Gary E. Marsella www.garyemarsella.com Forbes article of October 10, 2005.
October 13, 2005

I always have a special interest in reading about Forbes’s 400 richest people since I personally know two of those individuals but I do not want to disclose names other than to say that they are two fine and honest individuals. What qualifications do these billionaires have in common with each other? Many have come up the ladder the “hard way” and earned it by shrewd and intelligent planning and business decisions. They all for the most part are risk takers and are not afraid to take on a new adventure. Others in the billionaire category inherited their wealth and have become good stewards of their bounty. Some have taken huge risks and depleted much of their peak wealth but are still in great financial shape by anybody's standards. One common activity that many share is the movement of their wealth to their private foundations. I am familiar with foundations since Barbara and I set up the Marsella Foundation about 5 years ago. Of course, the size of our foundation is dwarfed by the dollars managed by these billionaires but the intent is still the same: Do something positive for the community that the government cannot do as well.

There are two individuals that are multi-billionaires and I have a problem in admiring their respective careers. The first one is Ronald Perelman. Maybe I am prejudiced since he was awarded $1.60 billion, including punitive damages, against Morgan Stanley this year and the award is currently being contested. He has had four marriages and has a $6 billion net worth. It is hard to feel compassion for someone who has done many buy-outs and mergers in his career but pleads ignorance and was able to sway a jury to award an existing billionaire even more assets. To believe someone with a staff of experts that understand mergers and can read accounting statements is an insult to my intelligence. The second individual is George Soros with a net worth of $7.2 billion. He donated over $25 million to defeat President Bush in the 2004 election. His organizations are MoveOn.Org and America Coming Together. He made $1 billion when he attempted to “break” the British pound in 1969. The French have declared him persona non grata for his currency transactions in their country. He manages the $8.3 billion Quantum Endowment Fund and I would rather not mention the type of activities that he promotes. I recommend reading the Forbes October 10th edition and read about the many fascinating and interesting billionaires.

Gary E. Marsella

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