Of Texas billionaires, basketball and such

I've got the ball, says Mark Cuban

We don't write about Ross Perot, Jr. here too much. But as readers know, we do post often about that crazy-guy-owner of the one-and-out Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban.

Well know it seems as if Ross Perot's previous ownership of the Mavs (pre-Cuban) entitles him to throw spitballs at Mark Cuban. (Mr. Perot has retained a small minority ownership in the Dallas basketball team through his Hillwood Investment Properties III Ltd. company).

Ross is claiming the Dallas NBA team is close to financial insolvency. Cuban is quoted as saying the "Mavs are just fine."

We know the NBA has not been doing well financially as a league in recent years, however we doubt the Dallas Mavericks are on the brink of financial ruin.

We also doubt we will be following this Texas billionaire shoot-out in the near future. But, you can.

Sleep well future billionaire

Is Warren Buffett as ethical as he and his public relations team really says?

Warren Buffett has successfully convinced and by-passed numerous potential scandals in his career such as connections with AIG insurance, his involvement with Soloman Brothers and more recently with his shareholding with Moody's and their bond rating problems.

Recently he made a timely and successful investment in Goldman Sachs.

Will Warren Buffett, once again, maintain his lily-white image during his shareholder meeting in connection all that is Goldman Sachs??? Or, is the Warren Buffett charm offensive running out of steam???


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Warren Buffett to U.S. Senate: Help Me

It now turns out that Warren Buffett is just like all the other billionaires who eventually turn to the federal government to help them out of a jam. Yeah ... long term investor my ....

"Among the considerations still in the balance: A big provision being sought by Warren Buffett in recent weeks. A key Senate committee had changed its proposed overhaul of derivatives regulation after lobbying by Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., potentially helping the famed investor avoid a financial hit, congressional aides say."

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"Billionaire Party Boy" (Burkle) likes Philadelphia Freedom Properties (dead media)

"Billionaire Party Boy" is a term used by the NY Post to describe the California billionaire college drop out Ron Burkle, is interested in buying several Philadelphia newspapers.

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Party Boy Ron is having a pretty active 2010, if you ask us.

He is mixed up with Harvey Weinstein regarding some Miramax funding plans.

He has left Yahoo's board of directors. (Good move Ron, IOHO)

And earlier this year, Ron let some more info about former President Bill Clinton be known to the world at large.


In any event, let's keep a close eye on Ron Burkle during the rest of the year. Ok?

How to negotiate with a BK candidate .... Buffett-style

It was in 2008 that Warren Buffett was on the receiving end of many phone calls from New York and Dick Fuld, Lehman’s former chief executive, and others with the deal of the month for Berkshire to come to the rescue of that financial disaster of an investment bank known as Lehman Brothers.

What did Warren Buffett do? He read the Lehman annual report, asked a few questions (got answers he didn't like), ate some more ice cream (his favorite dish), and then stopped answering phone calls from New York (effectively saying no to the deal).

Read further about the Lehman soap opera:


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What about U.S. billionaire geeks???

With Carlos Slim winning the "2010 Forbes Billionaire Contest" (our title), he displaces Microsoft's Bill Gates for the World Billionaire Thrown. Not only was Bill Gates on top of the money list for an extended time, Mr. Slim represents the first non-U.S. citizen to gain the title.

So, we here at Think Billion$, started to feel a little sorry for our U.S. technology billionaires. (yes, including Mr. Gates) We put together a little list of tech billionaires that, at least, will get their names favorably mentioned.

Here is the tech list (below). Can you name the companies they are each associated with (without looking it up?)

Bill Gates: $53 billion.
Larry Ellison: $28 Billion
Sergey Brin & Larry Page: $17.5 Billion Each
Steve Ballmer: $14.5 Billion
Paul Allen and Michael Dell: $13.5 Billion
Jeff Bezos: $12.3 Billion
Eric Schmidt: $6.3 Billion
Steve Jobs: $5.5 Billion
Pierre Omidyar: $5.2 Billion
Mark Zuckerberg: $4 billion.

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Carlos Slim at $53.5 billion tops world's billionaires

Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico beat Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett for the top spot on Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires, becoming the first person from outside the United States to lead the rankings in 16 years.


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Carl Icahn closes on the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort

Billionaire investor and financier Carl Icahn has acquired the unfinished hotel and casino Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Icahn picked up the casino property after a Florida court approved the offer last month following the Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC bankruptcy filing and inability to complete the resort.

Icahn Enterprises closed on the hotel and casino on Thursday this past week for about $150 million. The deal is structured: $105 million in cash, plus $45 million in debt.

Billionaire Superhero 'Tony Stark' in the upcoming "Iron Man 2" this May

Movie Synopsis

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster film based on the legendary Marvel Super Hero "Iron Man", reuniting director Jon Favreau and Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. In "Iron Man 2", the world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the armored Super Hero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands.


USA Today preview: "To continue to savor Downey's distinctive reinvention of a comic-book crusader while checking out comeback-kid Rourke's whip-snapper of a villain." 1/22/10



Iron Man 2

Indian billionaire bids for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Reliance's Ambani expected to bid for MGM

Anil Ambani, the Indian billionaire, is expected to bid for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the iconic but beleaguered Hollywood studio.

MGM, whose hits have included Ben Hur, the Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind, has put itself up for auction after struggling to service debts of $3.7 billion (£2.27 billion), the legacy of a 2005 leveraged buyout.


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Billionaire investor Chanos says to short China Inc.

Contrarian Investor Sees Economic Crash in China




NY Times article

Billionaire Paul Allen Wants to Know: The secret to happiness???

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Tiger Woods costs shareholders $12 billion

If you own stock in AT&T, American Express or other companies, Tiger Wood's extramarital affairs has already cost you if you hold stock in a company he sponsors or a mutual fund that holds stock in those companies.

"Total shareholder losses may exceed several decades' worth of Tiger Woods' personal endorsement income," said Victor Stango, a professor of economics at the University of California, Davis and co-author of the new definitive study on the subject.

Professor Stango examined stock market returns for the 13 trading days that fell between Nov. 27, the date of the car crash that ignited the Woods' scandal, and Dec. 17, a week after Mr. Woods announced his indefinite leave from golf. He compared the stocks to the total market and to competing stocks, plus they looked back four years to get a sense of how the stocks have historically done in comparison to the market and to competitors.

Tiger Woods is now a drain on capitalism itself (sorry to say)!