leather coat of the computer.

This little luxury goes a long way...

The New BMW X5 – The SUV Benchmark

With the new BMW X5, status and good sense comes standard. The old X5 was the benchmark against which every SUV (4x4) were measured. The new X5 raised the bar several yards higher. The car has exceptional off road capabilities and on road, the drive compares to that of a luxury sedan.

In my eyes, the X5 has the same iconic status as the Mercedes S-Class: Always the leader of the bunch and buying any competitor’s product is just a compromise. Range Rover, The ML/GL, Suburbans and the Porsche Ceyenne all scores a distant second to the new behemoth.

The styling screams mucho, but any woman driving it will score points in my book.

Features that I like is the in window displays, the multi media and computer/ navigational system, the improved duel suspension for on- and off-road driving and the comfortable interior lay-out.

The car oozes confidence and gives total peace-of-mind to the owners. The car, like it’s predecessor, will become a regular at country clubs, high-end fashion events, luxury lodges and parked in the parking lot of the best parties.

Diana Carmichael – Contemporary luxury tableware at it’s most creative

Two weeks ago I got an invitation to dine with one of the most influential men in the Internet world. He invited me and my girlfriend to dine in his lush penthouse apartment in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. His wife is a former model who also happens to be one of the most gracious hosts I’ve ever met. The night was definitely going to be memorable.

I was dressed in my usual Dunhill suit and Hugo Boss tie and dished a small fortune to buy my girlfriend a new dress for the occasion. I needed this night to be perfect: A lot of money was riding on this deal.

John and Cathy (not their real names) greeted us at the door and invited us into their beautifully furnished house. The penthouse is decorated in a wave of earthy tones with a dash of dark red ever so often. The dining room is spectacular: A dark mahogany table with the most interesting contemporary chairs. You could see they entertain quite regularly. We sat down for dinner at the table and I saw the one thing that was by far the most thought provoking…

The cutlery: With all the research that I do for this blog, I thought I’ve seen it all, but I was wrong. The cutlery was quite unique. My girlfriend then asked the question I was dying to ask: “What beautiful cutlery, where did you get it?” You could see Cathy beaming at the question, she was definitely proud of it. “Oh, it’s Diana Carmichael. I got the set as a gift from my sister-in-law as a birthday gift.” she said.

Now, I must admit, I’ve never heard of Diana Carmichael before, but it was such exquisite pieces, that I thought I had to do a posting on it for the blog.

I visited their website and actually saw the set Cathy had on the table (pictured below).

Diana Carmichael has some of the most creative contemporary tableware accessory designs I’ve ever seen. It definitely compliments any modern living environment. See the sets below.

Guess what happened… Apart from the contract I got, my girlfriend now wants a set of Diana Carmichael tableware as reward for being on her best behaviour when I scored the contract!

On a personal note

Life is great!

I would like to thank the fans of LOTR (Lifestyles of the Rich). The blog has reached a top ten ranking (9th) on Blog Toplist. Thank you.

My new business venture is booming. It is exceding my wildest expectations. I had no idea that their was such a demand.

I would like to apologize for the lack of postings though. The new venture is taking up most of my day. I'll rectify that today. I was suppose to play golf with a client today, but the weather put a stop to that. So today I have enough time.

I would like to thank my friend G-Wee for the beautiful posting / review he did of this blog on his blog Wealth Wonders. Rest assured buddy, I'm one of your biggest fans too. By the way... I've never met G-Wee. He does not know me at all, and that makes his posting so great. Go check out his blog: He DOES post often.

Keep up the good work.

Below is a graph to illustrate how the popularity of LOTR has grown in the last couple of weeks. Once again: Thank you to all the fans. I do enjoy your fan mail.

Louis Vuitton Monogram Luxury Items – What a Fashion Icon!

Although the brand has never NOT been popular, Marc Jacobs, artistic director of Louis Vuitton has hit a homerun with the monogram designs. They have an almost cult following amongst celebrities. Never has one handbag brand been so coveted in all of fashion history. An icon has been born.

A Louis Vuitton monogram canvas travel item can set you back anything between $595 and $14,000. These bags are regular features on celebs like Scarlet Johansson, Uma Thurman, Kate Moss, Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell and the Hilton sisters.

And how these handbags command respect! Walk into any department store with a Louis Vuitton bag and you give out signals to the store clerks and owners of “Discerning shopper: Handle as a VIP”

The monogram is used for any travel item; from wallets, to golf bags, large trunks to overnight luggage. At a price, Louis Vuitton will even customise any travel item for you. One thing they won’t do however is compromise their brand, as one rap artist found out. He wanted to customise his SUV with monogram canvass seat covers. Louis Vuitton had no problem saying no, despite him offering vast amounts of money to change their minds.

This 150 year old brand has never been so popular amongst the elite of the world.

Below is a pic of Jessica Simpson walking down the street, clutching her Louis Vuitton.

"Rich Lifestyle" articles of Note 02

A Few quality articles for your perusal...

Miss Sweden 2 - Wealth Wonders

World’s Top 10 Futuristic Luxury Hotels - Born Rich

'Reverse Alarm Clock' keeps the kids in bed so you can party - Engadget

Masdar, Plans For A Carbon-Neutral City - Luxist

Pictured: The 'Waterworld' Hotel - One of the Future/ Concept hotels in the excellent article featured on Born Rich. This is probably the best article they have ever posted. It reminds me of one of my old posts...

New Sister blog

Doing my research for Lifestyles of the Rich, I read many success stories: Rich people and their rags-to-riches stories. It makes for excellent reading. Then about two months ago I heard someone saying: "Study success and you will see new doors open in front of you".

I have been reading about successful people and since then saw how simple the path to success really is. I've read about how a certain person made his fortune and a new idea popped into my head: A gap in the online market. I've since been hard at work and in this week have reaped the rewards!

But I want to share what I've read:

Visit Studying Success.