Kevin Koenig, a journalist at The Wall Street Journal, took a closer look at this curious phenomenon. He spoke to several billionaires who have taken to working in 'floating offices', including Jimmy John Liautaud, the proprietor of the sandwich chain Jimmy John's. Liautaud is something of a workaholic, as he finds time to work whether he is - and that includes any superyacht he happens to be stationed on. And he's not alone.
Germany now boasts a record 256 billionaires, the highest number since records began according to Manager Magazin. The total wealth of the 100 richest Germans has nearly tripled since 2001, reaching €758 billion, while the combined asset value of the 500 richest stands at €1.16 trillion. More than half of those on the list now possess fortunes exceeding €1 billion.
The world's 10 richest people lost nearly $70 billion on Friday as fresh fears of a global trade war rattled markets. The value of their stock holdings tumbled after President Donald Trump said the US would impose an additional 100% tariff on imports from China from November 1, and restrict its access to "any and all critical software," after China tightened export controls on rare earth elements and other key materials for advanced tech manufacturing.
As the housing crisis and wealth inequality emerge as top issues for voters in New York City, mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani has called for higher taxes on the rich to pay for services and famously suggested that billionaires should not exist. Mamdani's viral campaign handily defeated Andrew Cuomo, New York's former governor, in a Democratic primary earlier this year. As expected, billionaires and billionaire-owned companies such as Airbnb and DoorDash are now spending big to defeat Mamdani and influence the race.
Billionaires are often lauded in America, but some condemn them as evil simply for being billionaires. This raises the moral issue of whether a person can be morally good and a billionaire. The issue is whether, in general, you could be a billionaire and still plausibly be a good person. Proper resolution of this issue requires determining which moral theory (if any) is correct. But we can rely to some degree on our moral intuitions and some basic logic.
Parents have been making these judgy comments to each other forever--in the '90s it was about too much tv. And it's especially gross coming from a billionaire with a gaggle of nannies. Keeping kids engaged in activities and/or responding to 'I'm bored' 24/7 sounds exhausting when you don't have hired help to do it for you, and there's nothing wrong with a reasonable amount of screen time.
"My neighbors, my friends, my family, the people who are most deserving are going to be basically reverse Robin Hooded by these billionaires, and we can't be lining their pockets while we're cutting a trillion from Medicaid, SNAP, food assistance and other vital services," said Ashmu Murakami, Sunrise Movement.
"Aspirations to wealth can be positive, but aspiring billionaires risk losing their integrity if they don't choose their role models wisely amidst troubling headlines."