Category: Millionaires

Rogue Traders – Ex Deutsche Bank Traders Face up to 30 Years in Jail

You win some you lose some, right? The world of trading is a high risk, high reward one. But when traders get rogue and start dabbling in illegal matters, the wins quickly turn into losses. American Matthew Connolly and Britain’s Gavin Black, both former Deutsche Bank traders, were found guilty yesterday for their roles in manipulating the Libor rate. They now face up to 30 years in the slammer and $1 million fine.

What Happened?

When anything in the trading world is manipulated for personal gain, (think insider trading, rate manipulation) you’re skating on fairly thin ice. Connolly headed up Deutsche Bank’s New York pool trading desk, while Black was a derivatives trader in London. The pair conspired to manipulate Libor on a wire transaction and were found guilty by a jury in New York.

While the news is a further stain on Deutsche Bank’s reputation, a financial institution with a less-than-clean slate, Connolly and Black stand to lose the most. Although it’s unlikely they’ll carry out the entirety of their sentences, staring at a 30-year stretch is not an enviable position to be in.

It is, however, a victory for the US Department of Justice, that has charged many banks for manipulating Libor but prosecuted relatively few individuals with success.

Connolly was convicted of conspiracy on two counts of wire fraud but cleared of a third charge against him. Black was found guilty of both charges against him–of conspiracy and wire fraud.

What Is Libor Anyway?

LIBOR stands for the London Interbank Offered Rate. This is the interest rate that banks charge for borrowing a large amount of money and essentially, a global interest rate benchmark.

16 banks are polled every day on what their rate will be. The top four and bottom four are removed and the Libor rate for the day is calculated from the average of the middle. Check out this handy explainer video if you want to know more:

Deutsche Bank Traders Setting an Example

According to the chief of the DoJ’s criminal division, Brian Benczkowski, quoted in Bloomberg:

“Matthew Connolly and Gavin Black undermined the integrity of our financial markets by manipulating Libor… The justice department and its law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate and prosecute individuals and financial institutions who engage in this sort of misconduct.”

The two former traders were indicted in 2016 after the Deutsche Bank’s $775m Libor settlement the year before.

Both Connolly and Black’s attorneys insisted that the men were innocent. They said that the fight was far from over and that they would be appealing the verdict, making post-trial motions and continue to seek justice.

Featured image from Bloomberg.

October 18, 2018
Beauty and Brains – Meet the Top 10 Richest Supermodels

Did you think Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Chrissy Teigen were rich? Not really. In fact, they barely even break into the first class lounge. The top richest supermodels are dominated by the women who changed the fashion industry forever during the 80s and 90s.

The supermodels, the runway models that became household names, then left the fashion industry and turned themselves into money-making machines in other areas.

Together, the top 10 richest supermodels have an estimated net worth of over $2.6 billion. And who said models were dumb?

1. Slavica Ecclestone

Slavica Ecclestone is a former Croatian supermodel with a net worth over $1.2 billion. She walked for reputed designers and modeled for all the big brands, including Gucci and Armani.

The lion’s share of her wealth doesn’t come from her career as an international fashion model, though, but from a secret divorce settlement. She cashed in pretty big after a 25-year marriage to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

When the billionaire had to face charges for paying a German banker a £27.5 million bribe, some additional details came to light. And the wife and two daughters took most of the family’s £2.4 billion trust fund ($3.2 billion). In fact, the former supermodel pays her husband £60 million a year ($79 million).

2. Kathy Ireland

Kathy Ireland is a self-made millionaire, with a net worth estimated between $420 million and $500 million. After 13 years appearing in the Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue, she became an entrepreneur and amassed a fortune thanks to her licensing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.

One of the richest supermodels in the world, Ireland promotes over 17,000 products in sectors like furniture, nutrition, weddings, fitness, gardening, and fashion. Her company has an estimated annual revenue of $2.5 billion.

