All articles tagged with #billionaires
Elon Musk has regained his status as the world's only trillionaire following an 8% surge in SpaceX stock. His net worth now exceeds $1.04 trillion, a figure so large that he could give every person on Earth $90 and still remain the wealthiest individual by a margin of $1 billion over Google co-founder Larry Page.
In 2026, only tech billionaires are seeing significant wealth gains, driven by AI infrastructure spending and strong stock performance in semiconductor and energy sectors, while other sectors lag.
Daily Kos published a political cartoon by Drew Sheneman on October 2, 2026, titled 'The boy who cried socialism.' The piece uses the fable of the boy who cried wolf to critique current political discourse regarding wealth inequality and socialist policies. The publication also highlighted its ongoing financial challenges, urging readers to support its independent, paywall-free model through donations.
The second episode of South Park's 29th season, titled 'Billionaire Weenietown,' satirizes the rise of tech billionaires and AI data centers. The episode features Butters Stotch protesting the construction of data centers in his backyard, which are represented by literal, sentient penises. The show critiques the public behavior of the wealthy, including their reliance on podcasts and social media, while also addressing anti-vaccine sentiments and the influence of AI. The episode concludes with a post-credits scene involving Donald Trump and a talking penis.
The Forbes 400 ranking of Georgia’s wealthiest residents for 2026 shows Arthur Blank at No. 99 with $13.2 billion, up from last year, while the Cathy family falls to No. 116 with $12 billion. Other Georgians on the list include Jim Kennedy ($7.6B, No. 224), John Brown ($6.9B, No. 251), Gary Rollins and family ($5.8B, No. 293), Dan Kurzuis ($5.9B, No. 306), and Ben Chestnut ($5B, No. 343), with nine Georgians total on the Forbes 400 this year.
A Public Policy Institute poll of 1,103 likely California voters shows Prop 40, a 5% one-time wealth tax on billionaires, at 52% in support vs. 46% opposed (2% undecided); however, two Brin-funded measures—Prop 41 (51%) and Prop 42 (54%)—would block or nullify the tax if they receive more votes. Gov. Newsom opposes the billionaire tax, and critics warn it could cost jobs and prompt relocation by the ultra-wealthy.
Fortune profiles Olivia Ferney, founder of Top Tier Travel, who says billionaires are easier to serve than millionaires, shifting her agency to a $100,000 annual fee with a $1 million yearly travel minimum. The gatekeeping model targets ultra‑rich clients (and their heirs) who seek scarce items and bespoke trips, aided by Ferney’s social‑media presence; she expects the Great Wealth Transfer to sustain demand as younger heirs come online.
Forbes’ 2026 Forbes 400 ranks the 400 wealthiest Americans; the top 20 account for about half of the total roughly $8 trillion in wealth, while 590 would-be members are left out as the entry threshold rises to $4.4 billion; 34 newcomers joined the list; Elon Musk stays No. 1 with about $908 billion, Jeff Bezos No. 2, and the top 50 list includes Page, Dell, Brin, Zuckerberg and others, highlighting continued wealth concentration.
Forbes' 45th Forbes 400 features 18 Illinois residents, led by Lukas Walton with a $44.4 billion net worth (No. 24 in the U.S.). Elon Musk remains the wealthiest overall at $908 billion, as the list highlights a widening U.S. wealth gap and welcomes 34 newcomers—many tied to artificial intelligence. The Illinois cohort includes notable figures from Medline, Uline, Hyatt heirs, and Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto among others.
Two San Antonio–based members of the H-E-B family—Charles Butt and Eleanor Butt Crook—made Forbes’ 2026 list of America’s richest, with estimated net worths of about $11.3 billion and $4.7 billion, highlighting Texas’ growing share of the nation’s billionaires.
Spencer Pratt criticized Andrew Garfield for railing against billionaires in connection with his film The Uprising, arguing it’s hypocritical coming from a billionaire-backed industry star who benefits from wealth and wealthy backers. The piece notes Garfield’s remarks about billionaires, mentions his role portraying billionaires (and other celeb anti-wealth commentary), and dismisses anti-wealth rhetoric from millionaires as ineffective and hypocritical.
Andrew Garfield says billionaires should be scared by The Uprising, a Paul Greengrass‑directed drama about a Ploughman-led rebellion against King Richard II that echoes modern power abuses and calls for justice; Garfield hopes the film serves as a wake-up call and healing, with the movie arriving in theaters Sept. 10.
Andrew Garfield says The Uprising should galvanize audiences and, if billionaires watch it, they should be scared shitless; the Paul Greengrass-directed Robin Hood–inspired drama about a peasant uprising debuts Sept. 10 in the US.
Andrew Garfield drew swift backlash at a Los Angeles screening of his film The Uprising after saying he hopes any billionaires who watch it will be scared stiff, prompting mockery about wealth and Hollywood. The historical drama, which centers on England's 1381 Peasants' Revolt, has Garfield and director Paul Greengrass facing scrutiny online for wealth-related irony, with several commentators and fans poking fun at the wealth involved in backing blockbuster films. No comment was provided by Garfield or Greengrass at the time of the report.
AI-driven investments propelled 2025’s billionaire wealth to a record $15.1 trillion and the number of billionaires to 3,795 (up 8.2%), with 29 super-billionaires holding $4.1 trillion (27% of total). North America leads with 1,337 billionaires, aided by AI activity in tech markets; those investing at least $30 million in AI outperformed non-AI peers by about 23% in market-cap growth from 2024–2025, although fortunes remain volatile due to tech stock swings (e.g., Musk, Ellison). Altrata notes 150 top AI-linked companies shaping billionaire wealth.