What would you do if you’d a few billion lying around?
With over 350 addictively good Sky Box Sets to choose from, the new US hit show ‘Billions’ is arguably the pick of the bunch right now.
Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti lead an impressive cast in the story of U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades as he goes after hedge fund king, Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, in a battle between two of New York’s most powerful figures.
Axelrod, Damien Lewis’ character in Billions, seriously likes to splash the cash.
With this in mind, here are the world’s most wealthy billionaires in real life, according to Forbes.
Entirely coincidentally, we’re off to ask the boss for a pay rise…
5) Jeff Bezos
Net worth: $45.2bn
Made their fortune: Founder and CEO of Amazon.com, he also has strong business interests in aerospace and newspapers.
Did you know? He has investments in Google, Twitter, Airbnb, Uber and Blue Origin to name just a select few.
He has also shelled out $42 million of his own money towards the construction of The Clock of the Long Now, a mechanical clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years, which is located on land he owns in Texas.
4) Carlos Slim
Net worth: $50bn.
Made their fortune: He has extensive holdings in a considerable number of Mexican companies. He’s also the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and América Móvil, Latin America’s largest mobile-phone carrier.
Did you know?:Â He prefers to use a pen and paper rather than a computer.
He also likes art. A lot. So much so that he opened a museum in Mexico City in 2011, the Museo Soumaya, named after his late wife, Soumaya Domit, who passed away in 1999.
It is reported to house $700 million worth of art, including the largest private collection of works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin.
3) Warren Buffett
Net worth: $64.4bn
Made their fortune: He’s the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway. The company has interests in Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom and has significant investments in Wells Fargo, IBM and Coca-Cola.
Did you know: Buffet has pledged to give away 99% of his fortune to charity.
Although not usually one for extravagant demonstrations of his wealth, he did splash out a reported $6.7 million (in 1989) on a private jet, which he called ‘The Indefensible’.
2) Amancio Ortega
Net worth: $67bn
Made their fortune: Founder and chairman of the Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara clothing stores. Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear and a vast real estate portfolio all add to his wealth.
Did you know?: He likes to keep a low profile and until 1999, no photograph of Ortega had ever been published.
Property is where Ortega spends most of his billions. His real-estate empire is believed to be worth in the region of $10 billion; as recently as June of this year, he purchased a hotel in Park Avenue in New York for a reported $68 million.
1) Bill Gates
Net worth: $75bn
Made their fortune: Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Microsoft. The rest is history.
Did you know?: Like Mark Zuckerberg, he dropped out of college.
His house, meanwhile – which took seven years to build, cost approximately $63 million and is named Xanadu 2.0 after the title character’s estate in Citizen Kane – is as amazing as you’d expect for the world’s richest man.
It is huge (66,000 square feet), has a pool with its own underwater music system, a trampoline room, a 23-car garage, a library that contains a $30 million manuscript and 24 bathrooms.
And a toaster. Probably.
All figures from Forbes
Catch every episode ever of the US hit show Billions, exclusively on Sky Box Sets. Enjoy over 350 titles, with new series added every month.
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