He (born March 28, 1936, Spain) is a Galician fashio entrepreneur. Ranked by Forbes as Spain's richest man and the 8th richest man in the World in 2007. He is the founder, with his then-wife Rosalía Mera, and chairman of the Inditex Group. He currently lives with his second wife in a discreet apartment building in the centre of La Coruña (Corunna).
Ortega arrived at La Coruña, Spain, at the age of 14, due to the job of his father, railway worker. Starting as a gofer in various shirt stores in La Coruña, Galicia, in 1963 he founded Confecciones Goa (his initials in reverse), which made bathrobes. In 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular chain of fashion stores called Zara. He owns 59.29% of the Inditex group (Industrias de Diseño Textil Sociedad Anónima) which includes the brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear/Often and Bershka and has more than 14,000 employees.
Ortega keeps a very low profile and there are practically no photographs of him (except from one photo published at the Inditex website). He refuses to wear a tie, and likes to dress in blue jeans. He is said to take a very active part in the production and design process in the company.
When he made a public appearance in 2000 - as part of the warm-up prior to floating his company on the stock market in 2001 - it made headlines in the Spanish financial press. However, he has never given an interview, and his secrecy has led to the publication of books such as Amancio Ortega.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The World Richest People;Alhaji Aliko Dangote
Alhaji Aliko Dangote among the world's billionaires should excite Nigerians who must be close to believing that no good news can come out of the country.
It should, indeed, excite Nigerians that the President/Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group of Companies is not just among the Forbes magazine's world's billionaires but is, for this year, listed as the richest black person in the world, with $3.3 billion, ranked ahead of black American television talkshow superstar, Oprah Winfrey and South African gold magnate, Patrice Motsepe.
Dangote and Motsepe are also the first black Africans to appear on the Forbes International rich list.
The excitement over Dangote's new feat should arise from several factors. One is the fact that for a change, the story is no longer that one ex-military dictator or the other is the richest man in the country or the continent but that a relatively young entrepreneur, who has, unlike most other rich Nigerians, decided to invest in his country's economy has made it big.
Also, this milestone should convince many other younger men and women that if they work hard at whatever they are doing, they too can attain the lofty heights that Alhaji Dangote has attained, literally, from nowhere.
The Kano state born business mogul started off as a commodity marketer, buying and selling such items as sugar, flour and cement.
Other less resourceful or unambitious people would have stayed at that level, but Dangote, who has shown great capacity for adaptation to the realities of the times has metamorphosed from a marketer of commodities to a first rate industrialist, with huge production facilities in different parts of the country.
He has effectively transformed from the commodity trader of yesterday to a big time manufacturer of mainly those commodities that he used to import and sell to consumers. He is doing this through such companies as Dangote Salt Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Dangote Pasta Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Dansa Foods Ltd. and through cement factories in Benue, Kogi, Ogun and Cross River State, all of which are working towards attaining 100 per cent use of locally sourced raw materials.
He has also diversified into shipping, energy development, solid minerals, steel, banking, land transport and property and is running the conglomerate, which is clearly the biggest in the country and continent, so efficiently that the companies within the group have become beautiful brides that are much sought after in the stock market.
Alhaji Dangote, a former president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is indeed, today, one of the major players in the stock market, with many of his companies listed and with him also having interests in several of the blue chip firms in the country. All these are evidence that he has abiding faith in the nation's economy and is playing his part in efforts to revamp it and take it to where it should be, among the top 20 economies of the world in the next few years.
One peculiar characteristic of this business icon is that he has a knack for seeing through companies and individuals. Some of the companies within the Dangote Group that are thriving today were once run down and written off. He acquired, restructured and recapitalized these companies to the point that they have bounced back to production and profitability.
Because of his confidence in the economy of the country of his birth, other investors who would, otherwise have been scared off by the negative stories of the unconducive business environment are attracted to the country.
His companies alone are said to be employing at least 20,000 people while the other investors coming as a result of his investment in the Nigerian economy are also helping to deplete the army of the unemployed.
