Forbes: Tech’s really rich get richer, really
Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have cracked the top 5 in the latest Forbes 400 list [PDF] of the wealthiest Americans, each weighing in with $18.5 billion in wealth. They were 12th and 13th, respectively, last year.
Microsoft’s Big Bill still leads the list, of course, with a net worth of $59 billion. His pal Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway is No. 2 at $52 billion. Other tech notables in the top 20: Oracle’s Larry Ellison, No. 4; Michael Dell of — you guessed it — Dell, No. 8; and Paul Allen and Steven Ballmer of Microsoft fame, Nos. 11 and 16 respectively. Apple’s Steve Jobs is no. 56, with a relatively modest $5.7 billion.
Also on the list from Google: CEO Eric Schmidt, No. 48; senior vice president Omid Kordestani, No. 204; and director Kavitark Shriram, No. 271. Yahoo founders David Filo and Jerry Yang come in at No. 239 and 261.
So, is there such a thing as too much? “I think people should be inspired by this list, and not be resentful,” Forbes associate editor Matthew Miller told the Mercury News. “These people have been able to supply hundreds of thousands of jobs to Americans, if not millions. And they’re innovators. How would you and I listen to our music today without Steve Jobs?”
“..How would you and I listen to our music today without Steve Jobs?”
Why the old fashioned way! On CDs, tape, and MP3 players not made by Apple!
really now, MP3 players were here before Steve Jobs came on the seen. So soon we forget history!
I just missed being on the list again! I am getting pretty frustrated guys! I am at this for 30 years now, and I am still number 154,000,000 on the nation’s richest. If I can just make a billion or so in the next few months, I can probably make the list next year. Of course, that’s assuming my job doesn’t get outsourced.
yes, but the worth of Gates and Buffet are minus the $billions they’ve donated to charities so far.
I don’t believe I’ve heard of that much donated by Brin and Page.
Mr. Miller, what have you been smoking? Many would not consider Gates, Allen, and Ballmer to be “innovators,” but rather “copycat implementors” and “ruthless monopolists.”
Most of the jobs created by high-tech members of this list fall into two classes: highly paid technical workers in the USA and bottom-wage workers in Third World production factories. Some argue that this isn’t a good thing for all of us.
If I had to choose, I would still take the education and experience I received from my high school teachers over any product that these wealth-leaders produced. And we all know what high school teachers earn for their salary: beans.