To be rich consists not necessarily in having much money, but in being able to enjoy an abundance of the things that are made by work; and that poverty consists not merely in being without money, but in being short of the necessities and comforts of life – or in other words in being short of the Benefits of Civilisation, the things that are all, without exception, produced by work. ibid.
‘This systematic robbery has been going on for generations, the value of the accumulated loot is enormous, and all of it, all the wealth at present in the possession of the rich, is rightly the property of the working class – it has been stolen from them by means of the Money Trick ...’ ibid.
Billionaires now control more of the world’s wealth than ever before. And they are scouring the globe for the latest must-have goods. This World: Inside the Billionaire’s Wardrobe, BBC 2016
The fur market is now worth forty billion dollars worldwide. That’s an increase of 70% in the last ten years. ibid.
The guys at the top of the rich list this year, they made their money out of metal and property: £13.1 billion What Britain Earns with Mary Portas, Channel 4 2016
Guess how much Lewis Hamilton took home last year: £88 million. ibid.
He’s the world leader accused of personally approving murder on the streets of London. But is the president implicated in an assassination also responsible for theft on an extraordinary scale? Vladimir Putin has been accused of looting his own country. Panorama: Putin’s Secret Riches, BBC 2016
Action man, man of the people, and ruler of Russia: from the Ukraine to Syria, Vladimir Putin’s influence is being felt. He’s faced countless accusations of corruption but still has record approval ratings in Russia. But should the Russia people trust Vladimir Putin? ibid.
So how rich is Vladimir Putin? … One journalist came up with a figure … ‘Forty billion dollars.’ ibid.
Abramovich … He provided £203m [for healthcare, re-rooted to Putin’s palace] … A gift that can be explained away: a $35m yacht [2002] … The yacht was given to an offshore company: but the real owner is Vladimir Putin. ibid.
You can hardly blame Abramovich for wanting to keep on Putin’s good side. ibid.
Putin controls the super-rich in Russia. ibid.
A bankruptcy system in crisis being cheated by the unscrupulous … We expose the millionaire bankrupts playing the system. Panorama: Millionaire Bankrupts Exposed, BBC 2018
The number of personal insolvencies including bankruptcies is on the rise, up more than 10% in the last year in England and Wales. ibid.
Super-rich Russians like Roman Abramovich have become part of British life. But the war in Ukraine has ended the UK’s love affair with wealthy Russians and their cash. We’ve been investigating how Britain’s most famous Russian made his money. We uncover new details about Roman Abramovich’s murky past. And we reveal how he really made his fortune. Panorama: Roman Abramovich’s Dirty Money, Richard Bilton reporting, BBC 2022
Roman Abramovich has pumped £1.5 billion of his own cash into Chelsea, buying success on the pitch. He was one of the super-rich Russians who were welcomed into the UK. ibid.
1992: Russian detectives are investigating the alleged theft of a trainload of diesel. Roman Abramovich is the main suspect … ‘Abramovich personally met the shipment and using forged documents had it rerouted to Riga where the diesel oil was sold … It would be a multi-billion-dollar rip-off and would make his fortune. ibid.
A giant oil company called Sibneft was formed. It was then auctioned off. But the auction was rigged so Roman Abramovich would win. ibid.
Most of the money borrowed by Roman Abramovich to buy the new oil company came from the Russian government. ibid.
Raise your hand if you want to get rich? … It’s not a pyramid scheme. The Office US s2e19: Michael’s Birthday, Michael, NBC 2006
$62 billion [now $67.3] makes him the richest man in the world. Becoming Warren Buffett, news, Sky Atlantic 2017
On the way [to the office] there’s a McDonald’s so I’ll pick up something. ibid. Buffett
I like numbers. It started before I can remember. It just felt good working with numbers. ibid.
Berkshire Hathaway: ‘a holding company of sorts; it owns a large number of separate businesses.’ ibid.
Two Rules of Investing: Never lose money; never forget rule number one. ibid.