In spite of his huge contribution to the economy of the country and in spite of his billions, Dangote is marked out as very humble and uncontroversial. Others in his shoes would want to dominate the country's politics and social life, others would go out of their way to garner all manner of chieftaincy titles and doctorate degrees and would want to be on the front pages of every publication and on prime time television. But this is not the case with this philanthropist of note, who, indeed, is believed to be press shy.
He has shunned partisan politics as much as possible and sparingly participates in socio-cultural events.
Try as he can, however, he has not outrun the criticism of those who insist that behind every great wealth there must be some question marks. The most persistent of these question marks is what is considered Alhaji Dangote's intolerance of competition, which another school of thought insists is the motivation for attainment of primus interpares.
The bottom-line, however, is that, as at today, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has emerged as the richest black man in the world. His attainment of this milestone should encourage other entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Africa and world over, to strive harder to make more money, and very importantly, to impact their communities, countries, fellow blacks wherever they may be and, indeed, humanity as a whole, positively, with their immense wealth.
Dangote has used his own great wealth to build structures in his home country that are giving hope to thousands and providing goods and services to millions. His activities, indeed, are impacting positively on millions of Nigerians, but he must press on to ensure that in the hearts of the down-trodden, in the hearts of Nigerians of all classes, he would be remembered, not for his billions alone, but for what he has done or would still do to positively transform the lives of many, including generations yet unborn.
It should, indeed, excite Nigerians that the President/Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group of Companies is not just among the Forbes magazine's world's billionaires but is, for this year, listed as the richest black person in the world, with $3.3 billion, ranked ahead of black American television talkshow superstar, Oprah Winfrey and South African gold magnate, Patrice Motsepe.
Dangote and Motsepe are also the first black Africans to appear on the Forbes International rich list.
The excitement over Dangote's new feat should arise from several factors. One is the fact that for a change, the story is no longer that one ex-military dictator or the other is the richest man in the country or the continent but that a relatively young entrepreneur, who has, unlike most other rich Nigerians, decided to invest in his country's economy has made it big.
Also, this milestone should convince many other younger men and women that if they work hard at whatever they are doing, they too can attain the lofty heights that Alhaji Dangote has attained, literally, from nowhere.
The Kano state born business mogul started off as a commodity marketer, buying and selling such items as sugar, flour and cement.
Other less resourceful or unambitious people would have stayed at that level, but Dangote, who has shown great capacity for adaptation to the realities of the times has metamorphosed from a marketer of commodities to a first rate industrialist, with huge production facilities in different parts of the country.
He has effectively transformed from the commodity trader of yesterday to a big time manufacturer of mainly those commodities that he used to import and sell to consumers. He is doing this through such companies as Dangote Salt Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Dangote Pasta Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Dansa Foods Ltd. and through cement factories in Benue, Kogi, Ogun and Cross River State, all of which are working towards attaining 100 per cent use of locally sourced raw materials.
He has also diversified into shipping, energy development, solid minerals, steel, banking, land transport and property and is running the conglomerate, which is clearly the biggest in the country and continent, so efficiently that the companies within the group have become beautiful brides that are much sought after in the stock market.
Alhaji Dangote, a former president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is indeed, today, one of the major players in the stock market, with many of his companies listed and with him also having interests in several of the blue chip firms in the country. All these are evidence that he has abiding faith in the nation's economy and is playing his part in efforts to revamp it and take it to where it should be, among the top 20 economies of the world in the next few years.
One peculiar characteristic of this business icon is that he has a knack for seeing through companies and individuals. Some of the companies within the Dangote Group that are thriving today were once run down and written off. He acquired, restructured and recapitalized these companies to the point that they have bounced back to production and profitability.
Because of his confidence in the economy of the country of his birth, other investors who would, otherwise have been scared off by the negative stories of the unconducive business environment are attracted to the country.
His companies alone are said to be employing at least 20,000 people while the other investors coming as a result of his investment in the Nigerian economy are also helping to deplete the army of the unemployed.
In spite of his huge contribution to the economy of the country and in spite of his billions, Dangote is marked out as very humble and uncontroversial. Others in his shoes would want to dominate the country's politics and social life, others would go out of their way to garner all manner of chieftaincy titles and doctorate degrees and would want to be on the front pages of every publication and on prime time television. But this is not the case with this philanthropist of note, who, indeed, is believed to be press shy.