3. Gisele Bundchen

The Brazilian Gisele Bundchen was the highest-paid supermodel for 15 years, from 2002 to 2017. Thanks to her contracts with important brands in the fashion industry, the supermodel’s wealth is estimated at around $400 million.

Gisele started her career in the late 90s. She worked as a Victoria’s Secret Angel and also did campaigns for Givenchy, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo and more. In 2014, she was the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5.

Even if she isn’t the highest-earning model anymore, in 2017, she still made a cool $17.5 million (43% less than her 2016 income of $30.5 million).

4. Iman

Iman was one of the first supermodels in the fashion industry. Today, she’s also known for her long marriage to the late David Bowie, as well as for her philanthropic work. Back in the 80s, she was “The African Queen,” and Yves Saint Laurent dedicated an entire collection to her.

Iman was discovered when she was 18, by world-renowned photographer Peter Beard and few people know that to leave Africa and move to New York, she had to divorce her first husband.

Iman made her $100-million-fortune from modeling, and also from her business in the cosmetic industry. She was one of the first to introduce makeup for dark skin tones.

5. Cindy Crawford

What would be a list of the richest supermodels without everybody’s favorite Cindy Crawford? A fashion icon and of the most famous supermodels of the 90s, Crawford appeared on cover magazines, campaigns for well-known brands, and had a long presence on the runway. She was contracted by just about everyone from Chanel to Dolce Gabbana.

Crawford also earned good money from global endorsement contracts with famous brands like Pepsi, Revlon, and Omega. However, most of her wealth now comes from her lines of furniture and beauty products, racking in over $100 million.

6. Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum went from supermodel to TV star to business mogul. Her salary is estimated at $19 million a year from fashion lines, endorsement contracts, and TV appearances. Since 2018, her net worth is estimated to be as high as $90 million.

Heidi Klum became famous as one of Victoria’s Secret’s models at the end of the 90s. Now she’s the executive producer and host of the reality TV design competition Project Runway. And also a judge on the shamefully bingeful show America’s Got Talent.

7. Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks is another of the richest supermodels who turned to the television to increase her net worth. Like Heidi Klum, Banks is now worth $90 million. After a successful modeling career, the former model came back into the spotlight with a reality TV show America’s Next Top Model.

Most of Bank’s fortune, however, is the result of smart investments over the years. Despite her mega riches, the TV star is known for her money-saving habits. She also joins Klum on America’s Got Talent as the show’s presenter. Maybe it should be called “America’s Got Supermodels,” instead.

8. Adriana Lima

Another Brazilian on the richest supermodels list is Adriana Lima, the supermodel with the longest career as Victoria’s Secret Angel. For a couple of years, she was the second-highest-paid model in the industry, after Gisele Bundchen and today, her wealth is estimated at $75 million.

At 37, Adriana Lima is still one of the most celebrated models in the industry. Besides her collaboration with the big fashion brands, this wealthy supermodel has signed a series of highly-paid endorsement deals with companies that include Vogue Eyewear, Maybelline, and IWC Watches.

Adriana Lima is also one of the most famous Insta models, with almost 12 million followers on the social media platform.

9. Kate Moss

Kate Moss was one of the highest-paid supermodels for years, helping her reach her $70 million net worth. Once a wild supermodel with a weakness for random sexual dates and cocaine, Moss finally grew up, turning to business and founding the modeling companies Tilly Church Ltd and Skate LLP.

The supermodel is still a rebel though, according to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), which has her modeling company embroiled in a dispute with Tilly Church for £2.6million ($3.4 million). Nice to know she hasn’t lost touch with her wild roots.

10. Alessandra Ambrosio

Alessandra Ambrosio is a supermodel and actress, who along with Heidi, Adriana, and Gisele, became known as one of Victoria’s Secret Angels. Her net worth is estimated at $60 million.

Besides strutting out on the runway as an Angel, Ambrosio modeled for famous houses in the industry, including Armani Exchange, Chanel, Givenchy, Prada, Dior, and Ralph Lauren.

