Plutocracy: Of the techies, the most prominent on the Forbes 400 list in 1982 were David Packard (8) and William Hewlett (18). The top person on the then-list who would have been recognizable from 50 years earlier was David Rockefeller (5). His counterpart today is Warren Buffett (7 today), who was number 92 on the 1982 list. Richer than Buffett today we have Gates, Zuckerberg, Ellison, Bezos—and Arnault (LVMH) from fashion, and Musk from… I am not sure, he used to be tech-finance (PayPal), but since his companies have not yet made any serious money at all. (Below Buffett come, now, Page, Brin, Ballmer, and then tech dominance ceases):

Eric Rosen: The Changing Landscape of Billionaires since 1982: ‘In 1982, there were only 13 billionaires on the [Forbes 400] list and a net worth of $75mm secured a spot. The richest person in the US, was Daniel Keith Ludwig (shipping and R/E) and had a net worth of $2bn in 1982 or $6.2bn adjusted for inflation…. Steve Jobs, then just 27, described in his bio as a “computer freak” worth upwards of $100 million [$310 million adjusted for inflation]…. The list from 1982 had 22.8% from oil, 15.2% from manufacturing, 9% finance and only 3% from technology… < ericrosen.substack.com/…>

The Changing Landscape Of the Forbes Billionaires List Since 1982
4:41 PM
Dec 29