He has shunned partisan politics as much as possible and sparingly participates in socio-cultural events.
Try as he can, however, he has not outrun the criticism of those who insist that behind every great wealth there must be some question marks. The most persistent of these question marks is what is considered Alhaji Dangote's intolerance of competition, which another school of thought insists is the motivation for attainment of primus interpares.
The bottom-line, however, is that, as at today, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has emerged as the richest black man in the world. His attainment of this milestone should encourage other entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Africa and world over, to strive harder to make more money, and very importantly, to impact their communities, countries, fellow blacks wherever they may be and, indeed, humanity as a whole, positively, with their immense wealth.
Dangote has used his own great wealth to build structures in his home country that are giving hope to thousands and providing goods and services to millions. His activities, indeed, are impacting positively on millions of Nigerians, but he must press on to ensure that in the hearts of the down-trodden, in the hearts of Nigerians of all classes, he would be remembered, not for his billions alone, but for what he has done or would still do to positively transform the lives of many, including generations yet unborn.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The World Richest People:Roman Abramovich
Born into a Jewish family,[3] Roman's paternal grandparents were exiled to Siberia from Tauragė, Lithuania by the Soviets after the occupation of Lithuania in 1940.[4] His mother Irina Vasilevna was a musician and his father worked as a supplier at a construction trust in Syktyvkar[5]. His mother, Irina Ostrowski Abramovich, died from bacteremia as a result of a back-alley abortion when Roman was one year old.[6] His father Arkady Abramovich was killed in an incident on a construction site when Roman was three years old.[6] Abramovich grew up in his uncle's family in Ukhta and with his grandmother, Tatyana Semenovna[7], in Moscow.[6] Before moving to Moscow he and his sister lived in Syktyvkar, the capital city of the Komi Republic.
In 1973, Abramovich went to first grade at Ukhta School No. 2. In 1974, Abramovich and his grandmother moved in with his second uncle Abram Nakhimovich in Moscow. Abramovich studied at School No. 232, which stressed the performing arts. After graduating from school and botching his university studies, he moved to his relatives in Komi. In 1984, Abramovich went to the army (artillery regiment in Kirach in the Vladimirsk region)[8].
Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviel Army in 1984. After military service in an artillery regiment in Kirach, Vladimirsk region,[9] he studied briefly at the Moscow State Auto Transport Institute before taking a leave of absence from academics to go into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law Academy.
The Times has reported that he was a market trader selling black market toys before his association with Boris Berezovsky[10].
Business career
A 2,000-rouble wedding present from Olga's (Abramovich's first wife) parents (about £1,000) was invested by Abramovich in black-market goods such as perfume, deodorants, tights and toothpaste to sell on in Moscow in or around December 1987. Abramovich soon doubled, then tripled, the investment, his confidence growing with each business success. "I think he enjoyed the thrill of it," says Olga. "When he returned from trips selling the goods, he was flushed with joy. In 1988, as Perestroika opened up opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Soviet Union, he and Olga set up a company making dolls. "It brought success almost immediately," says Olga, "but I don't think Roman ever imagined that he would become as rich as he is now."[11] Abramovich started his commercial activity in the late 1980s when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms permitted the opening of small private businesses, known as co-operatives. Mr Abramovich began his business career selling plastic ducks from a Moscow apartment, but within a few years his wealth spread from oil conglomerates to pig farms[12]. In 1992 to 1995 Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale and acted as intermediaries, eventually specializing in the trading of oil and oil products. In 1992 he was arrested in a case of theft of government property - AVEKS-Komi sent a train containing 55 cisterns of diesel fuel, worth 3.8 million roubles, from the Ukhtinsk Oil Production Factory; Abramovich met the train in Moscow and resent the shipment to the Kaliningrad military base under a fake agreement, but the fuel arrived in Riga. Abramovich co-operated with the investigation, and the case was closed after the oil production factory was compensated by the diesel's buyer, the Latvian-US concern, Chikora International.[9] In 1995 Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, an associate of President Boris Yeltsin acquired the controlling interest in the large oil company Sibneft. The deal was within the controversial loans-for-shares program and each partner paid $100 million for half of the company, below the stake's stock market value of $150 million at the time. The fast-rising value of the company led many observers, in hindsight, to suggest that the real cost of the company should have been in the billions of dollars.
