The Private Office of His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Kingdom Holding Company announce that they have ended their long-standing relationship with the Forbes Billionaires List. The relationship was severed in a letter from His Royal Highness, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, to Mr. Steve Forbes the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes, requesting that the Prince be removed from the list and informing Forbes that KHC officials would no longer work with the Forbes valuation teams. Prince Alwaleed has taken this step as he felt he could no longer participate in a process which resulted in the use of incorrect data and seemed designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern investors and institutions. [FT Alphaville, related]
billionaires
Which is nice, although Carl Icahn is a billionaire 20 times over, and the richest alternative investment fund manager on Earth. Read more »
An Australian billionaire plans to rebuild the Titanic as a seafaring vessel, upon which he will seek to relive the thrill of the days when people knew their place. Read more »
By the time that Obama ran for President, in 2008, his relations with the financial industry had grown warmer, and he attracted more donations from Wall Street leaders than John McCain, his Republican opponent, did. Yet this good feeling did not last, despite the government’s bailout of the banking sector. Many financial titans felt that the President’s attitude toward the “one per cent” was insufficiently admiring, even hostile…When George Soros wanted to meet with Obama in Washington to discuss global economic problems, Obama’s staff failed to respond. Eventually, they arranged not a White House interview but, rather, a low-profile, private meeting in New York, when the President was in town for other business. Soros found this back-door treatment confounding. “He feels hurt,” a Democratic donor says. “They pissed on him,” a confidant says. “He didn’t want a fucking thing! He didn’t want a state dinner, or a White House party—he just wanted to be taken seriously.” [New Yorker]
Want To Get Your Body Ready For The Boardroom And The Beach? Strap A Saddle To Your Back And You’re Good To Go
By Bess Levin
Throughout the week, we’ve been exploring the workout regimens of various billionaires. George Soros gets his elliptical on at Sitaras Fitness, alongside fellow members like Jack Welch and former Amex chairman James D. Robinson III, who can leg-press 900 pounds). Paul Tudor Jones’s wife forces him to practice Ashtanga yoga, though he’s allowed to take the summer off. While the practitioners of these routines may have found them to be enjoyable and effective, they contain the rigor of lifting one’s hand to stuff another chip in one’s mouth when compared to the new workout regimen pioneered by Jesse Itzler, which, we’re calling it now, is poised to take the upper echelons of Wall Street by storm. Read more »
How Many More Billionaires Have To Die By Tainted Cat Before The Ultra-Rich Start Taking The Threat Of Poisoning Seriously?
By Bess LevinThe sudden death of a billionaire in southern China is causing police to ask: Was it murder by cat meat? Long Liyuan, 49, died on Dec. 23 in wealthy Guangdong province after sharing a dish of slow boiled cat meat stew, a southern delicacy, with two men over a business lunch. One of the men, local official Huang Guang, was arrested by police on Friday on suspicion of poisoning the hotpot with a toxic herb. Police say Huang and Long had economic disputes. Huang, deputy director of agriculture in Guangdong’s Bajia township, is suspected of poisoning the hotpot with the herb Gelsemium elegans, according to a statement on the microblog of the investigating police. The poisonous plant is found in forests in parts of China…Long and Huang had met for lunch to discuss a business contract. Long, who ran a forestry company in Guangdong, wanted to lease a piece of woodland and develop it, the Nanfang Daily, the mouthpiece of the Guangdong Communist Party, reported Tuesday. They had eaten at the hotpot restaurant before, but this time the cat meat dish tasted a little different, the report said…Long, who ate more than the others, soon felt dizzy and sick and was taken to a hospital where he went into cardiac arrest and died, according to the Nanfang Daily. [AP]
The answer to BofA's problems?
Earlier today on CBNC, Jim Cramer pitched an idea that he thinks could end Bank of America’s problems: beg a billionaire to vouch for you. Just like Goldman Sachs got Warren Buffett and Citi has Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Bank of America needs someone to get out there and say to the markets, “It’s okay, these guys are cool.” Personally, Cramer likes the idea of Carlos Slim, telling his colleagues “You know we forget he’s the world’s richest man…if the guy wants to make a statement that says America is the place to invest, hey, Bank of America…would that not be an interesting match?” Having said that, Slim may not be into the idea and backups should be considered. The following represents a very rough short list of people, whether they be billionaires or individuals who simply inspire confidence either through charm or fear with whom we think Brian Moynihan should consider taking a lunch. Read more »
Carlos Slim has been crowned the richest man in the world, by Forbes, with a net worth of $74 billion. Bill Gates clocked in second place, with Warren Buffett backing up the trio. In related news, put your hands up for billionaires in general, whose total wealth rose 25% to $4.5 trillion! Here’s the Top 20: Read more »
Each year at Christmas, Paul Tudor Jones orchestrates a holiday spectacular on his front lawn, spreading cheer far and wide. People travel from all over to see the display (set to music) and the tradition, which last two full weeks, is much cherished among the residents of Greenwich. As discussed last week, Jones-A-Palooza 2010 is expected to “rival those of past years,” with the possibility for Rockettes, chicken and PTJ dressed as the big man. Anyone who goes will surely have their mind blown and all are welcome, free of charge because Tudor is a very generous man. And yet, according to one Greenwich elected official, he’s not giving enough when it comes to celebrating the birth of Christ. Read more »
Are you a man or woman of refined taste based in the UK? Have you been looking for a new bank and require the following:
* A grand opening that involve waitresses toting giant trays of ice cream, batons, “dancers sporting vermilion fright wigs parading on stilts,” white balloons embossed with the legend JOIN THE REVOLUTION!
* A pooch-friendly environment
* A disco-themed lobby
* A founder who lives in an “Italianate mansion in New Jersey”
* The Meredith Whitney stamp of approval
Vernon Hill knows. And he’s got just the place for you. Read more »
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SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
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