Vladimir Putin Again Tops Forbes List Of The Most Powerful People In The World

1. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
2. Barack Obama, President of the US
3. Xi Jinping, President of China
4. Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church
5. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
6. Janet Yellen, Chair, Federal Reserve System
7. Bill Gates, Co-chair, Gates Foundation
8. Mario Draghi, President of European Central Bank
9. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google
10. David Cameron, UK Prime Minister
11. Abdullah bin Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia
12. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
13. Li Keqiang, Premier of China
14. Carlos Slim Helu,  Chairman of América Móvil
15. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
16. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
17. Francois Hollande, President of France
18. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
19. Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah of Iran
20. Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil
21. Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric
22. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
23. Michael Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg
24. Charles Koch & David Koch, Koch Industries
25. Timothy Cook, CEO of Apple

See the full list of 100.

Forbes: 7 Billionaires Are Openly LGBT

Forbes reports that seven of the world's billionaires are openly LGBT.

With a combined net worth of nearly $16 billion, the select group of LGBT ten-figure fortunes includes media mogul David Geffen, PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel and Hyatt hotel beneficiary Jennifer Pritzker, one of the Pritzker family’s 11 billionaires. In August 2013, Jennifer became the first and only transgender billionaire in the world when she announced she would be identifying herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings. A retired army lieutenant colonel, she is CEO of private wealth management firm Tawani Enterprises in Chicago and has a personal net worth of $1.8 billion. “This change will reflect the beliefs of her true identity that she has held privately and will now share publicly,” a statement in Crain’s Chicago Business explained. Among the openly-gay hyper-wealthy are Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, the duo behind fashion power house Dolce & Gabbana. The retail-rich pair are joined by Michael Kors, who became a billionaire this year. Some of these businessmen and women have used their fortunes to advocate for gay rights. Jon Stryker, heir to the Stryker Corp. medical equipment family fortune, is one of the world’s most prolific donors to LGBT charities.

The seven listed above represent 0.4% of Forbes' list of 1645 billionaires worldwide.

Forbes Names Vladimir Putin The Most Powerful Person In The World

The Daily News reports:

The leader of the free world is playing second fiddle to Vladimir Putin. The Russian autocrat knocked President Obama off the top spot in Forbes’ fifth annual ranking of “The World’s Most Powerful People.” Putin got the honor by outfoxing Obama by granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, who has been spilling U.S. spying secrets, said Forbes. Also, it was Putin who scored a diplomatic coup — not Obama — by getting Syria to hand over their chemical weapons to avert threatened U.S. missile strikes. “Putin has solidified his control over Russia, while Obama's lame duck period has seemingly set in earlier than usual for a two-term president — latest example: the government shutdown mess,” wrote Forbes writer Caroline Howard.

President Obama topped the list in 2009, 2011, and 2012. In first place in 2010 was then Chinese leader Hu Jintao. Finishing this year just outside the top ten are tech leaders Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, and Tim Cook.  Full list here.

Forbes Issues Updated Billionaires List

Forbes writes:

The combined wealth of the Forbes’ 2013 ranking of the richest people in America is $2 trillion, up from $1.7 trillion in 2012 and the highest ever, due in part to the strength of both the U.S. stock and real estate markets. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is a staggering $5 billion, the highest to date, up from $4.2 billion last year. Bill Gates retains the top spot on the Forbes 400 for the twentieth straight year, at $72 billion. Up $6 billion from 2012, Mr. Gates is once again the world’s richest person, having passed Mexico’s Carlos Slim in May. Warren Buffett, #2, is the biggest dollar gainer this year at $58.5 billion, up $12.5 billion from last year. Larry Ellison (#3), worth $41 billion, is the same as last year; he is the only one in the Top 10 who did not add to his fortune. Mark Zuckerberg was the second biggest gainer at $9.6 billion. He returns to the Top 20 (#20) at $19 billion after dropping to #36 last year, while Carl Icahn is back in the Top 20 (#18) for the first time since 2008.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's wealth increased by $6B just this year. Another interesting note: "There are 48 women on the list, including retired Army lieutenant colonel and heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune Jennifer Pritzker (#327), formerly known as James Pritzker and the first transgender billionaire." Homocon PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel ranks at #314 with $1.6B.

Highest Paid Celebrities Of 2013

From the annual ranking just issued by Forbes:

Madonna‘s latest album, MDNA, was a flop. Her 12th studio album, Madonna sold fewer than 1 million copies of MDNA in the U.S. and the singles, like “Give Me All Your Luvin,” failed to impress on the pop music scene. But the tour that the Material Girl launched to go along with her new album was a spectacular success. Fans didn’t flock to stadium and spend upwards of $100 per ticket to hear Madonna’s latest stuff. They went to hear hits like “Vogue,” “Like a Virgin” and “Lucky Star.” The tour grossed $305 million and earned her the Top Touring Award at the Billboard Music Awards. Add to that strong merchandise sales, a clothing line, fragrance and investments in companies like Vita Coco and Madonna tops our list of the Highest Earning Celebrities. We estimate the pop star brought in $125 million between June 2012 and June 2013. That’s more money than Madonna has ever earned in the time we’ve been doing our Celebrity 100 list. The closest she came to $125 million was in 2009 when she earned $110 million. Madonna’s success, at age 55, just goes to show the incredible power of a successful music career.

