Top ten millionaires in the world


10. Michael Dell
Age: 34
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 4
Education: U. Texas
Worth: $16.5 Billion

Just barely squeaking in at number ten is the youngest
of all of our billionaires, the young pup who founded
Dell Computers. Mike dropped out of U. Texas at 19,
put up his BMW to get a business loan, and started
selling people PCs by mail order. The day his former
classmates were graduating, his sales had already hit
$70 million a year. Today, of course, he sells $2
million a day, and the company revenues are about $7.8
billion a year. He has passed IBM in annual sales, and
is closing in on industry leader Compaq. The b******.


9. Phillip F. Anschutz
Age: 59
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 3
Education: Kansas
Worth: $16.5 Billion

Phil is the kind of guy whose father was a rich oil
billionaire, but decided he didn't like the family
business. Phil preferred real estate and railroads,
and he still made a bundle. Rather than just being
born lucky (although we're sure that didn't hurt),
Anschutz is a savvy businessman. He has interests in
fiber optics companies such as Qwest Communications
International, LA sporting interests, huge cattle
ranches in Wyoming, and lots of downtown Denver real
estate interests. But let's face it: the biggest chunk
was inherited.


8. Amir Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Alsabah
Age: 77
Nationality: Kuwaiti
Worth: $17 Billion

The man's money is in oil, investments, property, and
the sweat of his people. And this is just what's left
over since we kicked Saddam Hussein out of the
neighborhood. Imagine the filthy stinkin' riches that
he had prior to the burning of thousands of his oil
wells. This is why we recommend Microsoft or oil baron
as the best way to becoming a billionaire. You're
born, you inherit oil fields, you live the easy life
in the Middle East. you just can't beat it.


7. Steven Anthony Ballmer
Age: 43
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 2
Education: Stanford and Harvard
Worth: $19.5 Billion

The first of the Microsoft Billionaires on our list,
Steve actually lived down the hall from Bill Gates at
Harvard, and is now the President and Chief Executive
Officer of Mr. Bill's little venture. Many
revere/blame him for the supposed monopoly Microsoft
Corp. now holds, because of his tenacity and amazing
business know-how. He joined the company in 1980 and
has held a number of positions, starting as Bill's
personal towel boy, and leading up to VP of Sales and
Support before becoming the Prez in '98. Ballmer was
appointed CEO of Microsoft on January 13, 2000. Not a
bad little gig.


6. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Age: 66
Nationality: Abu Dhabian
Worth: $20 Billion

Sheikh Zayed's home country of Abu Dhabi has grown
over the last half century into one of the richest in
the United Arab Emirates. Educated by local clerics
and later by wandering Bedouin tribesmen in the
desert, the Sheikh's defining achievement has been the
management of supply and distribution of water. This
is an important thing in the desert, so you can
imagine he is quite popular there. All of his money is
in oil, investments, vast property, and the sweat of
his people. And water. For the love of God, don't
forget the water.


5. King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
Age: 77
Nationality: Saudi Arabian
Marital Status: Married
Children: 1
Worth: $28 Billion

Born in Riyadh in 1923, the King has spent his life on
one diplomatic mission after another. He has also held
such posts as Minister of Education, Minister of the
Interior, and, of course, the King. He was present at
the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945, the
coronation of Queen Liz the second in 1953, and a
meeting with Richard Nixon in the U.S. in 1974 (taped
recordings of this meeting still exist to this day,
but no one knows where). He came to power in 1982, and
all of his money is in oil, investments, property, and
the sweat of his people (sound familiar?). All because
of the great defining factor of birth. Yes, birth and
dumb luck. Ya gotta love it.


4. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
Age: 53
Nationality: Bruneian
Marital Status: Married
Children: 10
Education: Sandhurst Royal Military Academy
Worth: $30 Billion

The 29th Sultan of Brunei was educated in his early
years by tutors and private institutions before
winging his way north to Britain. There, he entered
Sandhurst Royal Military Academy as an officer cadet.
The training seems to have paid off, as he is now
Sultan and Ruler of Brunei, as well as Prime Minister,
Defense Minister, Finance Minister, Religious
Figurehead, and Grand High Poobah. All elected
offices. Kidding! This guy can go to the bathroom and
still have a cabinet meeting. All of his money is in,
say it with me now, oil, gas, investments, and yes,
the ever-popular sweat of his people. Especially that
oil thing, which has made so many billionaires in the
Middle East. The illustrious Sultan also has two wives
and ten kids. So lets see. 6 jobs, 2 wives, 10 kids, 2
turtledoves, 1 dictatorship, and he's an avid polo
player. So much accomplished, and a mere 53 years old.


3. Paul Gardner Allen
Age: 46
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Single
Children: 0
Education: WSU dropout
Worth: $30 Billion

Another Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen is the buddy
who dropped out with Bill Gates to build the software
company that now holds a monopolistic stranglehold on
the world. Paul dropped out of Microsoft some time ago
to spend his time privately investing his money and
sipping pi?a coladas, but he still holds a stake in
the company. His current baby is Vulcan Ventures, with
which he pursues his dream of a "wired world" by
buying up cable operators and other technology-
related companies. It's not all boring tech stuff,
though. Paul was also smart enough to invest in sports
teams like the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle
Seahawks. Single guy, 30 billion, owns a couple sports
teams, knows Bill Gates personally. poor baby.


2. Warren Edward Buffet
Age: 68
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 3
Education: Columbia
Worth: $36 Billion

A distant second, Warren Buffet also has a quarter
century on Mr. Gates, so he's had lots of time to
build up his not-too-shabby cache of $36 billion.
Frankly, we don't know what he's been doing with his
time. apart from heading up investment conglomerate
Berkshire Hathaway, that is. Warren took over 30 years
ago, and the company has averaged a 25% annual rate of
return since. Strangely enough, Buffet's investment
style is conservative, leaning more to the long-term
buy. Warren owns about 40 percent of the company, and
at over $47,000 a share, it will be a while before
anyone buys him out. Much better to try to get in at
Microsoft, or strike oil, where you don't need money
up front.

And the richest man is:

1. William H. Gates III
Age: 43
Nationality: American
Martial Status: Married
Children: 2
Education: Harvard dropout
Worth: $90 Billion

We should all just face the fact that Bill Gates will
one day rule the world. By the time Windows 2015 comes
out, all will fear Bill's wrath. But you gotta admit
that it doesn't look like it went to his head; the
richest human on Earth, and he has the dorkiest
haircut money could buy. The son of a lawyer father
and teacher mother, Gates dropped out of preschool to
devote all of his time to inventing Microsoft with
chum Paul Allen, then just 3 years old. After drooling
all over the HVAC tubes, Bill decided to go back to
school for a few more years, eventually dropping out
of Harvard University to work on Microsoft. The rest,
as they all too frequently say, is history. Microsoft
became this huge international corporate behemoth, and
is currently fighting off anti-trust investigations
and accusations that it holds a monopoly. When Bill
rules the world, he's going to come down and fire
those federal court judges with extreme prejudice.
They'll never work on his planet again!

Gates relinquished his role as President of Microsoft
in 1998, and as CEO on January 13, 2000; both posts
are now held by Steve Ballmer. However, Bill remains
Chairman and "chief software architect" of the
company, as well as its largest shareholder. So they
still let him come to board meetings.

Mr. Bill once gave $17 Billion to charity, which makes
Ted Turner's paltry offering of $1 billion to the UN
look like chump change. He's also written a couple of
books and is heavily invested in biotechnology and
cellular and satellite technology. Investors, call
your brokers.

So to get onto our list of the Seven Habits of Highly
Effective Billionaires, you must: join Microsoft
(preferably early on), be an oil baron, drop out of
college, get married, have 3.1 kids, inherit lots of
money, and bleed your people dry. Tell your friends!