Forbes List Update

I’m a bit behind in putting together my lists, so I won’t analyze this too much. As I’ve done with each of the major Forbes lists of the wealthy, here is a summary of the Mormons who appear on the list of the world’s billionaires that Forbes published last month.

While there is certainly a bit of churn on the overall list, the Mormons on the list have remained relatively in the same place since I last looked at them in October.Three of the five Mormons on the list saw their wealth increase over the past six months, perhaps because of the improving economy, while the other two stayed about the same. The Marriott brothers, who lost the most between last year’s April and October lists, have rebounded and gained back most of what they lost. Since the brothers each control two different portions of the Marriott holdings (Bill runs the hotels while Richard the food service business), their wealth doesn’t change in lockstep.

The other increase was Steve Hazy, who saw the value of his holdings rise from $3.2 to $3.4 billion.

Here’s the list as it now stands from Forbes:

#330 – Steven Udvar-Házy  $3.4 billion (up from $3.2 billion in October)

#377 – James Jannard     $3.0 billion (same as in October)

#683 – Richard Peery     $1.9 billion (same as in October)

#764 – Richard Marriott     $1.7 billion (up from $1.4 billion in October)

#804 – J. Willard (Bill) Marriott     $1.6 billion (up from $1.3 billion in October)

Many of these changes are due to changes in the values of stock and real estate holdings, which have seen significant changes in the current uncertain economy. Observers should recognize that in most cases this wealth represents assets that aren’t liquid and can’t easily be used or donated without significant complications (decline in stock value when too much is sold, loss of control, etc.) and charitable criticisms of any accumulated wealth should recognize these complications.

October’s list was based on Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans, where as this list is based on its list of the world’s billionaires. This list is merely to point out the connection of these individuals with Mormonism and isn’t meant to suggest anything about them or the propriety of accumulated wealth.

For what its worth, the following Mormon families and individuals have been on the Forbes lists in the past, or have been suggested as those who might be on the list, but are not on the list at the moment:

  • Jon Huntsman family
  • James L. Sorensen family
  • Roger W. Sant
  • David R. Huber
  • Frank L. Vandersloot

I’ve added the list above so that I can catch them if they show up on the list again. Other suggestions are welcome.

[Last May I addressed whether or not we should care about who are on these lists. If you object to this, please read that post first before commenting — I don’t see the point in repeating what was said then. The previous list (in October) can be found here.]

 

8 comments for “Forbes List Update

  1. Vandersloot, my former neighbor in Idaho Falls, is on President Obama’s enemies list for being a major contributir and donations bundler for Mitt Romney’s campaign. My guess is the Marriotts might be on that list too. A campaign researcher for hire was collecting cpurt records about Vandersloot’s divorce, apparently as part of an Obama effort to discourage wealthy donors from contributiong to Romney supporting Super PACs, although based on what I have observed of Vandersloot, that will just incentive him to collect even more money for Romney.

    It is reminiscent of how Obama knocked out his competitors for his Senate seat, by publicizing allegations made by their former spouses during divorce proceedings.

  2. It’s not like Vandersloot doesn’t play dirty–he regularly threatens and harasses those who criticize him in the media with lawsuits.

    Not to mention that he makes his vast wealth off multi-level-marketing…

  3. Raymond (4), FWIW I don’t think that exposing your “enemies” court records will work quite as well on donors as it does on opponents. I can’t imagine that making such information public, or even the threat of such information going public would keep a donor from making a donation. There are so many ways to make donations privately (now that we have superpacs) that I can’t see how attacking donors would work. At least the bar is much higher when it comes to donors.

    Opponents, on the other hand, will actually suffer and not be elected as a result.

  4. Kris (5), I’ll put together such a list as soon as there is a source available.

    But off the top of my head, I’d bet the poorest are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (capital, Kinshasa), which has the lowest per capita GDP in the world. The Church’s statistics indicate that at the end of 2011 there were 30,435 members and there are at least 5 stakes in Kinshasa alone. The church has announced a Temple for Kinshasa also.

    However, the poorest members are probably not in Kinshasa, but in rural areas. The country has a per capita GDP of about $300 a year.

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