Category: Yale Says No to Rich Donors

When Yale announced plans to build two new residential colleges, at a cost of up to $600 million, everyone assumed the university would follow the usual rules of college fundraising:
1. Find a billionaire alum.
2. Invite him to dinner with the university president.
3. Over a nice bottle of burgundy, casually mention that the […]

Ecstasea, the 285-foot vessel owned by oil magnate Roman Abramovich.

Big yachts need big crews. So it was only a matter of time before someone started a business to train the staff needed for all the giant megayachts being built around the world. And who better than the Royal Navy?
An article in today’s Journal by Stacy […]

It was only a matter of time before the padlocks and foreclosure notices started hitting the rich.
Granted, Palm Beach, Greenwich and Manhattan aren’t in danger of becoming the next Detroit or Cleveland. But as more of the wealthy face what they politely like to call “liquidity constraints” (read: out of cash), we’re going to […]

How would you like to be responsible for giving away $3 billion a year? You’d get to travel to exotic locales, earn a decent salary, and possibly help save the world. (And no, I’m not talking about the new Oprah show.) Sound like a dream job?
Not in reality. News this month that Patty Stonesifer […]

Jamie Johnson in New York (Credit: Thaddeus Harden)

My article on Saturday about Jamie Johnson and his new documentary, “The One Percent” generated loads of email from readers, and I wanted share some of the best.
Basically, the readers fell into two groups: those who praised Mr. Johnson for his courage in documenting wealth and inequality […]

The debate over taxing the rich tends to focus too much on changing the official tax rates. The real issue is getting the wealthy to pay their official taxes in the first place.

This article, by David Twiddy of the Associated Press, mentions two attorneys in Kansas City, Mo., who have been accused of helping wealthy […]

One of the best performances in Jamie Johnson’s new wealth flick “The One Percent” comes from Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko’s.

Paul Orfalea

“The One Percent” is a documentary about the growing wealth gap in America, and what Mr. Johnson sees as an increasingly isolated and self-serving elite. Yet Mr. Orfalea provides a refreshing contrast to […]

When Ferrari sales start dropping, you know we’re all in trouble.
According to the latest data from Autodata Corp., luxury-car sales took an unexpected tumble in January compared to the year-earlier numbers. Jaguar was down a whopping 52%, BMW down 27%, Porsche down 13% and Land Rover down 17%.
The biggest surprise was Ferrari, the favored ride […]

There’s a juicy little scandal unfolding in in Liechtenstein — whose national slogan might as well be “Why Pay Taxes?”
According to several articles today, including this one in the Journal, a former employee of a Liechtenstein bank (apparently the nation’s largest bank, LGT) stole loads of data about wealthy clients who are using the country […]

One of the many ill-considered side effects of the luxury craze is crossover design. Car makers are suddenly putting their names on watches (Bentley, Ferrari), watchmakers are putting their name on cars (Swatch), clothing designers are putting their names on private jets (Versace), and gownmakers are putting their names on suitcases (DVF).
What’s next? You guessed […]