In 1973, Abramovich went to first grade at Ukhta School No. 2. In 1974, Abramovich and his grandmother moved in with his second uncle Abram Nakhimovich in Moscow. Abramovich studied at School No. 232, which stressed the performing arts. After graduating from school and botching his university studies, he moved to his relatives in Komi. In 1984, Abramovich went to the army (artillery regiment in Kirach in the Vladimirsk region)[8].
Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviel Army in 1984. After military service in an artillery regiment in Kirach, Vladimirsk region,[9] he studied briefly at the Moscow State Auto Transport Institute before taking a leave of absence from academics to go into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law Academy.
The Times has reported that he was a market trader selling black market toys before his association with Boris Berezovsky[10].
Business career
A 2,000-rouble wedding present from Olga's (Abramovich's first wife) parents (about £1,000) was invested by Abramovich in black-market goods such as perfume, deodorants, tights and toothpaste to sell on in Moscow in or around December 1987. Abramovich soon doubled, then tripled, the investment, his confidence growing with each business success. "I think he enjoyed the thrill of it," says Olga. "When he returned from trips selling the goods, he was flushed with joy. In 1988, as Perestroika opened up opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Soviet Union, he and Olga set up a company making dolls. "It brought success almost immediately," says Olga, "but I don't think Roman ever imagined that he would become as rich as he is now."[11] Abramovich started his commercial activity in the late 1980s when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms permitted the opening of small private businesses, known as co-operatives. Mr Abramovich began his business career selling plastic ducks from a Moscow apartment, but within a few years his wealth spread from oil conglomerates to pig farms[12]. In 1992 to 1995 Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale and acted as intermediaries, eventually specializing in the trading of oil and oil products. In 1992 he was arrested in a case of theft of government property - AVEKS-Komi sent a train containing 55 cisterns of diesel fuel, worth 3.8 million roubles, from the Ukhtinsk Oil Production Factory; Abramovich met the train in Moscow and resent the shipment to the Kaliningrad military base under a fake agreement, but the fuel arrived in Riga. Abramovich co-operated with the investigation, and the case was closed after the oil production factory was compensated by the diesel's buyer, the Latvian-US concern, Chikora International.[9] In 1995 Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, an associate of President Boris Yeltsin acquired the controlling interest in the large oil company Sibneft. The deal was within the controversial loans-for-shares program and each partner paid $100 million for half of the company, below the stake's stock market value of $150 million at the time. The fast-rising value of the company led many observers, in hindsight, to suggest that the real cost of the company should have been in the billions of dollars.
The World Richest People:Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen was born in Seattle, Washington, to parents Kenneth S. Allen, an associate director of the University of Washington libraries, and Faye G. Allen, in January 21, 1953.[6] Allen attended Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle, and befriended Bill Gates, who was two years his junior but shared a common enthusiasm for computers.[7] They used Lakeside's teletype terminal to develop their programming skills on several time-sharing computer systems.[8] After graduation Allen attended Washington State University and was an active member in Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity.[8] He dropped out after two years in order to work as a programmer for Honeywell in Boston, which placed him near his old friend again.[8] Allen later convinced Gates to drop out of Harvard University order to create Microsoft.[7]
Main article: History of Microsoft
Allen co-founded Microsoft (initially "Micro-Soft") with Bill Gates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975, and began marketing a BASIC programming language interpreter.[7] In 1980, after promising to deliver IBM a Disc Operating System (DOS) they had not yet developed for the Intel 8086-based IBM PC, Allen spearheaded a deal for Microsoft to purchase a Quick and DirtyOperating System (QDOS) written by Tim Paterson who, at the time, was employed at Seattle Computer Products. As a result of this transaction, Microsoft was able to secure a contract to supply the DOS that would eventually run on IBM's PC line. This contract with Big Blue was the watershed in Microsoft history that led to Allen's fabulous wealth.[8]
Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1983. His cancer was successfully treated by several months of radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant. However, he did not return to Microsoft and began distancing himself from the company.[8] Allen officially resigned from his position on the Microsoft board in November 2000 but was asked to consult as a senior strategy advisor to the company's executives.[9] He sold 68 million shares of Microsoft stock that year[10], but still owns a reported 138 million shares.[11]
Recognition
In 2007 and 2008, Allen was listed among Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in The World.[12]
Paul Allen had received awards and honorary degrees from several universities. In May 1999, Washington State University bestowed its highest honor, the Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award, upon Allen. He received a "Docteur honoris causa" from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2007. In April 2008, Allen received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Watson School of Biological Sciences (Cold Spring Harbor, NY); and in May 2008 he had received the Vanguard Award for Science and Technology from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, an honor given to those who make significant contributions to that industry.
