Institute For The Future

Where are the world's billionaires

"

 

 

Visualizations are great conversation starters: I just ran across Forbes' map of the world with the frequency and worth of each country's billionaires.

 

Today's Wall Street Journal has an op-ed criticizing Carlos Slim, the big green disc in Mexico, for having a monopoly over the telecom industry there and nevertheless speaking to the Inter-American Development Bank recently about lifiting minorities out of poverty. They point to his history of lobbying and litigating against deregulation and number portability which would allow smaller companies to get a foot in the door. Prices in Mexico are high compared to areas that have deregulated and coverage is not always available in rural areas, which could make or break entrepreneurs.

 

But before I could start a rant about Lorenz curves and the societal cost of allowing monopolies, my colleague Sean Ness reminded me that founders like Bill Gates, the blue disc in Washington, or Larry and Sergey, the mustardish discs in San Francisco, would scare shareholders if they took wads of money out of their company to donate to good causes. So instead they set up foundations and remain giant discs on Forbes' map of wealth.