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Less Known Billionaires - Let's get to know them
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Well, well, it seems we haven't met an oligarch for a couple of weeks now. There are over 1800 billionaires on Forbes and the list is growing, so I better hurry with introductions.I felt it would be impolite, if I waited longer with the President of Ukraine, its 'chocolate king' - Petro Poroshenko.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro_P...
What's spicy or sweet (if we are talking about a chocolate king here) about Mr. Poroshenko?
First, he promised to sell his chocolate empire, since he's not allowed to combine business and presidency, but as it sometimes happens he didn't promise when... It was reported that Nestle was interested, but they didn't agree on the price...
If I quote wikipedia about the rating of the richest Ukrainians in 2015: "... president Poroshenko was found the only one from the top ten of the list whose asset value grew since the previous ranking". Could it be so that being a president is somehow helpful? Just a bizarre thought of mine. After all his reported salary is around 400 USD a month, if to believe the response of the presidential administration of Dec 2015, published by the media, which would make anyone richer -:)
Although Ukraine is at de facto state of war with Russia, Poroshenko's chocolate giant Roshen has a Russian subsidiary in Lipetsk, that keeps working despite several probes by Russian authorities that disrupted its business. Is this world strange or what?
Finally, when he came to power garnering a remarkable first round support of 54% of the voters, although he stopped short from promising revision of dubious privatization affairs of the past, but firmly vouched to deal with oligarchic influence on the governance. But somehow the rhetorics changed during almost 2 years of his term. It is said that the oligarchs are not that friendly to each other, like serpents. Can president - oligarch purge the country from influence of other oligarchs, financing parties forming the Ukrainian parliament? It's not like Klitschko - Fury fight, broadcasted worldwide on TV. At first their illicit battle had external evidence including military stand-off around companies, where the state and oligarchs had joint control, but all these had died down long time ago...
As always there was a lot of expectations surrounding Poroshenko's rise to power. I sincerely hope his supporters' won't be disappointed..
Nik wrote: "Well, well, it seems we haven't met an oligarch for a couple of weeks now. There are over 1800 billionaires on Forbes and the list is growing, so I better hurry with introductions.I felt it would ..."
I can't help feeling that people who vote for an oligarch to end the rule of oligarchs is somehow not being logical. You don't get to be an oligarch by being kind and generous to all and sundry, and have strong ethical commitments to equality for all. A promise to sell his chocolate empire was, dare I say it, merely sugar coating, and I doubt he ever had the slightest intention.
My guess is many of his supporters are already disappointed. Only those who have benefited greatly will remain highly enthused.
Ian wrote: "I can't help feeling that people who vote for an oligarch to end the rule of oligarchs is somehow not being logical. You don't get to be an oligarch by being kind and generous to all and sundry, and have strong ethical commitments to equality for all. A promise to sell his chocolate empire was, dare I say it, merely sugar coating, and I doubt he ever had the slightest intention.My guess is many of his supporters are already disappointed. Only those who have benefited greatly will remain highly enthused..."
Sometimes people's choice doesn't look logical indeed. At the time Poroshenko was kind of a "new" face for the people tired of long lasting competition between Yanukovich and Timoshenko. Besides, Klitschko (the boxing champ), who was the most popular politician then, stepped aside for him. As often happens people went for promises and expectations rather than for what he represented...
And of course there is some disappointment, although mostly aimed at the current government, formed with participation of other parties. Maybe we can still let him enjoy the benefit of the doubt, in hopes that some/more positive changes will happen rather than another wave of popular unrest will send him packing....
Tycoon time. I was thinking to myself that if we speak of Ukrainian oligarchs only, it's gonna be barely interesting for a primarily English-speaking community, so I thought we might take a look at ... former Ukrainian, coming from my home town to the US and realizing an American dream to the fullest.
It's no other, but Jan Koum, of course, the founder of WhatsApp, purchased by Facebook for 19B$! in 2014:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Koum
What's spicey about him?
Few things actually. First, he's what is called 'a slum dog' billionaire, rising from a social support to his family to one of the richest man on Earth.
That WhatsApp just within a span of 5 years grew from 0 to 19B$ value.
That Jan and his business partner applied for job in Facebook and were rejected by it, only for it to buy their App for an astronomic amount few years later -:)
I read an article, which claimed that seeing the tremendous virality of Whatsapp Zuckerberg understood that if he didn't buy WhatsApp, WhatsApp would've bought Facebook in not that distant future...
