Silvio Berlusconi sure acts like the Teflon politician. Despite an October 2012 conviction by a Milan court for tax fraud and still pending charges against him for having sex with a minor (he denies the allegations), the billionaire announced in December that he plans to run for prime minister of Italy again -- a post from which he resigned in November 2011 amid plunging approval ratings and one he has held three times. Berlusconi started his career as a singer on cruise ships and built a fortune through holding company Fininvest that includes stakes in Mediaset, Italy's largest media company; financial services company Mediolanum (founded by Italian billionaire Ennio Doris); Mondadori, one of the country's largest publishing houses; movie maker Medusa and popular soccer team A.C. Milan. Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina chairs Fininvest. A rise in the price of Mediolanum stock lifted Berlusconi's net worth by $300 million over the past year. [...] more
Thomas Paine wrote, "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.” Similarly, when we are planning for our family’s posterity, we ought to remember that mom and dad’s management skills and financial discipline are not hereditary. For this reason, professional management of the family firm -- whether an operating business or an aggregation of investments [...] more>>
The winter issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives includes a mighty blast by the witty, some say caustic liberal economist Robert Solow, who calls Harvard economist and George W. Bush's chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Mankiw's mighty defense of the unequal rewards to the one percent full [...] [...] more>>
Seems our friend the law of supply and demand is up to its old tricks. [...] more>>
With a net worth estimated to be at least $10 billion, Ka Yee (Carrie) Wong Perrodo and her family are set to be one of the wealthiest new entrants to the Forbes list of Global Billionaires this year. [...] more>>
Super Bowl XLVIII went off without a hitch and now every northern city wants its shot. We break down the best candidates. [...] more>>
GoPro is going public. The San Mateo, Calif.-based action camera company announced today in a press release that it had filed confidential initial public offering documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell its common stock. In order to file for a confidential IPO under the JOBS Act, a company [...] [...] more>>
Although they divorced in 2007 after seven years of marriage, actors Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe shared more than just their two beautiful children – they also still owned a pricey Los Angeles investment property together! Now, that is no more. They just sold their shared 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 2,664 square feet, duplex for $1,440,000 [...] [...] more>>
Former SAC Capital portfolio manager Mathew Martoma was found guilty of insider trading after failing to settle with federal investigators, netting another victory for US attorney Preet Bharara, putting billionaire Steve Cohen in the spotlight. [...] more>>
