4 ms·

Any reason why the Rothchilds never show up in these lists? My best guess there is some sort of "who's the richest game" for some new money players (who's fortu

by cies 10y ago

Any reason why the Rothchilds never show up in these lists? My best guess there is some sort of "who's the richest game" for some new money players (who's fortune can be tracked), where old money prefers obscurity.

notliketherest 10y ago
Most extremely wealthy people hide their wealth through corporations / trusts / etc and never show up on these lists.
- bpicolo 10y ago
  This sort of info isn't technically pure public knowledge, right? It's mostly estimated based on stock ownership figures where they're publicly listed I would guess? Probably less a matter of hiding than just not-public-info.
thesagan 10y ago
They may have it spread across a larger family and in opaque investment vehicles, etc.
conception 10y ago
http://www.snopes.com/rothschild-family-wealth/ http://www.snopes.com/rothschild-family-wealth/ Basically, after three generations a single persons wealth is distributed out enough to get dropped from these sorts of lists. Jeff might be the 2nd richest in the world - it's highly unlikely his grandchildren will be ranked as such.
- alex_young 10y ago
  Good point. One family that is directly measurable however: offspring of Sam Walton. Bill G is a distant second by that yard stick: https://www.forbes.com/profile/walton-1/ https://www.forbes.com/profile/walton-1/
  - jjeaff 10y ago
    And that's why the individual Walton's are usually on the list. They usually occupy around 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th places.
    - astrodust 10y ago
      When those fortunes split 3-5 ways again they'll be diluted down to 80th or so.
dopamean 10y ago
Or they're just not as wealthy as conspiracy theorists say they are.
bbctol 10y ago
The Rothschilds aren't that rich, and there's a lot of them. Old money may prefer obscurity, but it also doesn't go that far anymore.
- wahern 10y ago
  There being alot of them is, I think, precisely how they became so wealthy. Until the modern financial era, banking was predominantly built around personal relationships, and especially family relationships. A bank in London had no reason to cash a check drawn on a bank in Paris, or value a Letter of Credit given by a bank in Frankfurt, unless the London bank trusted the other bank would honor the liability, and honor it timely. This was especially true the larger and more complex the transaction. As a banking consumer you wanted to use a bank that would honor instruments from and have its instruments honored by the most and the most important banks across Europe. Those banks were often part of a consortium of family-owned banks, because under economic stress the family-owned banks would always honor their commitments to each other, and offer each other low-interest loans to help another member bank stay afloat.

by cies 10y ago

notliketherest 10y ago

Most extremely wealthy people hide their wealth through corporations / trusts / etc and never show up on these lists.

bpicolo 10y ago
This sort of info isn't technically pure public knowledge, right? It's mostly estimated based on stock ownership figures where they're publicly listed I would guess? Probably less a matter of hiding than just not-public-info.

thesagan 10y ago

They may have it spread across a larger family and in opaque investment vehicles, etc.

conception 10y ago

http://www.snopes.com/rothschild-family-wealth/ http://www.snopes.com/rothschild-family-wealth/ Basically, after three generations a single persons wealth is distributed out enough to get dropped from these sorts of lists. Jeff might be the 2nd richest in the world - it's highly unlikely his grandchildren will be ranked as such.

alex_young 10y ago
Good point. One family that is directly measurable however: offspring of Sam Walton. Bill G is a distant second by that yard stick: https://www.forbes.com/profile/walton-1/ https://www.forbes.com/profile/walton-1/
- jjeaff 10y ago
  And that's why the individual Walton's are usually on the list. They usually occupy around 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th places.
  - astrodust 10y ago
    When those fortunes split 3-5 ways again they'll be diluted down to 80th or so.

dopamean 10y ago

Or they're just not as wealthy as conspiracy theorists say they are.

bbctol 10y ago

The Rothschilds aren't that rich, and there's a lot of them. Old money may prefer obscurity, but it also doesn't go that far anymore.

wahern 10y ago
There being alot of them is, I think, precisely how they became so wealthy. Until the modern financial era, banking was predominantly built around personal relationships, and especially family relationships. A bank in London had no reason to cash a check drawn on a bank in Paris, or value a Letter of Credit given by a bank in Frankfurt, unless the London bank trusted the other bank would honor the liability, and honor it timely. This was especially true the larger and more complex the transaction. As a banking consumer you wanted to use a bank that would honor instruments from and have its instruments honored by the most and the most important banks across Europe. Those banks were often part of a consortium of family-owned banks, because under economic stress the family-owned banks would always honor their commitments to each other, and offer each other low-interest loans to help another member bank stay afloat.