Wealth Report 2008

The Capgemini World Wealth Report was recently released. According to the report, the "high net worth population [has risen] to over 10 million, with assets reaching $40.7 trillion, as average HNWI wealth surpasses $4 million for first time."

View the report.

Net Household Wealth Slid 2.9% in Quarter

In the 6.6.08 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Kelly Evans reports that "Stock-market losses and falling home values in the first three months of this year led to the largest quarterly drop in the net wealth of American households since 2002."

Read this article.

Wealthiest Angelenos

Increasingly, rich foreigners are making a home in LA. "Whether they're building Persian Palaces in Beverly Hills or investing $100 million in downtown skyscrapers, the evidence of foreign money is all over L.A." Also in the special report is the Business Journal's annual ranking of Wealthiest Angelenos. Although a good deal of money has been vaporized, there are still 39 billionaires who live there.

Read the 5/19/08 Los Angeles Business Journal special report on the wealthiest "Angelenos" or directly navigate to the rankings.

California Boasts Most Millionaires

According to a new survey from research company TNS, and reported in the 5/5/08 Wall Street Journal "Wealth Report," California and other Western states had seven of the top 10 spots, with California dominating. New York rounded out the bottom with two spots. Click here to view counties with millionaires by rank - note that TNS defines millionaire households as those with at least $1 million in net worth, not including primary residence.

Slow Growth in Millionaire Population

Robert Frank, from the Wall Street Journal's "Wealth Report," writes about how the wealthy are in an economic slump. "According to Chicago-based Spectrum Group, the number of millionaires in the U.S. grew a meager 2% in 2007. That compares with 8% growth in 2006, 11% in 2005 and 21% in 2004."

Read more of this 3.12.08 report.

World's Millionaires Have $50 Trillion

The Wall Street Journal's "Wealth Report" reports that, according to a study by Oliver Wyman, total wealth held by the world's financial millionaires - those with $1 million or more in investible assets - has grown to $50 trillion and that wealth is expected to grow 50% over the next five years to $75 trillion.

Read the 4.1.08 Wall Street Journal article.

The Decline of Inherited Money

The 1.14.2008 Wall Street Journal "Wealth Report" provides data regarding the claim that "inheritance is not the main driver of today's wealth." Some of the datapoints include:

1. According to a study of Federal Reserve data conducted by NYU professor Edward Wolff, for the nation's richest 1%, inherited wealth accounted for only 9% of their net worth in 2001, down from 23% in 1989. (The 2001 number was the latest available.)

2. According to a study by Prince & Associates, less than 10% of today's multi-millionaires cited "inheritance" as their source of wealth.

3. A study by Spectrem Group found that among today's millionaires, inherited wealth accounted for just 2% of their total sources of wealth.

Click here to read the article.

New online tool helps prospect for wealthy clients

NOZA offers unique glimpse into individualized giving patterns.

Read this 12/10 Investment News article by Davis D. Janowski.

Mr. Gates Queries His Peers

The Gates Foundation backs survey of wealthiest to boost giving. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is co-funding a study that is believed to be the largest and broadest survey of the American rich ever conducted. The questions will target American households worth $25 million or more, and the study aims to have at least 1,000 respondents -- a massive sample size for people of such a high net-worth level.

Read this 11.09.07 "Wealth Report" article by Robert Frank from the Wall Street Journal.

Age of Riches: After Succeeding, Young Tycoons Try, Try Again

Interesting article on the young rich. "The Internet, a low-overhead medium with a global reach, has greatly accelerated the wealth creation phenomenon, producing a larger breed of multimillionaires even younger and richer than in the past."

Read the full 10.28.07 New York Times article by Gary Rivlan.

O'Neal Ranks No. 5 on Payout List, Group Says

Stan O'Neal got the fifth-largest exit-pay package for a U.S. executive when he left Merrill Lynch & Co. with $161.5 million in securities and retirement benefits, according to research group Corporate Library.

Read this 11.2.07 update from Bloomberg.com

Age of Riches: Bye, Bye B-School

As more Americans have become abundantly wealthy, young people are recalculating old assumptions about success. Is what sets the new crowd apart is the "need for speed and a thirst for instant riches?"

Read this 9.16.07 New York Times article by Louise Story.

The Revolution of Chairman Li

Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, is shaking up philanthropy in China.

Read the full 11.2.07 Wall Street Journal article by Kate Linebaugh and Jane Spencer.

Wealth Report: Mukesh Ambani Becomes World's Richest Man

India's Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, has become the world's richest man.

Read this 10.29.07 article about Mr. Ambani and view a list of the five richest people in the world on the Stock Market Views website.

For Those Born Rich, Lessons in How to Stay That Way

Julie Bick, from the New York Times, reports on what some are doing to prepare their children for the riches coming their way.

Read the full 10.28.07 New York Times article.

Gates studies the Rich

From the Wall Street Journal 10.31.2007 blog.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced yesterday that it's funding a new survey of the rich, called "The Joys and Dilemmas of Wealth." The study, co-funded by Wachovia's Calibre division, will be conducted by Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. It will poll people worth $25 million or more, with a "considerable portion" of respondents worth $100 million or more.

Click here to read more.

The Triumph Of "Trickle Up" Economics

The Internal Revenue Service recently released its report on 2005 individual income taxes. The headline is that the super-rich were even more rich than in any year since the IRS first had comparable data in 1986.

Read this CBS News October 18, 2007 story. Read the summary of latest federal individual income tax data.

The Measures of Wealth

This New York Times piece explores the dichotomy between the rich -- and the not so rich -- in New York City. An interesting read.

Click here to read the full 10.14.07 article.

Hedge Fund Bonuses

According to a New York Times article, cash bonuses are expected to rise between 1 percent and 9 percent this year from last, according to a study conducted by an executive search firm, Glocap Search, Institutional Investors News and Lipper HedgeWorld.

Read the full 9.11.07 article from the New York Times.

Income Inequality Widens

An article by Greg Ip from the Wall Street Journal on how the boom in financial markets parallels the rise in share for the wealthiest Americans.

The richest Americans' share of national income has hit a postwar record, surpassing the highs reached in the 1990s bull market, and underlining the divergence of economic fortunes blamed for fueling anxiety among American workers.

Widening Gap: The wealthiest Americans' share of national income has hit a postwar record, surpassing the highs reached in the 1990s bull market, and highlighting the divergence of economic fortunes blamed for fueling anxiety among American workers.

Click here to read this 10.12.07 article.