Philanthropy
Paul Allen has made significant contributions to organizations related to health and human services, and toward the advancement of science and technology. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation was established in 1986 to administer most of his contributions.[13] Through the Foundation, Allen awards approximately $30 million in grants annually.[14] Roughly 60 percent of the Foundation's money goes to non-profit organizations in Seattle and the state of Washington, and 12 percent to Portland, Oregon. The remaining 28 percent is distributed to other cities within the Pacific Northwest.[14] Allen has donated US$900 million of his money, as of 2007.[15] Allen also contributes through other charitable projects known as "venture philanthropy". The most famous of these projects are Experience Music Project, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, the Flying Heritage Collection (airworthy vintage military aircraft) and the Allen Telescope Array (ATA).[15] The ATA is a partnership between the University of California, Berkeley and the SETI Institute.[16] Allen has a flower fly named after him for his contributions to Dipterology, called Paul Allen's flower fly.[17] Allen has also funded the purchase of many Jimi Hendrix artifacts, including the guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock, and ensured their public display in the Experience Music Project exhibits.[18]
Although he attended Washington State University and has given money to its music school, Allen has donated more money to the University of Washington. In the late 1980s, Allen donated US$18 million to build a new library named after his father, Kenneth S. Allen.[19] US$5 million was donated in 2003 to establish the Faye G. Allen Center for Visual Arts, named after his mother.[20] Allen was also the top private contributor, with US$14 million in donations, and namesake, of the "Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering", which was completed in 2003.[21] Throughout the years, Allen has contributed millions of US dollars to the University of Washington Medical School.[22] The Foundation awarded US$3.2 million for prostatitis research in 1997, followed by an additional US$1.0 million grant in 2002.[23] More recently, the Foundation contributed US$5.0 million for an early cancer-detection project by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.[24]
Allen founded the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2003 with Jo Allen Patton as a nonprofit corporation (501(c) (3)) and medical research organization. Utilizing the mouse model system (given its great similarity to human DNA), 20,000 genes in the adult mouse brain were mapped to a cellular level for the Allen Brain Atlas. The data generated from this effort is contained in the free and publicly available Allen Brain Atlas application located at www.brain-map.org. In 2008, the Institute also launched the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas project. All of these scientific findings will prove invaluable to international researchers working on cures for neurological and nervous system illnesses and injuries.
Investments
Paul Allen (in sun glasses and crimson tie) and Burt Rutan (leather jacket) were presented with the Ansari X PRIZE by members of the X PRIZE Foundation in 2004.