Unlike many oligarchs from Eastern bloc, which sometimes have difficulties in explaining how exactly they earned their fortunes, Jan seems like a 'clean' dude without question marks as of the source of his wealth...
Will we see a movie one day about him, similar to those about William Gates, Steven Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg?
Hope they won't be insulted to remain under a billionaire category, while some have become centibillionaires, meaning surpassing the 100 bill mark. Anyway, maybe a king for a day, or maybe he's here to stay Bernard "The Terminator" Arnault has climbed the top of the economic heap, leaving Bezos and Musk behind to bite the dust: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard... .
Who would think luxury would be the thing, yet his worth grew by more than 100 billion usd during the corona time.
Surely, your shelves struggle to bear all those Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy, your bars are full of Hennessy and Dom Pérignon, so now at least you'll know the chap, who cared to produce them all.
So, with space travel, cellphones, bitcoins, electric cars, social media and whatever, do the good old brands and other prestigious junk beat them all to embody tangible value?
I'm thinking with you along the lines of some few people having too much money. My idea is that they've used the rules of the economy (in the US at least) to make their money and they owe something back to the economy that helped them make those billions. I 'd hope they'd do it willingly. What do you think?
Scout wrote: "My idea is that they've used the rules of the economy (in the US at least) to make their money and they owe something back to the economy that helped them make those billions. I 'd hope they'd do it willingly. What do you think?..."I think some of them "return" part of their wealth to publicly beneficial projects/activities. Yet, some others or exactly same people - maybe simultaneously undermine public interest to amass more. We need to encourage the former and prevent the latter.
Philip wrote: "Thought that was what tax was for..."Indeed, but some of these dudes are terrifically good in minimizing them big time :)
Philip wrote: "Thought that was what tax was for..."Taxes exist to fund the government. Assigning other purposes to taxation is begging to be beggared by the self-righteous.
J. wrote: "....Taxes exist to fund the government. Assigning other purposes to taxation is begging to be beggared by the self-righteous...."That's if you look at government as something totally useless. Much of it is surely a waste, sometimes worse - theft, but still a big chunk goes to pay salaries to teachers, army, police, irs, cover food stamps, etc - some of these can surely be useful at times...
No, it is a comment on the tendency to use taxes to advance social policies. Schools, roads, and sewers are all well and good. My problem is with using the taxes themselves to punish behavior that one group decries or trying to right the iniquities of life by taking from the fortunate and the industrious.
J. wrote: "No, it is a comment on the tendency to use taxes to advance social policies. Schools, roads, and sewers are all well and good. My problem is with using the taxes themselves to punish behavior that ..."I want to steal from banks. Government uses taxation to prevent me carrying out my wish by funding police and prisons
Government funds via taxation a women's refuge to allow a safe place free from domestic violence.
Government provides via taxation overpayment on an item for a supplier to get the military the latest weapon to use in its chosen policy to drop bombs in Yemen or Syria killing some parents who's children are then orphaned and put forward to a taxation funded adoption programme
All of these are social engineering. Governments based on democracy implement their own versions . The limit of that extent is what we discuss. Government's always punish some behaviour. They tax, they deny or award funding propose, amend or repeal laws
It's called democracy for good or ill.
Progressive taxes on the rich are not "punishments" and yes, it is intended as social engineering. If something like this is not done, the simple mathematics of game theory show that a hierarchy of accumulated wealth arises, and you get a few who effectively become oligarchs, and that wealth may be useful for the original generators, but sooner or later for those families that don't squander it all a couple of generations later but learn how to hold it you get effectively baronial families, and feudalism.We haven't got that now because there have been sufficient opportunities to permit self-starting, but that only works because of plenty of resources and free education.
Another reason for taxation is to provide unemployment benefits. These are necessary and are not so much provided out of kindness but have ALWAYS been provided so the rich dudes can keep their riches. Why do you think the Res Publica provided free bread and circuses?
We have deductions and credits for "good" behavior. We also have taxes and penalties for "bad" behavior. And all of this is set against progressive tax rates. What has this wrought? A labyrinthine tax code so confusing that simply filing our taxes has become a $10.9 billion industry. The bulk of that is from that sacred cow of American politics, the middle class. How is sucking money out of the middle class, and into ethically questionable accounting firms, a boon to the people?How have our taxes been used?
