Santa sleighs the opposition at top of fictional rich list
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Your support makes all the difference.The answer to all those rich lists that chart the wealth of the world's most successful materialists in such uncritical detail has arrived, and it comes from a most unlikely quarter.
Forbes magazine, the bible of America's business establishment, has produced a list of the world's richest fictional characters. In a piece of satire that sails close to the current unethical winds of Tyco and Enron, the compilers have included Lex Luthor, J R Ewing, Montgomery Burns, Gordon Gekko and Auric Goldfinger – a bunch who are, if anything, even more unappetising than their factual counterparts.
Among the top ill-gotten gainers are Luthor (rated 8, wealth: $4.7bn, or £3bn); Ewing (rated 9, wealth: $2.8bn), who is credited, Enron-style, with using "off-the-book partnerships to boost profits and hide debt"; Goldfinger (rated 10, wealth: £1.2bn); and Burns (rated 11, wealth: $1bn). The list says of the villain from The Simpsons: "Ability to wring profit from nuclear power envied within industry. Longtime dogged by charges of cutting corners on environment, worker safety. Remains unbowed." To which Burns replies: "If you can take advantage of a situation in some way, it's your duty as an American to do it."
But as you might expect from a list compiled by capitalism's house journal, the lion's share of fictional fortunes is claimed by such paragons of private enterprise as Santa Claus (rated 1, wealth: infinite), Willie Wonka (Britain's only entry, rated 6, wealth: $8bn), and Batman's business alter ego, Bruce Wayne (rated 7, wealth: $6.3bn). Of him, the list says: "Shares of Wayne Enterprises, where he is chairman, languish, based on lower-than-expected profits and Gotham City's sky-high crime rate." However, in the sly way of such lists, Forbes cannot resist adding: "Rumours swirl over habit of keeping teenage boys as wards of court." Nasty.
Bringing up the rear are Gordon Gekko (rated 14, wealth: $650m), whose ruthlessness is typified by his motto: "If you need a friend, get a dog"; and Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby (rated 15, wealth: $600m).
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