Free Republic

China now has 596 billionaires, despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. The number of billionaires in China has overtaken that of the United States for the first time, an annual survey said on Thursday (Oct 15), calling it a "turning point" for the super-wealthy. Communist-ruled China now has 596 billionaires, up a "staggering" 242 over the last year, Shanghai-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report said, surpassing the 537 Americans. "The world used to look to American entrepreneurs ... for inspiration. This year, 2015, is a turning point," Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf told AFP. "This is the...

Sept. 28, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) - Three weeks after I left my job at the clinic, Planned Parenthood took me to court. I am always asked, “Why would they take you to court? Did they have something to hide?” Well, yes. They absolutely had something to hide. They didn’t want me sharing the information in this article. Let’s expose the truth, shall we? Yes, I do realize that releasing this information puts me in a precarious situation. But it’s always better for the truth to be out…no matter the cost. It was life changing. I remember the first time we were...

How do you spell hypocrisy? W-a-s-h-i-n-g-t-o-n P-o-s-t. The Washington, D.C., paper of record has spent the past year filling bird cages and landfills with stories about income inequality – 156 in print alone and another 404 in blogs or 560 total. Subtract one of those (listed twice in LexisNexis) that included the name of billionaire Post owner Jeffrey Bezos. The remaining 155 print and 403 blog mentions didn’t have any discussion of the newspaper’s fat cat owner. Yet, Bezos is now the fourth-richest American with a fortune of $47 billion, according to Forbes. He purchased the Post for $250 million,...

Progressive pundits increasingly envision the 2016 presidential election as a “last chance,” as one activist phrased it, to stop “climate change catastrophe.” As this agenda gets ever more radical, the prominence of climate change in the election will grow ever more obvious. The key here is that the green left increasingly does not want to limit or change the mix of fossil fuels, but eliminate them entirely, the faster the better. ... Climate activists such as hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer increasingly couch their policies on theological grounds, one reason why the pope’s intervention was so timely. Stark self-interest is...

MIAMI — One day in the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Marco Rubio, the young speaker of the House, strayed from the legislative proceedings to single out a lanky, silver-haired man seated in the balcony: a billionaire auto dealer named Norman Braman. This man, Mr. Rubio said in effusive remarks in 2008, was no ordinary billionaire, hoarding his cash or using it to pursue selfish passions. “He’s used it,” Mr. Rubio said, “to enrich the lives of so many people whose names you will never know.” As it turned out, one of the people enriched was Mr. Rubio himself. As Mr....

MIAMI — One day in the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Marco Rubio, the young speaker of the House, strayed from the legislative proceedings to single out a lanky, silver-haired man seated in the balcony: a billionaire auto dealer named Norman Braman. This man, Mr. Rubio said in effusive remarks in 2008, was no ordinary billionaire, hoarding his cash or using it to pursue selfish passions. “He’s used it,” Mr. Rubio said, “to enrich the lives of so many people whose names you will never know.” As it turned out, one of the people enriched was Mr. Rubio himself. As Mr....

Donald Trump has never declared bankruptcy, but his businesses have -- four times. The real estate mogul, television star and Republican presidential frontrunner filed for corporate bankruptcy in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. Three of the cases were related to his casino and hotel properties in Atlantic City, N.J. And even though more than six years have passed since Trump had his last run-in with Chapter 11, it remains a touchy subject. Trump was quick to clarify at the Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News in August that he had never filed for personal bankruptcy. Instead, he cast his...

An Egyptian billionaire’s offer to buy a Mediterranean island for refugees from the war-torn Middle East region to inhabit and build a new country was not well received by the intended beneficiaries. “Building a new country is too much work,” complained Muhammad Moosheer. “Why can’t we go to countries that will give us food and houses? Why should we be denied the benefits that America or Germany grant to their people?” US President Obama agreed, calling the job of building a new country from the ground up “daunting. Frankly, the idea makes no sense. There’s no need to reinvent the...

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is so impressed with Donald Trump’s success that he is now considering running for office himself. “I love the fact that he has changed the game. … The idea of imperfect candidates with forceful ideas opens the door for a lot of people that would not have previously run,” said Cuban, cautioning that if he were to follow Trump’s example, “My positions would be far different.” Cuban — who in the past has feuded with his fellow rebel billionaire — is hosting a Monday mega-rally for Trump at his Dallas arena. The Republican frontrunner called...

An Egyptian billionaire has offered to buy an island from Greece or Italy and develop it to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from Syria and other conflicts. Announcing the initiative on Twitter, telecoms tycoon Naguib Sawiris said: 'Greece or Italy sell me an island, I'll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country'. More than 2,300 people have died at sea trying to reach Europe since January, many of them Syrians who fled their country's four-and-a-half year conflict. His comments also come just days after heartbreaking images emerged of three-year-old...

Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island off Greece or Italy and develop it to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from Syria and other conflicts. "...I'll...host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country," he wrote...he said:..."You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees."...the "main thing is investment in infrastructure"..."And if things improve, whoever wants to go back (to their homeland) goes back," said Sawiris,...

It’s been a bad week for billionaires and climate change activists Tom Steyer and George Soros. Soros is being labeled a hypocrite for making a $2 million investment in coal while Steyer is catching flak after an investigation by Associated Press revealed that a California proposition Steyer backed in 2012 has not translated into the green energy generation and jobs that were promised.

Trump says he's prepared to spend $1 billion on campaign By Eugene Scott, CNN Updated 0202 GMT (0902 HKT) August 16, 2015 | Video Source: Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)—Donald Trump said Saturday that he's prepared to spend $1 billion on his campaign if necessary. "It's irrelevant," he said when asked by CNN's Jeremy Diamond outside the Iowa State Fair on how much he has spent so far on his campaign. "I make $400 million a year, so what difference does it make? What I want to do is make the country great." Pressed again later in the afternoon if he...

Hillary Clinton’s family foundation quietly updated its list of donors last week, significantly reducing the amount that it says has been given by a Mexican telecom tycoon whose company was recently accused of deceptive U.S. advertising. The little-noticed update to the website of the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation added contributions made in the first half of this year. But it also dramatically reduced listed contributions from billionaire Carlos Slim. Prior to the update, Slim was listed as a $1 million to $5 million contributor. The updated version of the site says he has donated between $250,000 and $500,000....

July 31, 2015 (NewsBusters) -- In response to a series of incriminating under-cover videos from The Center for Medical Progress about the major abortion provider, organizations have been cutting ties -- or denying ties -- to Planned Parenthood. But where nonprofits are concerned, tax records keep the story straight. Between 2010 and 2013, no fewer than 966 individual organizations donated to Planned Parenthood. Of those, 31 gave more than $1 million each during those four years, totaling $374,199,059. The seven highest donors made up $324.8 million of that. These largest Planned Parenthood donors include Warren Buffett, George Soros, Bill Gates, and others....

"He can't possibly win the nomination," is the phrase heard most often when Washington insiders mention either Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. Yet as enthusiasm for the bombastic billionaire and the socialist senior continues to build within each party, the political establishment is mystified. They don't understand that the biggest political phenomenon in America today is a revolt against the "ruling class" of insiders that have dominated Washington for more than three decades. In two very different ways, Trump and Sanders are agents of this revolt. I'll explain the two ways in a moment. Don't confuse this for the public's...

In 2012, six Republicans gave $5 million or more over the course of the entire presidential campaign. For 2016, nine Republicans gave $5 million or more in the first six months. Donors can contribute unlimited amounts to candidates' super PACs, and they have. Here are the nine Republicans who you need to know as their donations shape the primaries. Dan and Farris Wilks: $15 million The billionaire brothers made their fortunes in fracking, and along with their wives, are sending $15 million to boost fellow Texans Ted Cruz's presidential campaign. Robert Mercer: $11.3 million Mercer, a reclusive hedge funder from...

Two low-profile Texas brothers have donated $15 million to support Sen. Ted Cruz, a record-setting contribution that amounts to the largest known donation so far in the 2016 presidential campaign. Farris and Dan Wilks, billionaires who made their fortunes in the West Texas fracking boom, have given $15 million of the $38 million that the pro-Cruz super PAC, Keep the Promise, will disclose in election filings next week, according to sources outside the super PAC with knowledge of the giving. The siblings earned their riches with the sale of their company Frac Tech for $3.5 billion in 2011, and since...

Mark Cuban has had beef with Donald Trump for a while, and he decided to reignite his issues with the businessman once again. In some thoughts shared on the Cyberdust app for which he is a chief investor, Cuban questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks and whose net worth is estimated to be north of $3.5 billion, postured that Trump might not have the funds to make a legitimate push for presidency. His theory is based on the difference between theoretical net worth and actual cash assets. Here is what he posted:...

LACONIA, N.H. -- How much is of his personal fortune is Donald Trump willing to drop on his 2016 presidential campaign? Whatever it takes to come out on top, he told The Huffington Post on Thursday. “You saw my statement yesterday, so it’s pretty irrelevant,” Trump said, alluding to a press release in which his campaign placed his net worth in excess of $10 billion. “I’ll do what I have to do.” Trump has already contributed at least $1.8 million of his own money to his nascent White House bid, which he launched last month, but that may be only...