Allen has made several investments since becoming a billionaire. He confirmed that he was the sole investor behind Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne suborbital commercial spacecraft on October 4, 2004. SpaceShipOne climbed to an altitude of 377,591 feet (115,090 m) and was the first privately funded effort to successfully put a civilian in suborbital space. It won the Ansari X PRIZE competition and received the $10 million prize.[25]
Real estate
Allen was a key developer and investor in the development of the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle as a biotechnology hub and mixed-use community.[26] He was also the largest private landowner in South Lake Union and owns nearly 2,600,000 square feet (240,000 m2) in the neighborhood.[26] His holdings company has a development capacity of more than 10,000,000 square feet (930,000 m2) of new residential, office, retail and biotech research space.[26] The South Lake Union redevelopment represents one of the largest urban revitalization projects in the country.[27] Allen has made investments estimated at US$200 million as of 2005, and promoted for city funding of the Seattle Streetcar line known as South Lake Union Streetcar, which runs from Seattle's Westlake Center to the south end of Lake Union.[28] The Streetcar is a public and private partnership made possible because of a Local Improvement District (LID) supported by businesses and residents along the line;[29] it officially started operation on December 12, 2007.[30] This development has been criticized as a city-supported real estate investment for Vulcan Inc,[31] and concerns over the loss of low-income housing have been expressed
Sports
Allen purchased the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team in 1988 from California real estate developer Larry Weinberg for $70 million.[4] He was also instrumental in the development and funding of their Rose Garden in 1993.[8] The Blazers are valued at approximately $300 million according to a 2006 issue of Forbes.[33] Allen has been asking Portland and Oregon officials for assistance in the financing of the Blazers since 2006, which he estimated would lose $100 million over the next three years.[34] Portland Mayor Tom Potter rebuffed the requests.[35] Allen announced the completion of the acquisition of the Rose Garden on April 2, 2007, and stated that this was a major milestone and a positive step for the franchise.[36] He said “My efforts are focused on continuing to support the Trail Blazers and the long-term financial health of the franchise."[37]
Allen purchased the Seattle Seahawks NFL team in 1997 when former owner Ken Behring threatened to move the Seahawks to Southern California.[3] He played a large part in the development of the new Seahawks' stadium, Qwest Field, although it was funded largely by tax revenue.[38] The Seahawks captured its fourth consecutive NFC West title in 2007.[39]
Allen has been confirmed as part owner of the Seattle Sounders FC a future Major League Soccer franchise that will begin play in 2009 at Qwest Field, a stadium also owned by Allen.
Main article: History of Microsoft
Allen co-founded Microsoft (initially "Micro-Soft") with Bill Gates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975, and began marketing a BASIC programming language interpreter.[7] In 1980, after promising to deliver IBM a Disc Operating System (DOS) they had not yet developed for the Intel 8086-based IBM PC, Allen spearheaded a deal for Microsoft to purchase a Quick and DirtyOperating System (QDOS) written by Tim Paterson who, at the time, was employed at Seattle Computer Products. As a result of this transaction, Microsoft was able to secure a contract to supply the DOS that would eventually run on IBM's PC line. This contract with Big Blue was the watershed in Microsoft history that led to Allen's fabulous wealth.[8]
Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1983. His cancer was successfully treated by several months of radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant. However, he did not return to Microsoft and began distancing himself from the company.[8] Allen officially resigned from his position on the Microsoft board in November 2000 but was asked to consult as a senior strategy advisor to the company's executives.[9] He sold 68 million shares of Microsoft stock that year[10], but still owns a reported 138 million shares.[11]
Recognition
In 2007 and 2008, Allen was listed among Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in The World.[12]
Paul Allen had received awards and honorary degrees from several universities. In May 1999, Washington State University bestowed its highest honor, the Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award, upon Allen. He received a "Docteur honoris causa" from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2007. In April 2008, Allen received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Watson School of Biological Sciences (Cold Spring Harbor, NY); and in May 2008 he had received the Vanguard Award for Science and Technology from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, an honor given to those who make significant contributions to that industry.
