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Who got the most bang for the buck?
Asimov sponsors the "Asimov Debates" at the American Museum of Natural History, and they draw a crowd of thousands. The debates cover exotic topics in science.
The Queen of England and 007 have a symbiotic relationship. The Queen has the money and 007 can get stuff done. It's a credit to the Queen that she bigly bankrolls 007. It's also a credit to the queen that 007 works for her. 007 doesn't work for just anyone.
Political offices are often purchased, and the money tends to go to oligarchs instead of the worthy. For example, money tends to flow to media executives. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin set an example by donating lavishly to the University of Wisconsin and was rewarded with a senate seat.
The average spending required to win political office is:
Winner U.S. Total
Million $ Million $
U.S. President 1200 2400
U.S. Senate 25 2500
U.S. House 2 2000
State Governor 10 1000
State Senate .2 400
State House .08 700
This tells you how much to demand for each office.
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For a philanthropist, we can ask: What fraction of your wealth did you give away? as well as the worthiness of the recipients. In the era before the French Revolution, the French aristocracy was arrogant, much like the modern Democratic party. It bit them in the ass.
The French aristocracy had an opportunity. They were rich and they could have spent their money wisely, in a way that gains goodwill from the people. They could have spent their money on a batsuit and a batmobile, and they didn't. Lame!
A modern billionaire could use his money to build an Iron Man suit and be a superhero.
What should billionaires spend money on? Think there might be a conspiracy? The oligarchy is bourgeouis with their 1700 private jets at Davos. There is an epidemic of bourgeois, including the oligarchy, Taxing the rich doesn't work. They're good at hiding money. Instead coax them to spend money on your community. Treat them like celebrities if they do. Billionaire shaming. There are good billionaires and bad billionaires. Good billionaires turbocharge communities and bad billionaires poison them. A community should coax good billionaires to move in and be villigant in excluding bad billionaires. A wise billionaire could use his money to become a celebrity and be beloved by the community.
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Prince Ranier of Monaco chose a hollywood wife, and he chose wisely. Prince Harry chose poorly.
The French Aristocracy of the 18th century was arrogant and it cost them their heads.
The British Monarchy gracefully instituted a smooth transition to democracy, and they got to keep their heads.
The American aristocracy of the 21st century is arrogant.
Robespierre created a world of guillotines, and Robespierre got guillotined.
George Carlin: The oligarchs own this place. It's a big club, and you aren't in it.
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Academic competitions
A measure of the quality of a rich person is the quality of the jobs he produces. Elon Musk creates great engineering jobs whereas the Waltons and Wal Mart create low-end jobs.
Dog park
Car Wine Yacht
Tax breaks can be given for worthy causes, for examle a science megaproject. Some examples might be:
Higgs factory collider, a circular electron collider Electron linear collider Telescopoe for asteroid fining Radio telescopes and the search for intelligent life Gravitational wave observatory
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The wealthy tend to migrate in the direction of low tax, and this is happening in the United States.
Billionaires are a good thing to have around.
California 165 Michigan 10 Missouri 6 New York 118 Pennsylvania 10 Virginia 5 Texas 56 Colorado 10 Florida 58 Tennessee 10 Massachusetts 17 Wyoming 9 Illinois 17 Wisconsin 9 Connecticut 17 Arizona 9 Georgia 13 New Jersey 8 Washington 12 Maryland 8 Nevada 11 Ohio 6
Billionaires tend to cluster in cities.
New York City 98 Palm Beach 10 Oklahoma City 3 San Francisco 41 Boston 10 Racine 3 Los Angeles 27 Seattle 8 Omaha 3 Dallas 17 Las Vegas 7 Cleveland 3 Atlanta 13 Phoenix 6 Potomac MD 3 Houston 12 Naples 5 Brookline, MA 3 Greenwich 11 Jackson 4 Cary, NC 3 Chicago 11 Denver 4 Philadelphia 3
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Billion $
Jeff Bezos 131 Amazon
Bill Gates 96 Microsoft
Warren Buffett 83 Berkshire Hathaway
Larry Ellison 62 Oracle
Mark Zuckerberg 62 Facebook
Larry Page 60 Alphabet
Charles Koch 50 Koch Industries
David Koch 50 Koch Industries
Sergey Brin 50 Alphabet
Michael Bloomberg 49 Bloomberg LP
Jim Walton 45 Walmart
S. Walton 44 Walmart
Alice Walton 44 Walmart
Steve Balmer 41 Microsoft, LA Clippers
Sheldon Adelson 35 Las Vegas Sands Corp
Rupert Murdoch >10 Fox News
Michael Dell >10 Dell
Elon Musk >10 Tesla
Carl Icahn >10
Charles Schwab >10
George Lucas >4
George Soros >4
Steve Spielberg >4
Gordon Moore >4
Ross Perot >4
Bob Kraft >4
Tom Steyer
John Arnold
Donald Trump
Mark Cuban
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Percentile Wealth Fracion of total wealth
M$
1 10400000 .35
2 7000000
3 4500000
4 2600000
5 2200000 .62
10 1187000 .73
20 499000 .85
Billion $
Apple 780
Alphabet 749
Microsoft 736
Amazon 728
Berkshire H. 450
Facebook 376
Johnson & J. 346
JPMorgan Chase 325
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