Schools that have gone downhill every year of my life. Seriously, a child starting school in Detroit, this year, is more likely to go to prison than graduate high school. Then again, that might be because of all of the public water utilities that are using old, deteriorating lead pipes.
A nigh endless array of alphabet agencies which seem more interested in undermining our liberties than in protecting them. Or is Snowden a hoax?
It goes on like this, but to me the best part is that they put us all into debt in the process. But fear not, Biden plans on raising billions of dollars in new taxes to pay for trillions of dollars in new expenditures...
The numbers hurt...
The labyrinthine tax code is just a consequence of pork barrel politics, and that money spent on nothing better than filing taxes is awful. Mind you, here I run a private company and I can't handle our company tax codes either and have to use an accountant.If what you say about Detroit is true, the politicians responsible should be sent to jail to show the consequences of their actions.
J. wrote: "We have deductions and credits for "good" behavior. We also have taxes and penalties for "bad" behavior. And all of this is set against progressive tax rates. What has this wrought? A labyrinthine ..."On Snowden my blog had more on the systems and programmes and went into the forward of my new scribbling effort. Take a look at CO-TRAVELER or MAINWAY alongside PRISM to get really paranoid...
Ian wrote: "The labyrinthine tax code is just a consequence of pork barrel politics, and that money spent on nothing better than filing taxes is awful. Mind you, here I run a private company and I can't handle..."I can understand a business needing to hire an accountant, at least part time. You have payroll, withholding, asset depreciation, and tons of other things that have to be shown when you file if for no other reason than to correctly report your income.
Take a family of four with both parents employed and receiving W2s, and no unreported income. How does it make sense for them to need to pay a couple of hundred dollars to file their taxes? Every part of their filing should be straight forward, but they need a tax "professional" to make sure that all of the paperwork is correct and filed. They might have ten different forms to fill out and file, without running a business.
If politicians got what they deserved,..
Finishing that sentence could get me investigated.
Philip wrote: "On Snowden my blog had more on the systems and programmes and went into the forward of my new scribbling effort. Take a look at CO-TRAVELER or MAINWAY alongside PRISM to get really paranoid..."I know. I don't sleep well.
J., the tax situation here is not much better. As for company tax, I can do all those sort of things, but when you see what the company return forms, you see pages of things to be answered, and it is extremely difficult, if you are not an accountant and are doing it all the time, to know what the wretched terms mean. They keep referring to other tax law written over several decades, and the individual gets lost. There is another factor. If you file a company return yourself, you almost invite a tax audit. Now I would not file anything dishonestly, but the audit actually takes up hours and hours of time. You are better off getting a reputable accountant to do it, and unfortunately you need one recognised by the IRD or you still get your audit. The private individual is also in an awkward position. You don't need to file a return because the tax is always taken in advance. If your income is regular, it is a waste of time, but if irregular, you will have been overtaxed. You have to file to get the refund, and now there are a number of accountants that will charge you to find out if it is worth filing.
Ian wrote: "The private individual is also in an awkward position. You don't need to file a return because the tax is always taken in advance. If your income is regular, it is a waste of time, but if irregular, you will have been overtaxed. You have to file to get the refund, and now there are a number of accountants that will charge you to find out if it is worth filing."This may be a difference between our countries. Under US law, unless your annual income falls below the poverty line you are required to file a return. Because of all of the deductions, credits, penalties, and differing tax rates, the odds are you will either owe more tax or be owed a refund. Of course, if you income was below the poverty line and you paid taxes, you would file a return because all of the income tax that you paid would be refunded.
In most states, we also have to file state tax returns. The difficulty of these returns vary from state to state. Until about five years ago my state returns took four or more hours to complete. Now they take around an hour. Thank you, Republicans.
Disturbingly, we get W2s (income tax withholding receipt from your employer) for ourselves, the feds, the state, and also for cities. This make me think that there are some poor folk who get charged income taxes by their municipality on top of their states and the feds.
The youngest female self-made billionaire is someone worth meeting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney... , especially since meetings is her core biz :)
Meanwhile, poor Mark would need to change his vacation plans:https://albaniandailynews.com/news/us...
J. wrote: "Ian wrote: "The private individual is also in an awkward position. You don't need to file a return because the tax is always taken in advance. If your income is regular, it is a waste of time, but ..."There are cities and counties that have income tax levied on residents and some tax non-residents too. This is income tax, separate from sales taxes that are country-wide and which cities, counties, and state tax a cut.