As an actress, she’s appeared in high-profile movies like Casino Royale and New Girl. Together with Adriana Lima, Ambrosio also had a guest appearance in hit show How I Met Your Mother.

The supermodel was also a judge in the reality shows Project Runway and Australia’s Next Top Model. Talk about keeping it in the gang.

The Richest Supermodels

With most of the richest supermodels now in their 40s and 50s, these power women have shown they’re more than just pretty faces. Since most of their businesses were built on personal brands, the now-successful entrepreneurs pay more attention to their image than they did as supermodels, leaving the hot bathing suits (and dollar bills filled with coke) behind and focusing on classy and elegant looks instead.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

October 17, 2018
Bloomberg Suggests You Are Not Worthy With Wealth Below $25 Million

A recent article by Bloomberg states that many banks and fund managers will turn you away if you’re a pauper with less than $25 million. It doesn’t mean that investment advice is only available for the super-rich, but you should expect an inferior service if the “big boys” don’t want to review your portfolio.

Co-Founder & Managing Partner at TwinFocus in Boston Paul Karger expects a $250,000 minimum fee from his clients. So, turning up with half a million dollars would be slashed in half before you even left the office. Note that the figure of $25 million quoted by Bloomberg is not based on net worth, rather:

“Twenty-five million dollars in investable wealth. The kind of money you could afford to see dip into the red for a quarter or three, maybe even a year or two, without breaking a sweat. With $25 million, maybe, just maybe, you’re starting to be rich.”

Time Effect of Money

As highlighted in the article, the figure of $25 million was around $3 million 25 years ago. We all know that money erodes in value over time and you might be thinking that $25 million is just keeping up with inflation.

No, using the CPI figures available from multpl suggests $3 million would now be around $5.2 million. This perhaps highlights that bankers and fund managers are overcome with gluttony or conversely they “could” be working on lower margins, you decide.

As a child, more than four decades ago, the word millionaire conjured up great wealth, akin to the references to billionaires today. Numbers were always my forte even from a very young age, so it wasn’t that I didn’t understand the “value” of a million dollars.

As the decades passed and I achieved the million-dollar net worth status, I came to realize how insignificant it was. The intervening decades between childhood and my first million had seen the relative value dimish, but it was much more than this.

Property prices had gone through the roof over the years and even though the average US property sells for $200,000 we all know that popular locations command much higher prices.

Many cities across the globe have properties starting from a million dollars, and at the extreme, Knightsbridge in London it could cost you more than $200 million. Millionaires are as common as Trump haters these days and times have moved on.

Millionaire Pad in Knightsbridge by Rob Deutscher

Set Yourself Higher Targets

After many years plodding along in business, I set myself a target of $1.5 million net worth within the next two years and achieved it six months ahead of schedule. Maybe I should have been a little more adventurous and gone for $10 million or perhaps $25 million so bankers and fund managers, per Bloomberg, would take me seriously.

Although I have always considered myself a hard worker, like many, the idea of retiring early has always appealed to me. However, it appears that to retire early, we need to aim for a net worth of at least $5 million if we want to retire before we’re 60. So, that’s another goal you might want to set.

Billionaire status is likely to remain a constant term of reference for the super rich even for decades to come, especially if the forecast global slump comes to pass.

As a child, my mother would often say “who do you think I am, Rothschild?” when I pushed her for the latest tech device. Do parents of today refer to Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Bloomberg or do families in the West simply go out and buy whatever their offspring desires?

I doubt that Zuckerberg set himself a target of being worth more than a billion dollars as a child but for sure children of today will be dreaming of wealth in the order of tens of millions of dollars. Dreams of millionaire status are very much dated back in the 1970’s.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

October 15, 2018
Most Multimillionaires Live in These 10 Countries

Wealth worldwide is unevenly distributed and it’s accumulating more and more in Asia. Compared to the previous year, the number of those who own $5 million dollars or more has increased significantly in the past year. This is shown by a report for the year 2017 by the London real estate company Knight Frank. About one in three of these multimillionaires lives in the USA.

