14 Comments
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Jeanine Kitchel's avatar

Great post, Mike. I had no idea of Slim’s diversity. Guess he didn’t get the sometime moniker world’s richest by sticking to oil and gas. And you’re right—the name’s hard to beat.

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Mike Leavy's avatar

Thanks Jeanine. Yeah, I had no idea how all over the map he was either. Fingers in lots of pies, that's the way to do. it I guess!

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Lola the Dog Lady's avatar

what about Dane Hopper?

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Mike Leavy's avatar

Yeah, Dane Hopper is a pretty cool name too. I'll add it to the list.

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Fahim Iqbal's avatar

Thanks for reminding me about Carlos Slim, I remember hearing him back in 2012, when there was rumors he was going to own a Spanish soccer team called Getafe, (remembered mostly for the Burger King sponsor on their shirts), Crazy what type of team it would be if he actually owned them. Don't know if it would be a Man City or Chelsea like team though.

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Mike Leavy's avatar

Yes, billionaires don't always make the best sport franchise owners. They are often too distracted - they buy it for the prestige, and then get distracted by the next shiny object!

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Christy Brandt's avatar

So the moral if of the story is stay away from plastic army men an dodge challengers if you want to get rich? lol Thanks for the info, the changes in numbers of billionaires is interesting. Seems to follow the economic strengths of the countries (I think), or maybe it is more of a commentary on the strength or lack of middle class in each...

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Mike Leavy's avatar

Yes, I believe you have the moral right. I think the middle class observation is correct: larger middle class, larger consumer base, more rich people at the end of the feeding funnel.

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Victor D. Sandiego's avatar

Well, I didn't know Carlos Slim had so many other things going. I think of him when I pay for the phone, know he's out there somewhere counting (or probably, paying someone else to count) his money. Crazy rich, indeed... :)

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Mike Leavy's avatar

I picture him running down the halls asking if Victor D. Sandiego has paid his cellular bill yet. I'm sure it's happened more than once.

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Victor D. Sandiego's avatar

Oh, yes. More than once. Then he comes over and knocks on the door....:)

By the way, have you noticed that Substack no longer notifies you with an email when someone replies to your comment? I've got that option turned on, but it hasn't worked for several weeks. Is it just me? Other notifications still work.

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Nadine's avatar

"If, instead, you want to read a poorly written one, scroll back to the to," had me lolling!

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Mike Leavy's avatar

That's great - I aim to lol, good to hear that it is working 😉!

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Nadine's avatar

Nothing like a well written, witty piece of writing. A WWWW that's also informative.

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