When one has built up a net worth of at least $1B, they are classed as a billionaire. At this magnitude of wealth, ownership of almost anything is attainable in both quantity and quality. Giving back to the world through philanthropy are ways that many new billionaires begin to allocate some of their wealth.
The next measure of wealth relates to those that have a net worth of at least $10B. It’s safe to say that these individuals have almost unlimited access to hedge fund investments and private equity ventures. Purchasing a global status symbol such as a professional sports team or club is possible at this level.
The highest level of wealth is that which is attained upon reaching an exalted net worth of over $100B, and only 10 individuals currently breathe this rarefied air as of 2024. They are Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Sergey Brin.
For these individuals and their companies, all of which are universally known, purchasing stakes in each other’s private ventures is occasionally done, such as Larry Page and Sergey Brin did through Google Ventures almost a decade ago, when they bought 10% of SpaceX for “only” $1B. They also occasionally buy up large stakes in each others’ companies’ public stock. For example, Larry Ellision owns almost 50 million shares of Tesla and after Musk himself and some institutional investors, he is apparently the largest individual shareholder in the tech/automotive company.
They also occasionally sit on each others’ companies’ Boards of Directors, and an example of this was when Larry Ellison sat on that of Apple. Interestingly enough, he was also appointed to Tesla’s, as an “independent” director as part of Tesla’s settlement with U.S. regulators, who demanded more oversight of Mr. Musk. Even more interestingly enough, is that they were then and are now, great friends.
Many politicians want to tax the wealthy, but there is never seemingly enough will of the people to fully get behind such policies, despite the vast wealth gap that exists. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, considering the plethora of get rich-scheme grifters and motivational speaking scammers plying their trades and making bank, most people don’t want to declare war on the rich. Sadly, many of the delusional members of the public actually identify with the uber ultra-wealthy, admire them, and hope to one day join their ranks in paying no taxes.
Speaking of the government, it has always worked with many of the world’s wealthy, awarding their companies coveted government contracts. Most recently, Elon Musk has capitalized on this fact, receiving government funding for joint ventures above and below the earth via SpaceX and The Boring Company.
Between Elon and others like Jeff Bezos, who has also entered the private space race from the tech industry, a rivalry has emerged that is literally out of this world. Each is sending privately-developed rockets into space, often in response to government programs or to develop the space tourism sector.
Over the past decade, many of this group have made significant investments in media – both social and mass – that are not already owned by those billionaires that made their fortunes in them. As the traditional mass media no longer makes sense as a financial investment, since digital advertising companies like Facebook and Google destroyed the business model years ago, it seems that they are acquiring these assets for other reasons, seemingly to spread their own political messaging and to gain political power.
Doing so gives Musk, Bezos, Zuckerburg, et al., not only the freedom to exercise their free speech rights, but to do so on a global scale. This ensures their opinions are heard by governments and politicians – foreign and domestic alike – over and over, and loud and clear. This certainly benefits their business and their brands, and may almost certainly be why the “tax the rich” warcry is not quite so loud anymore.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein should not be construed or considered professional advice. Having said that, thanks for reading. If it resonates, “there’s plenty more where that came from”, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube ‘n’ Twitter.