Every month The Observer receives a copy of Bloomberg Markets magazine. This month, a glance at the cover story of the January 2012 issue, which touts "Advice from Billionaires, Stock Pickers and Economists," produced an overwhelming sensation of déjà vu. We looked at our back issues and had a revelation: the word "billionaire" is to the cover of Bloomberg Markets what "sex" is to Cosmopolitan. Read More
Observer readers may have lately noticed a new column by the Tuscan-born Four Seasons owner Julian Niccolini, who has referred to himself as a "restaurateur, actor, beekeeper, journalist and winemaker." So far, Mr. Niccolini has written just like he runs his restaurant: with well-combed, neatly pinstriped, slightly demented glee. This reporter spent time with Read More
On Oct. 28, Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets, threw a lavish launch party in Chelsea to celebrate the arrival of Snob magazine in New York. The event was complete with foie gras and a performance by jazz songstress Cassandra Wilson. Some have criticized Prokhorov for bringing a Russian-language title Read More
In a rant of ever-increasing craziness, Charlie Munger, the 86-year-old Berkshire Hathaway billionaire who squirms at the thought of charitable giving, says everyday Joes should be grateful for the 2008 government bank bailouts.
Bloomberg reports that Munger, speaking at the University of Michigan last week, said that people who're suffering in the current economic Read More
As Oprah Winfrey moves into the next phase of her career with the launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network, which debuts at the beginning of next year, she is taking her net worth—some $2.4 billion—and investments more seriously.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Ms. Winfrey has hired Peter Adamson to manage her billions.
Mr. Adamson Read More
Even though Michael Jaharis moved up 276 spots on this year's list of the world's billionaires, Forbes complained in March that the 81-year-old's $1.9 billion fortune had merely stayed flat. Maybe Mr. Jaharis took the magazine's mercilessness to heart, because city records show that the pharmaceuticals mogul just spent a mere $6.7 million Read More
When Manhattan real estate was at its bleakest late last year, there were a few weeks when it genuinely seemed that the only New Yorkers buying up expensive apartments were the brood of billionaires: Sheridan Mitchell Lorenz (daughter of a Texas natural-gas billionaire), Alice R. Gottesman (daughter of a Warren Buffett pal) and Roy Judelson Read More
