American oligarchs: Inside the minds of the country’s wealthiest people
Liz Jassin, Nexstar Media Wire Jul 3, 2022 / 02:00 PM CDT
(NewsNation) — Russia may have given “oligarchs” a bad name, but other countries have them, too. They’re private citizens who are unbelievably rich, unbelievably powerful and seemingly unavailable to their fellow citizens.
This week NewsNation’s “Banfield” did a deep dive into the oligarchy of America, which has more of these people than any other country on earth. NewsNation’s Brian Entin spoke with former employees of the oligarchs, journalists and technology experts about these mysterious billionaires.
Elon Musk: $221.4 billion net worth.
“Elon sleeps in the factory in his sleeping bag,” Joe Justice, a former Tesla employee, said. “Elon is accessible. If you’re also working on the most important thing, then Elon is there. You can always email, or chat, or message Elon. Or walk over.”
The Tesla and SpaceX owner is also trying to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
Twitter’s board has recommended unanimously that shareholders approve the proposed $44 billion sale of the company to billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to a regulatory filing last week.
“I think it is way too much power,” Dr. Nolan Hidgon, the author of “The Anatomy of Fake News,” said. “Historically, wealthy individuals have bought media platforms to manufacture consent from the public, for their economic and political interests.”
Jeff Bezos: $135.3 billion net worth.
The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, was the first human to reach a net worth of $100 billion and $200 billion. From 1990 to 1994, Bezos worked for one of the most successful hedge funds on Wall Street for D.E. Shaw & Co., New York.
Its founder, David Shaw, tasked Bezos with figuring out what could be sold on the internet for the highest profit. Bezos pitched the idea of books, which is how Amazon began.
“Bezos built this empire on the strength of starting with books, but he understood early on that he was aiming to be the so-called ‘Everything Store.’ Eventually, he could become this sort of middle merchant between the factories of the world and the households of the world,” New York Times Global Economics Correspondent Peter S. Goodman said on “Banfield.”
Bezos stepped down as CEO in July 2021, handing over the reins as the company navigated the challenges of a world fighting to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
“He’s one of the wealthiest men to ever live in the entire world. He’s doing that, it seems, by cutting costs when it comes to average entry-level employees. There were all these reports about Amazon employees trying to unionize, just to get some basic rights. To get breaks,” New York Post Business Reporter Lydia Moynihan said. “He seems like he’s the kind of person who’s willing to do whatever it takes to maintain his empire.”
“There’s no question that Bezos has very unapologetically set up a pressure cooker environment where he’s extraordinarily demanding,” Goodman added.
(moar at link, including Bill Gates w/$124.1 billion net worth, Mark Zuckerberg w/$55.5 billion net worth, and Larry Ellison w/$49.3 billion net worth)
https://kfor.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/american-oligarchs-inside-the-minds-of-the-countrys-wealthiest-people/