Wall Street Folly

It's Official: We've moved! Our new home is www.wallstreetfolly.com

Please join us over at our new Wall Street Folly site.  We're still working out some kinks, but it's up and running! (Note, if for some reason you're not directed to that site, keep trying.  It gonna take a bit for the redirection of our wallstreetfolly.com url to be propogated through the system.)

Charlie Rose: A conversation with Bill Gates and his dad

Video: Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft

From the CES show: Featuring Bill Gates, Brian Williams, Jay, Bono, Steven Spielberg, Jon Stuart, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore, and from Microsoft: Steve Ballmer, Christine White, Lisa Brummell, Robbie Bach, Kevin Turner, Ray Ozzie, and Craig Mundie. (Around 8 minutes)

A Happy Birthday shout to Warren Buffett!

Warren Buffett is another year older today --- 77 years young.

Happy Birthday!

Back to school: Harvard's richest drop-out gets an honorary degree and delivers the school's commencement speech; Some LBO's fraying at the seams -- will Linens 'n Things Inc and others go down for the thread count?

                 

The Speechmaker: How Bill Gates Got Ready for Harvard Boom Aside, Not All LBOs Look So Hot

Hedge funds charge an arm and a leg -- now some are giving back; Siebel Systems founder pledges $100 million to University of Illinois alma mater when he expires; Bill & Melinda give $105M to U of WA; $100M anonymous gift to U of Chicago

   
             

Hedge fundraising Billionaire pledges $100M to university Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donates $100 million to U of Washington

Watch out Bill Gates: Carlos Slim Helu is now the worlds 2nd wealthiest and gaining fast

It's Carlos Slim by a nose (after Bill Gates):  Warren Buffett isn't the 2nd richest man in the world any more.  Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu has nudged him out with $53.1 billion to Buffett's $52.4 billion.  And he's catching up fast to Bill Gates who's got $56 billion.  According to Forbes:

Slim added $4 billion to his fortune in the two months since we locked in net worths for our annual billionaires rankings. His second-largest holding, Carso Global Telecom, which controls ubiquitous fixed-line operator Telmex, has jumped 15% in that time. His biggest holding, wireless operator America Movil is up 4% since it announced earlier this month that it was in talks to buy a third of Olimpia, the holding company that controls Telecom Italia. By contrast, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway shares have slipped slightly.

Carlos Slim Helu Now World's Second-Richest Man - Forbes

Bill Gates: He did it his way?

So have those singing lessons paid off?:  A 1997 Time Magazine article talked about how Melinda Gates was helping to broaden her husband's horizons --- by taking singing lessons together. (And she planned parties that included karaoke.)  It seems that he may have gotten to put those lessons to the test recently, where after a performance by Christina Milian at a party thrown by an unnamed billionaire for 15 people (including U2), Bill Gates grabbed the mike and belted out "My Way".   He also boogied during her performance....