wealth

(Newser) - A cadre of 50 or so Russian businessmen struck it rich when the USSR's state-owned industries went up for grabs. But most of these billionaire oligarchs are now in prison or have fled, hounded and hectored by the KGB-style tactics of president Putin. The Guardian profiles 7 deposed plutocrats, who've...

(Newser) - The top bananas of the corporate world are taking in more income in relation to their immediate subordinates than ever before, the Times reports. Wealth is concentrating among the business elite but staying somewhat stagnant among more middling execs—the average gap between #1 and #3 has more than tripled...

(Newser) - The more powerful you become, the more oblivious you get, Richard Conniff argues in today's Times, as he takes a gander at explaining a recent spate of high-profile celebrity mishaps ($1.5 million totalled Ferrari, anyone?). Connif points to research at Berkeley that suggests power brings "disinhibition"—more...

(Newser) - The rich are getting richer, younger, and more geographically diverse, Forbes reports, with the number of billionaires up a whopping 19 percent, and their total worth up 35 percent to $3.5 trillion. Not only have billionaires been galloping away from the pack, they've been doing it earlier, bringing the...