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/citie...
J. wrote: "Ian wrote: "The labyrinthine tax code is just a consequence of pork barrel politics, and that money spent on nothing better than filing taxes is awful. Mind you, here I run a private company and I ..."I used to file paper returns; that was time-consuming. With computer programs, it all became much easier. Maybe, because I did the payroll for the 3 law offices where I spent most of my career, combined with reviewing other people's tax returns in divorces and child support cases, I don't find it difficult to my personal return. My 1st husband was self-employed, so I did that during our marriage too.
Unlike those who like being able to do their taxes in an hour, the tax law changes hurt me. I spend a lot on medical and I donate a lot of things. They kept upping the percentages, and last year was the first time itemizing did not provide sufficient amounts to make it worthwhile.
A lot of things that used to be deductible no longer are. If I was still working, I wouldn't be doing half the stuff I used to do as I would no longer get the benefit of tax deductions (mileage on my car, continuing education, certification costs, etc., and using my personal items at home - computer, phone, fax, which required a landline). If a boss wanted me to use my stuff at home and maintain speciality certifications that benefit them, these days I would think twice and demand more money.
The only time I ever paid for tax returns by a professional was my 1st year of disability. Even then, I did them first, he explained a topic that only occurs rarely for most of us who end up on disability, I revised it on my computer, he reviewed it, told me I was good, and only charged me $100 (2013 tax year). Of course, I went to the person I had used for the office and referred clients to. Over 25 years, that man taught me a lot about a variety of tax topics as they came up in our cases.
I have thought about taking the H&R Block tax class and working in that field when my private disability ends. in less than 2 years, I lose 2/3 of my income at age 65 when my private disability policy coverage ends.
I get why people don't want to spend a lot of time doing taxes. I think I just enjoy the challenge of figuring out how much money I can keep. When I was working tax returns often led to undisclosed assets, deliberate loss of income, and various other tidbits. My version of a treasure hunt.
Lizzie wrote: "...I have thought about taking the H&R Block tax class and working in that field when my private disability ends. in less than 2 years..."Sounds like a good idea. Best of luck with its realization!
Nik wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "...I have thought about taking the H&R Block tax class and working in that field when my private disability ends. in less than 2 years..."Sounds like a good idea. Best of luck with..."
Thanks, Nik. I should probably start working on some sort of plan instead of just thinking about it. Then again, everything from the rules and laws to the technology to implement changes so frequently that I am procrastinating on when to start studying something. :-)
Yeah, makes little sense to study something to discover it all changed drastically two years afterwards. As the urgency becomes more pressing, although I hope for you that it won't, you'll get there and be up-to-date towards the first clients :)
Next year as I turn 64. Now I have to convince myself to do my own taxes before the final week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinat_A...
He has all attributes of an oligarch - diverse and considerable holdings in different industries from coal and metal exports, through energy to telecommunications and real estate. A former PM himself (who rarely took part in any parliamentary work or session), he's the prime financier and claimed to be an informal owner of a considerable faction in Ukrainian Parliament: 'Party of Regions', now 'Opposition bloc'. His party and he personally promoted and supported Yanukovich to become the President, who was later ousted in 2014 uprising and now enjoys asylum in Russia. When Yanukovich was a president or a tsar, as some referred, Akhmetov was considered a God by some or a grey cardinal, to stress his somewhat superior informal status.
What's spicy about him? Some internet sites provide quite a striking details.
A boxer in his youth, he's rumoured to start his career in a shell game (thimblerig) gang. Then he was said to be a bodyguard, or driver or both of Donetsk mafia boss - Akhat Bragin, who was bombed on a football stadium and perished together with some of his circle. Akhmetov was said to succeed Bragin as a capo de tutti capi. But that was (if those rumours have any truth in them) a long time ago and now he's equally surrounded by renowned American consultant and lobbying firms and treated as legit businessman.
Does he have a football team? But, of course, otherwise his image would be incomplete. He's a proud owner of FC "Shakhtar" Donetsk that already made a name in Europe.
And he also said to have purchased the most expensive apartment in London for $ 221M.
http://www.alux.com/the-most-expensiv...
I'm not sure we would find many Western billionaires with anywhere as motley a biography...
I'm not saying he's a devil or a saint nor counting his shades of grey, just introducing the guy ....