1. Madonna — $125 million
2. Steven Spielberg — $100 million 
3. Simon Cowell — $95 million 
4. E.L. James — $95 million
5. Howard Stern — $95 million 
6. James Patterson — $91 million 
7. Glenn Beck — $90 million
8. Michael Bay — $82 million 
9. Jerry Bruckheimer — $80 million 
10. Lady Gaga — $80 million
11. Tyler Perry — $78 million 
12. Tiger Woods — $78 million 
13. Oprah Winfrey — $77 million 
14. Robert Downey Jr. — $75 million
15. Dr. Phil McGraw — $72 million 
16. Roger Federer — $71 million
17. Dick Wolf — $70 million
18. Rush Limbaugh — $66 million 
18. Toby Keith — $65 million
20. Mark Burnett — $63 million

Forbes Issues 2013 Billionaires List

According to Forbes Magazine, there are presently 1342 billionaires in the world. Other notables on the list: Michael Bloomberg (#13, $27B), Jeff Bezos (#19, $25B), Sergey Brin (#21, $23B), George Soros (#30, $19B), Mark Zuckerberg (#66, $13B), Rupert Murdoch (#91, $11B), Giorgio Armani (#131, $8B),  Donald Trump (#423, $3B),  Oprah Winfrey (#503, $3B), and Peter Thiel (#931, $1.6B).

The World's Highest Paid Musicians

Forbes has posted its annual ranking of the estimated 2012 incomes for the world's highest-paid musicians. Here's their top ten.

1. Dr Dre - $110M
2. Roger Waters - $88M
3. Elton John - $80M
4. U2 - $78M
5. Take That - $68M
6. Bon Jovi - $60M
7. Britney Spears - $58M
8. Paul McCartney - $57M
9. Taylor Swift - $57M
10. Justin Bieber - $55M

Forbes notes that the revenue comes from music sales, merchandising, touring, and (especially in Dr Dre's case) from businesses owned by the performers. (Via Andrew Sullivan)

America's Most Expensive Zip Codes

According to Forbes Magazine, the Upper East Side's 10065 zip code is the most expensive place to live in the United States, with a median home price of over $6.5M.  All of the top ten are in New York or California, with the exception of Alpine, northern New Jersey's hip-hop studded home to Sean Combs, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Russell Simmons, and Chris Rock.

Billionaires Are More Billionaire-y

Forbes has issued its annual list of the richest Americans and notes that things are going fantastically well for the nation's billionaires.

A big stock market rally, a rebound in the real estate market, and rising values in the art market helped pump up the net worth of these 400 billionaires by 13%, Forbes said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is among those with more dough, jumping to tenth place from the No. 12 spot with a net worth of $25 billion. Gates alone was worth $7 billion more than he was last year. Berkshire Hathaway head and renown investor Warren Buffett again ranked No. 2 on the list, with his net worth climbing by the same amount to $46 billion. Larry Ellison, head of software maker Oracle, remained in the No. 3 spot, but posted the biggest gain in wealth on the list, with his net worth rising by $8 billion to $41 billion. Two-thirds of the list’s members saw their wealth grow over the past year to an average $4.2 billion, Forbes said.

Billionaires Get Richer In "Tough" Times

Bill Gates once agin tops Forbes' list of the nation's richest people. The wealthiest New Yorker is Tea Party puppeteer David Koch (above), who is worth $25 billion and with his brother is tied for the fourth wealthiest person in America. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is second in New York and twelfth nationally with a worth of $19.5 billion. Almost all of the billionaires on this year's list are worth more than last year. Times are tough.

Forbes Issues 2011 Billionaires List

Forbes Magazine has issued this year's list of the world's richest people. The number of billionaires grew by 199 in 2010.

Mexico's Carlos Slim expanded his lead as the world's richest man, adding $20.5 billion to his net worth in the past year, for a total fortune of $74 billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, now co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is second with a total worth of $56 billion. Despite Apple's leaps in value the past year, CEO Steve Jobs is still only No. 110 on the list, worth a comparatively more modest $8.3 billion. By February, Apple had grown to be worth $100 billion more than Microsoft. Eight of the world's billionaires this year are 30 years old or younger, and half of them got rich off of popular social networking site Facebook.

Tea Party kingpins David and Charles Koch are tied at #18, with a combined net worth of $44B. GOProud backer Peter Thiel lands this year at #833.

Where Are People Moving?

Using 2008 IRS data, Forbes Magazine has created a fascinating interactive map showing which cities are gaining or losing populations and where people are coming from/going to. Detroit, Los Angeles, and Miami appear to be suffering the greatest exoduses, with New York City remaining fairly unchanged. Red lines are outbound, black lines are inbound. You can click on every county in the country and see its changes.

Merkel Über Alles

Forbes has published their annual list of the most powerful women in the world. German Chancellor Angela Merkel tops the list for the second year in a row, but Condoleeza Rice falls to #4. Oprah's at #21, Hillary at #25, Nancy Pelosi at #26. Rankings are calculated based on a composite of visibility (based on press mentions) and economic impact (based on a complex formula of job title and company sales or assets.) Here's the rest of the top ten:

1. Angela Merkel - Chancellor, Germany
2. Wu Yi - Vice Premier, China
3. Ho Ching -CEO, Temasek Holdings, Singapore
4. Condoleeza Rice - Secretary of State, U.S.
5. Indra K. Nooyi - CEO, PepsiCo, U.S
6. Sonia Gandhi - President, National Congress Party, India
7. Cynthia Carroll - CEO, Anglo American Co., U.K.
8. Patricia A. Woertz - Chairman, Archer Daniels Midland, U.S.
9. Irene Rosenfeld -Chairman/CEO, Kraft Foods, U.S.
10. Patricia Russo - CEO, Alcatel-Lucent, U.S.