There, the total number of multimillionaires is 853,000. In second place is China with 207,000 multimillionaires, followed by Japan with 200,000. Interestingly, the multimillionaire population grew about 26% in Brazil, Russia, and Taiwan.

In only five out of 49 countries in the dataset, has the number of multimillionaires has fallen. All are in veritable crises, such as in Turkey under Erdogan. In Nigeria, rebel attacks reduced oil production and the country went through a recession.

In Egypt, the value of the pound fell after the exchange rate had been liberalized under pressure from the IMF. As the only Western country, the United Kingdom lost multimillionaires under the looming shadow of Brexit uncertainty. What remains the same, however, is that most multimillionaires live these 10 countries. Check it out.

10. Italy

In Italy in 2017 around 53,670 multimillionaires lived. The richest among them (a billionaire in fact) with $20,8 billion dollars is Giovanni Ferrero, the son of Michele Ferrero, leader of Nutella, Tic-Tac, and Co.

9. South Korea

In South Korea, around 55,670 multimillionaires lived in 2017 – 23% more than in the previous year. The richest South Korean with $16.4 billion dollars is Lee Kun-hee, the former Samsung boss. Lee is considered seriously ill after a heart attack.

8. Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, 67,700 multimillionaires lived in 2017 – 19% more than in the previous year. The richest man with $31,4 billion dollars is the trading entrepreneur and investor Li Ka-shing.

7. Canada

Canada ranks seventh with 76,720 multimillionaires – 16% more than in the previous year. The richest Canadian with $27.5 billion is David Thomson, chairman of Thomson Reuters.

6. Great Britain

There were approximately 97,530 multimillionaires in the United Kingdom last year – 2% fewer than in the previous year. The richest are the members of the Hinduja family. They control the Hinduja Group, an Indian conglomerate with more than 70,000 employees worldwide.

5. France

In France, 104,090 multimillionaires lived in 2017 – 18% more than in the previous year. The richest Frenchman Bernard Arnault, head of the luxury group LVMH is worth $70 billion dollars. He is also considered the richest man in Europe.

4. Germany

Germany was 4th in the ranking of the countries with the most multimillionaires. 136,990 of them live in this Federal Republic – 13% more than in the previous year. The richest Germans with about $25.3 billion dollars are heirs to the Aldi retail fortune Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr.

3. Japan

Japan ranks third in the ranking with 199,980 multimillionaires. Richest Japanese is Masayoshi Son with 23,4 billion dollars, CEO of Softbank Capital.

2. China

China ranks second among the countries with the most multimillionaires: 207,350 – 13% more than in the previous year. The richest Chinese with 30,6 billion dollars is Ma Huateng also known as Pony Ma. He leads the internet company Tencent.

1. United States

The most multimillionaires lived in the United States in 2017: 852,700. The richest among them is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with more than $144 billion dollars.

Americans Are the Richest

According to Forbes, a fortune of $2 billion dollars is needed to be among the 400 richest Americans. That’s 18% more than the previous year (2016). US President Donald Trump is also a member of this elite. With an estimated 3.1 billion in assets, he is ranked 248.

There is no woman in the top ten. According to Forbes, the richest American woman is the Walmart heiress Alice Walton, with a fortune of $44.9 billion dollars.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

October 13, 2018
Australian Millionaire Allegedly Threatens to Slice Off Wealthy Neighbor’s Nipple

In an amusing case of agro that can only be described as “rich people problems,” Australian millionaire Peter Higgins allegedly threatened to slice off the nipple of a wealthy neighbor. The nipple-slicing threat came amidst an intense ongoing feud between them in which one witness likened them to “a pair of school kids.”