Philanthropy
Paul Allen has made significant contributions to organizations related to health and human services, and toward the advancement of science and technology. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation was established in 1986 to administer most of his contributions.[13] Through the Foundation, Allen awards approximately $30 million in grants annually.[14] Roughly 60 percent of the Foundation's money goes to non-profit organizations in Seattle and the state of Washington, and 12 percent to Portland, Oregon. The remaining 28 percent is distributed to other cities within the Pacific Northwest.[14] Allen has donated US$900 million of his money, as of 2007.[15] Allen also contributes through other charitable projects known as "venture philanthropy". The most famous of these projects are Experience Music Project, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, the Flying Heritage Collection (airworthy vintage military aircraft) and the Allen Telescope Array (ATA).[15] The ATA is a partnership between the University of California, Berkeley and the SETI Institute.[16] Allen has a flower fly named after him for his contributions to Dipterology, called Paul Allen's flower fly.[17] Allen has also funded the purchase of many Jimi Hendrix artifacts, including the guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock, and ensured their public display in the Experience Music Project exhibits.[18]
Although he attended Washington State University and has given money to its music school, Allen has donated more money to the University of Washington. In the late 1980s, Allen donated US$18 million to build a new library named after his father, Kenneth S. Allen.[19] US$5 million was donated in 2003 to establish the Faye G. Allen Center for Visual Arts, named after his mother.[20] Allen was also the top private contributor, with US$14 million in donations, and namesake, of the "Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering", which was completed in 2003.[21] Throughout the years, Allen has contributed millions of US dollars to the University of Washington Medical School.[22] The Foundation awarded US$3.2 million for prostatitis research in 1997, followed by an additional US$1.0 million grant in 2002.[23] More recently, the Foundation contributed US$5.0 million for an early cancer-detection project by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.[24]
Allen founded the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2003 with Jo Allen Patton as a nonprofit corporation (501(c) (3)) and medical research organization. Utilizing the mouse model system (given its great similarity to human DNA), 20,000 genes in the adult mouse brain were mapped to a cellular level for the Allen Brain Atlas. The data generated from this effort is contained in the free and publicly available Allen Brain Atlas application located at www.brain-map.org. In 2008, the Institute also launched the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas project. All of these scientific findings will prove invaluable to international researchers working on cures for neurological and nervous system illnesses and injuries.
Investments
Paul Allen (in sun glasses and crimson tie) and Burt Rutan (leather jacket) were presented with the Ansari X PRIZE by members of the X PRIZE Foundation in 2004.
Allen has made several investments since becoming a billionaire. He confirmed that he was the sole investor behind Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne suborbital commercial spacecraft on October 4, 2004. SpaceShipOne climbed to an altitude of 377,591 feet (115,090 m) and was the first privately funded effort to successfully put a civilian in suborbital space. It won the Ansari X PRIZE competition and received the $10 million prize.[25]
Real estate
Allen was a key developer and investor in the development of the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle as a biotechnology hub and mixed-use community.[26] He was also the largest private landowner in South Lake Union and owns nearly 2,600,000 square feet (240,000 m2) in the neighborhood.[26] His holdings company has a development capacity of more than 10,000,000 square feet (930,000 m2) of new residential, office, retail and biotech research space.[26] The South Lake Union redevelopment represents one of the largest urban revitalization projects in the country.[27] Allen has made investments estimated at US$200 million as of 2005, and promoted for city funding of the Seattle Streetcar line known as South Lake Union Streetcar, which runs from Seattle's Westlake Center to the south end of Lake Union.[28] The Streetcar is a public and private partnership made possible because of a Local Improvement District (LID) supported by businesses and residents along the line;[29] it officially started operation on December 12, 2007.[30] This development has been criticized as a city-supported real estate investment for Vulcan Inc,[31] and concerns over the loss of low-income housing have been expressed
Sports
Allen purchased the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team in 1988 from California real estate developer Larry Weinberg for $70 million.[4] He was also instrumental in the development and funding of their Rose Garden in 1993.[8] The Blazers are valued at approximately $300 million according to a 2006 issue of Forbes.[33] Allen has been asking Portland and Oregon officials for assistance in the financing of the Blazers since 2006, which he estimated would lose $100 million over the next three years.[34] Portland Mayor Tom Potter rebuffed the requests.[35] Allen announced the completion of the acquisition of the Rose Garden on April 2, 2007, and stated that this was a major milestone and a positive step for the franchise.[36] He said “My efforts are focused on continuing to support the Trail Blazers and the long-term financial health of the franchise."[37]