It’s all mental with him. ibid. wife
1986 Net Worth: $1.4 billion; 1996 Net Worth: $15 billion; 2006 Net Worth: $46 billion. ibid. captions
Berkshire Hathaway 2016: 61 subsidiaries; 47 minority holdings; 331,000 employees; $210,821,000,000 revenue. ibid.
Warren Buffett says he is giving away most of his fortune to charity. ibid. news
There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning. Warren Buffett
The world is full of rich bastards. And you’ll always find Alan Whicker with his tongue right up their derriers. Spitting Image s13e5, ITV 1992
How much inequality is enough? Alex Gibney, Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream, 2012
This stretch of Park Avenue on the Upper East side of Manhattan is the wealthiest neighbourhood in New York City. This is where the people at the top of the ladder live. The upper crust. The ultra rich. But this street is about a lot more than money: it’s about political power. The rich here haven’t just used their money to buy fancy cars and private jets and mansions: they’ve also used it to rig the game in their favour. ibid.
As of 2010 only 400 of the richest Americans controlled more wealth than the bottom half of American households. ibid.
740 Park Avenue in Manhattan is currently home to more billionaires than any other building in the United States. ibid.
Nobody’s money talks louder than David Koch. This right-wing oil tycoon with a fortune of $25 billion is the richest resident of 740 Park Avenue. ibid.
In 2000 Koch Industries had to pay a $30 million fine for its role in over 300 oil spills. ibid.
What kind of freedom is American Prosperity talking about? ibid.
One in seven Americans receive food stamps. ibid.
The tax rates corporations actually pay is at an all-time low. ibid.
Are the wealthy just born in the right place at the right time? Or are the poor victims of the system designed to keep them down. Perhaps physics and biology determine who is rich and who is poor? Many hoped to have erased the divide between the haves and the have nots, but what if Nature demands winners and losers in life? Could poverty be genetic? Morgan Freeman’s Through the Wormhole s5e9: Is Poverty Genetic? Science 2014
‘Two of Britain’s most flamboyant tycoons are arrested as part of an international fraud investigation into the collapse of an Icelandic bank.’ Robbie’s War: The Rise and Fall of a Playboy, BBC 2017
Right next to the Royal Albert Hall, Robbie’s [Tschenguiz] house is something of a grand palace. This Grade II listed building has been his home for the last seventeen years. This is how a billionaire lives. ibid.
For the last ten years Robbie’s empire has been in meltdown. Since his arrest and being cleared he’s been at war with those he believes have illegally taken it from him. ibid.
But his real problem was an Icelandic bank called Kaupthing. ibid.
Ray: I need our six thousand bucks … I’ve got a brilliant idea. I’m gonna make us rich.
Frenchie: How you gonna make us rich? Rob a bank? Small Time Crooks 2000 starring Woody Allen & Tracey Ullman & Elaine May & Elaine Stritch & Hugh Grant & Michael Rapaport & Tony Darrow & Jon Lovitz & Brian Markinson & George Grizzard & Kristine Nielson et al, director Woody Allen
According to Forbes, in 2011 there are now billionaires from 58 countries. Wolvoman80, Government and New World Order Corruption Exposed aka Planet Earth, Youtube 3.00.26
Dorchester, on December 15th 1972 the richest man in the world, J Paul Getty, celebrated his 80th birthday. For Getty it indeed would be a nightmare year: for the previous 12 years he had lived at Sutton Place, Surrey, England, from where he controlled his worldwide oil business. The first shock of his 81st year had been the suicide of his eldest son and heir apparent George. And that was just the beginning. The Gettys: A Tragedy of Riches, 1995
Paul junior, known today’s as Britain most generous benefactor, was then lost to his children, living on a diet of rum and heroin. ibid.
‘There was a demand for a substantial multi-million-dollar ransom’ … Paul was being held in the remote southern province of Calabria … The kidnappers posted the ear to a leading Rome newspaper … Getty paid two million dollars. ibid.