The World’s Richest People and How They Spend Their Money

As per observations in the third month of the year 2013, Forbes magazine reports that the number of billionaires has reached a high of 1,426 individuals worth a sum total of $5.4 trillion, with USA carrying the lion’s share of 442 and Asia following closely with 386 rich men and women.

The top five in the list of the very rich include the 73 year old $73 billion Mexican telecoms mogul, Carlos Slim Helu. Carlos is followed by the 57 year old $67 billion Microsoft computer philanthropist American, Bill Gates. The 76 year old Amancio Ortega in Spain comes third with his $57 billion Zara empire.

The 82 year old American, Warren Buffett comes fourth with his $53.5 billion Berkshire Hathaway estate. The 68 year old American Oracle boss, Larry Ellison is number five with $43 billion business empire.

Sources report that only 5 of the total number of world billionaires remain single and unmarried, therefore, most eligible. It seems like money loves family. Ladies and gentlemen, you are free to send your proposals. Who wouldn’t like to marry a billionaire?

Up for grabs, lies a piece of sandy beach in California by the name Carbon Beach, where these billionaires scramble to pay $200,000 for each square foot of sand. Sand here seems to provide the much needed comfort, solace and tranquility instead of lush greenery as preferred by many ordinary investors.

Most of the wealth gotten by these billionaires spans across a wide range of economic fields such as technology, manufacturing, oil, real estate, minerals and sometimes, industrial or monopolistic ventures. It seems like no boundaries exist as to where money will come from, so long as the investment is profitable.

After discovering the amount of money generated by teams in various sporting activities, many billionaires have started targeting teams as cash cows. The rich often buy with a view to reaping big from the purchase. There are of course those who have a higher propensity to purchase for leisure, a streak that commoners view as bordering on extravagance.
SPENDING MONEY

Notable expenditures registered among the rich include the following items among many others:

Fred Deluca ($2.6 billion) owns Subway restaurants in the USA. He is aged 65. Fred borrowed $1,000 from his family and friends to start a a submarine sandwich shop in Connecticut. Out of this venture came up the world’s largest chain of restaurants opportunely named “Subway”, generating a revenue of $18.1 billion by the year 2012. Although Subway doesn’t own a single location, it gathers 8% of franchisee revenue from each outlet. A brilliant way of making a continuous flow of cash after mooting a business idea. who would ever imagine people would want a bite in the busy subway? So long as men and women carry empty stomachs, food will always find a ready market in response to the laws of demand and supply.

With so much money in their bank accounts, one cannot help wondering how some of this money is spent. A brief research restricted to five items reveals some habits that are worth noting. While a few billionaires prefer to live a simple life, others over-extend themselves. I observed that quite a bit of their money goes into at least five of the items listed below:

There has been a tendency among the very rich to target prime property in real estate, which drives the value of land very high, making some regions unaffordable to common citizens. The Wall Street Journal reports that most wealthy men and women prefer to own more than two places they can call home. The more an individual owns such homes, the better and more secure they feel. The Vancouver Ethiopian Blog reports that, Bill Gates lives in a large 66, 000 square feet of a mansion, while Carlos Helu has maintained a modest abode for four decades without shifting.

The wealthy seem to have strong ties to good health and their own general wellbeing. Talk of loving yourself. A lot of money is spent in hotel events, treatment sports, health spas and holiday resorts where they recuperate in seclusion and far away from public scrutiny.