Somehow, after browsing through Forbes' list of the world's
billionaires, a paltry million just doesn't seem like much
anymore. To really impress your friends, you've got to make at
least a thousand millions.
In our technology-mad age, there are plenty of ways to make
money. Bill Gates tops 'em all with his software fortune, but the
rest of the world isn't doing too badly with real estate, beer,
casinos, media, tires, salmon, sensors and Pachinko machines.
Where is the greatest concentration of the world's wealth? The
U.S. is still king with 135 billionaires in our database, but the
East is risingthere are 120 Asian billionaires. Europe is
holding steady with 106 billionaires thanks to pharmaceuticals,
retailing and financial services, but Latin America (40
billionaires) has a long way to go.