Australian Millionaire Pair Court Battle

Everyone loves the Aussie ethos of telling it like it is. Australia is where “a bloke is a bloke and the sheep are scared.” Which roughly translates as there is no class system in Australia and the sheep always need to watch their backs.

But it seems that the only person in this story who needs to watch his back, or more precisely his front, is Peter Higgin’s nemesis, the wealthy investor John Marshall.

Mortgage Choice co-founder and multi-millionaire potential nipple slicer, Peter Higgins, allegedly threatened Marshall with ear and nipple torture after the uninvited Marshall drove onto his property to watch his son take part in a polo tourney.

There was a heated argument over whether or not Marshall was allowed to park there due to the tournament taking place on the same grounds. Higgins launched an ultra-aggressive verbal attack on Marshall who in turn felt threatened and allegedly head-butted him.

Mr. Marshall told the court this week that it was an act of self-defense that escalated from the incident at the Sydney Polo Club on March 29. Mr. Higgins suffered a nosebleed in the attack, said The Sydney Morning Herald. Marshall was quoted as saying:

“He yelled at me… I’m going to have your ear cut off – or your nipple. Which one would you prefer?”

Marshall Charged with Actual Bodily Harm

The 68-year-old Marshall was charged by the Parramatta Local Court on Thursday for actual bodily harm, although the judge had a few choice words for the millionaire quarreling twosome.

The judge who chaired the case, magistrate Jennifer Giles, found Marshall not-guilty of the main assault but said she was not satisfied that the prosecution had negated self-defense.

Ms. Giles summed up the case between the Australian millionaire Higgins and the wealthy investor Marshall by concluding that:

“This hearing is merely an examination of a tiny five-minute moment in an epic and chronic feud for which the taxpayers of New South Wales (NWS) seems to provide an ongoing forum.”

Featured image from habaricloudtoday.

October 12, 2018
Disney Rewards Loyal Actors – The Avengers’ Sliding Pay Scale

Chris Hemsworth, like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, now gets paid in the tens of millions for his role as Thor in the “Avengers” movies.

When he started out in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Hemsworth’s first role as Thor in 2011 paid just $150,000 to the then new, but rising star.

Just one year later in 2012 Downey Jr. was getting $50 million for the “The Avengers.” Though Downey Jr.’s first role as the Iron Man in 2008 only paid $2.5 million.

Hemsworth is catching up in Disney’s pay scale, which seems to reward actors who stay in its movie franchises. His last role as Thor in “Avengers: Infinity War” paid him $15 million.

How Are Other Disney MCU Actors Paid?

Chris Evans – Captain America

Evans was paid just $1 million for “Captain America: The First Avenger” in 2011 but reached the popular $15 million pay check for “Avengers: Infinity War” in 2017.

Chadwick Boseman – Black Panther

Again, following Disney’s low first movie payment, Boseman was paid $2 million for “Black Panther” in 2017.

Brie Larson – Captain Marvel

Already an Oscar winner and the first female superhero to have her own movie in the Marvel franchise, Larsen has bucked the trend and managed to negotiate $5 million for her first role in “Captain Marvel” in 2019.

Highest Paid Actors in 2018

Including on onscreen, offscreen, and royalties earnings, Forbes reports that for 2018, Downey Jr. will be the third-highest paid actor earning a total of $81 million. Hemsworth hits fourth place earning a total of $64.5 million.

Despite not having a hit movie in a few years, George Clooney is topping this year’s list of highest paid actors earning $239 million between June 2017 and June 2018.

The world’s top 10 highest paid actors in 2018 earned $748 million between them. That top 10 list also includes Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson, Jackie Chan, and Will Smith.

Scarlett Johansson is 2018’s highest-paid female actress, earning $40 million, and highlighting a still present pay gap between male and female actors.

Maybe Larsen, as the first female to have her own movie in Disney’s MCU, will be closing that pay gap next year.

Featured image from Wikipedia.

October 12, 2018