Allen purchased the Seattle Seahawks NFL team in 1997 when former owner Ken Behring threatened to move the Seahawks to Southern California.[3] He played a large part in the development of the new Seahawks' stadium, Qwest Field, although it was funded largely by tax revenue.[38] The Seahawks captured its fourth consecutive NFC West title in 2007.[39]
Allen has been confirmed as part owner of the Seattle Sounders FC a future Major League Soccer franchise that will begin play in 2009 at Qwest Field, a stadium also owned by Allen.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The World Richest People,Warren Buffet
He (born August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is regarded as one of the world's greatest investors and is the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.[3] With an estimated net worth of around US$62 billion,[4] he was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world as of February 11, 2008.[5]
Often called the "Oracle of Omaha",[6] Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth.[7] His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is small compared to senior executive remuneration in other comparable companies.[8] When he spent $9.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a business jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs.[9] He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, today valued at around $700,000.[10]
Buffett is also a noted philanthropist. In 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[11] In 2007, he was listed among Times 100 Most Influential People in The World.[12] He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.[13]
In September 2008, during the subprime mortgage crisis, Buffet invested US$5 billion in the bank holding company Goldman Sachs. [14]
Often called the "Oracle of Omaha",[6] Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth.[7] His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is small compared to senior executive remuneration in other comparable companies.[8] When he spent $9.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a business jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs.[9] He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, today valued at around $700,000.[10]
Buffett is also a noted philanthropist. In 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[11] In 2007, he was listed among Times 100 Most Influential People in The World.[12] He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.[13]
In September 2008, during the subprime mortgage crisis, Buffet invested US$5 billion in the bank holding company Goldman Sachs. [14]
Monday, September 22, 2008
The World Richest People;Ayman Hariri
Age: 27
Fortune: inherited
Source: Innheritance
Net Worth: 2.7
Country Of Citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Residence: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Middle East & Africa
Industry: Technology
Marital Status: married, 1 child
Georgetown University, Bachelor of Arts / Science
One of five children of slain Lebanese prime minister Rafik (see Bahaa, Saad, Fahd and Hind) to qualify for the billionaire ranks. Fills role of family's tech geek. Cut his teeth within the engineering ranks of the recently privatized satellite consortium, Intelsat, as well as at a Hariri-controlled South African wireless carrier. Then started closely held identity management software firm Epok; signed Dubai International Airport as a customer in 2004.
Fortune: inherited
Source: Innheritance
Net Worth: 2.7
Country Of Citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Residence: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Middle East & Africa
Industry: Technology
Marital Status: married, 1 child
Georgetown University, Bachelor of Arts / Science
One of five children of slain Lebanese prime minister Rafik (see Bahaa, Saad, Fahd and Hind) to qualify for the billionaire ranks. Fills role of family's tech geek. Cut his teeth within the engineering ranks of the recently privatized satellite consortium, Intelsat, as well as at a Hariri-controlled South African wireless carrier. Then started closely held identity management software firm Epok; signed Dubai International Airport as a customer in 2004.
The World Richest People; Nasser Al-Kharafi & family
Age: 62
Fortune: inherited
Source: Construction
Net Worth: 12.4
Country Of Citizenship: Kuwait
Residence: Kuwait City, Kuwait, Middle East & Africa
Industry: Engineering/Construction
Marital Status: married, no children
Runs $4.3 billion (sales) M.A. Kharafi & Sons in Kuwait, which has benefited from that nation's robust economy. His net worth rose thanks to rising share prices of several holdings including Mobile Telecommunications Co., National Bank of Kuwait, and Americana, operator of U.S. fast food chains. Avid BBC-viewer. Older brother Jassim is a politician in Kuwait parliament; sister Faiza is president of Kuwait University. Has construction contracts in Iraq. Is spending $250,000 over eight years to sponsor the Kharafi Kings, a Kuwaiti softball team that fields mostly U.S. players in a burgeoning league for expats working in the Middle East.
Fortune: inherited
Source: Construction
Net Worth: 12.4
Country Of Citizenship: Kuwait
Residence: Kuwait City, Kuwait, Middle East & Africa
Industry: Engineering/Construction
Marital Status: married, no children
Runs $4.3 billion (sales) M.A. Kharafi & Sons in Kuwait, which has benefited from that nation's robust economy. His net worth rose thanks to rising share prices of several holdings including Mobile Telecommunications Co., National Bank of Kuwait, and Americana, operator of U.S. fast food chains. Avid BBC-viewer. Older brother Jassim is a politician in Kuwait parliament; sister Faiza is president of Kuwait University. Has construction contracts in Iraq. Is spending $250,000 over eight years to sponsor the Kharafi Kings, a Kuwaiti softball team that fields mostly U.S. players in a burgeoning league for expats working in the Middle East.
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