Did you know New Zealand's own local billionaire made good, Graeme Hart, is richer than Richard Branson? More loaded, too, than James Packer (who is just as poor as Branson) and even higher up the rich list than everyone's favourite media mogul, Rupert Murdoch?
All this useless but compelling information can be found on the famous Forbes magazine annual billionaire list. Depending on your personality type, the billionaire list could either inspire you to greatness or merely emphasise, once again, the dud financial cards life has dealt you.
(As an exercise in adulation of wealth, though, I prefer the 'Lifestyles of the rich and famous' TV series, which screened from 1984-1995, whose salivating host, Robin Leach, was perfectly-named.)
But I try to restrain my jealousy when perusing rich lists. These billionaires worked hard for their money. Or some of them did, I'm sure. All of them, however, are working very hard to keep their billions.
As Forbes also details how this economic crisis has been tough on the billionaires too, with the mega-rich list shrinking by almost 500 over the last year.
There's a fair chance that many of these super-wealthy are on the way to becoming yesterday's men (or women) anyway.
As this Sydney Morning Herald story (which is really another Forbes piece) gushingly points out, today's financial ruin is breeding the next generation of billionaires.
"Working away in the shadows of the global recession, a slew of future billionaires are quietly tinkering with the ideas that will help fuel the future economy - and make them very rich," the article says, before pondering where "the next Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs" will come from.
Or Bransons, for that matter. For the record, Branson (261st equal on the Forbes list with a net wealth of US$2.5bn - Hart was 110 and valued at US$4.5bn) made his first fortune with a record; the very weird 'Tubular Bells' by Mike Oldfield, released on Branson's 'Virgin' label in 1973.
Symbolic, perhaps, of the passing generation of billionaires, Virgin passed back the rights for 'Tubular Bells' a year ago to Oldfield, with a re-release on a new label tipped soon.
Are there any new tunes?
David Chaplin
Bells toll for billionaires too
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