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How would you spend your first billion?

March 1st, 2008 Sarah - Alicia Ashman

Wanna read about how the other half (or, more accurately, the other top 1%) lives?

Then I would highly recommend the surprisingly interesting All the Money in the World: How the Forbes 400 Make–and Spend–Their Fortunes, by Peter Bernstein and Annalyn Swan.  Even if you don’t feel like reading it, it’s jam-packed with sidebars, charts, and lists of factoids such as:

• The percentage of wealth controlled by women on the list slipped from 16.4% in 1982 to 13.2% in 2006.  Of the thirteen richest women on the list over the last 25 years, only one didn’t inherit her money from a family or spouse (p. 7);
• In 2006, the average net worth of 400 members without a college degree exceeeded the average net worth of those with a degree by $2.8 billion (p. 31); and
• 46 men and 9 women who appeared on the Forbes 400 list in 2006 are reportedly unmarried (p. 268).

My favorite part about that last item is how the authors conclude their thought: “That, of course, doesn’t mean that they are looking for a partner; but perhaps some of them are.”  Leaving me with only one question: How did they know what I was thinking?!?!?

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction