The Real Lives of the Rich and Famous

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Wealthy people don't pay taxes. that's for the new money people who aren't very bright but got very lucky. Wealthy people set up family trusts that aren't taxable by inheritance taxes. The trust does pay taxes on the income it generates but the principle will probably just grow forever.
I did some work for a trust attorney and he managed one of the great fortunes in the US. Said the 4 heirs basically split the profits on the income it generated and although they always asked to tap into the principle, they never could by orders of the trust. 1 years checks for 1 of them was magnitudes more than I will ever earn in my lifetime and they blew through it every year like it was nothing.
Hmmm.

The two tragedies that I'm familiar with, are the Ford family and the heirs of Henry Kaiser.

Ford, of course, was a crank, touched in the head before he became senile. He hated banks, from the time he founded his first two Ford companies (both went bust but one of them became the Cadillac Motor Car Company, and bought by GM). He hated investors and partners, from the time Henry Leland tried to get Henry to take the rising Ford Motor Company in a different direction.

He hated accountants and bookkeepers. He kept no records of his expenditures - he estimated bills due by WEIGHING STACKS OF BILLS. Some of his clerks figured the monthly outlays to pounds of mail, and he used THAT to figure his monthly costs.

So Henry died, with his shares of FMC stock in the Ford Foundation - a "charitable foundation" without a stated purpose. An obvious, crude tax dodge.

The Ford family almost had to sell to pay the Estate Taxes. Actually they did - they went public in 1956, but constructed a stock-class scheme that gave the Ford Family total voting control. It would not be legal today; but back then, after 7 years of bribery and pettifoggery, the tax bill was settled.

Henry Kaiser was less lucky. He made his money with government road-paving contracts; then became the principal contractor to the Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) and then, bought a shipyard and then built a few more, to mass-produce Liberty Ships.

He wanted to build cars, and after a convoluted dance with bankruptcy, he wound up owning Willys-Overland - which had a new product, the civilianized Jeep.

With time, that operation grew. It was a small, profitable moneymaker - and Henry was branching out into large real-estate development in Hawaii; into broadcasting (Kaiser Broadcasting had UHF channels in a number of American cities). He had Kaiser Steel, Kaiser Aluminum, Kaiser Permanente hospitals.

He died, 1967. Without proper estate planning.

The Tax Man cometh.

EVERYTHING had to be sold, to pay the 40-per-cent estate taxes. Kaiser Jeep, sold to American Motors. The television stations, sold to other investors or closed down and the facilities sold. Likewise his industrial operations. Kaiser Hospital Corporation, converted to a non-profit.

These, the two Henrys, were not foolish or insubstantial people. Henry Ford was cracked, but he wasn't stupid. What Kaiser did, has yet to be duplicated by others. Today's entrepreneurs don't build; they immerse themselves in the gusher of seigniorage, becoming rentiers.

Taxes could have been reduced somewhat, but even if Kaiser had given his estate away before death, he'd have been hit with Gift Taxes. Henry Ford DID create a charitable foundation, and it wasn't enough for the tax collectors.
 

When Wealthy Families Go Broke Building A Private Island: The A&P Inheritance​

Nov 14, 2024

The heir to the A&P supermarket empire showed how wealthy families could buy nearly everything but, as we’ll see, not common sense.


17:52
 

When "Old Money" Families Fight Over Billions: The Dupont Family War​

Nov 16, 2024
For over a century, the Du Pont family built a multibillion dollar gunpowder empire, but eventually, their battle for supremacy would almost shatter America’s greatest industrial dynasty.


16:05

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Chapter 1
4:32 Chapter 2
7:35 Chapter 3
9:31 Chapter 4
12:19 Chapter 5
The DuPonts: When Your Family Makes Billions From War: • The DuPonts: When Your Family Makes B...
 

The Trump Family Children: Great Heirs or Destined To Fail?​

Nov 22, 2024

The children of Donald Trump, after the 2024 election, now represent the next evolution in dynastic politics, on the heals of a victory driven by a coordinated family effort and a ton of controversy.


22:25

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction
1:50 #1 Barron Trump - Inheritor of the Digital Age
5:03 #2 Tiffany Trump - The Wild Card in the Deck
8:14 #3 Eric Trump - The Square Peg in a Round Empire
11:55 #4 Donald Trump Jr.
15:28 #5 Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner
18:22 #6 The Trump Grandchildren
 

How a Painful Snub Marked the Beginnings of the Kennedy Compound​

The next time you’re denied entry to an exclusive club, you may just be one snub away from changing the course of history. Or at minimum, finding a really nice summer home. At least, that was the case for Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

For nearly a century, the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, is where one of America’s most influential families has come to celebrate, bond, play, and grieve. The sprawling six-acre waterfront estate, with its three white-clapboard houses and manicured lawns stretching down to the sea, has been the backdrop for some of the most pivotal moments in American history.

More:

 

The difference between old money and new money​

Nov 24, 2024 #youtube #news #stockmarket

The "old money" trend has taken Gen Z by storm, sparking fascination with what sets old money apart from new money. FFT Founder and CEO Keith Bloomfield joins Wealth! Host Brad Smith to discuss the differences between generational and self-made wealth, noting that old money is passed through trusts with a focus on preserving assets across generations. For new money, Bloomfield highlights that wealth creators often invest in alternative assets like private equity, hedge funds, and real estate to grow their capital faster. The democratization of information via social media has fundamentally changed the way people make money today, he says. Families understand how crucial it is to educate the next generation, Bloomfield explained. “If you have a multi-billion dollar family, there's a lot of responsibility that goes with that wealth, both to manage it properly, do good with it.”


6:04
 

How Elon Musk Used Donald Trump To Become The Richest Man Ever: The $334 Billion Election Secret​

Nov 30, 2024

Elon Musk has just been announced as the richest man in history, and his Donald Trump election support appears to be inextricably tied to this fact.

In today’s episode, we uncover how Musk’s carefully cultivated positioning intersected with crisis and opportunity, leading to a $334 billion wealth surge—an unparalleled triumph of strategy and timing.
It began with Musk’s methodical approach to politics, building bridges on both sides of the aisle.
From his early $2,000 donations to Bush and Kerry in 2004 to simultaneous support for Obama and Clinton in 2008, Musk constructed a narrative of neutrality while quietly amassing political capital.

*Read more below the vid on youtube.


17:34

The Musks: When $300 Billion Splits Your Family: • The Musks: When $300 Billion Splits Y...
 

The "Old Money" Families Who Created The NFL​

Nov 29, 2024

There are three "old money" families whose wealth and acumen for power helped laid the foundation for what would become America’s favorite sport before billion-dollar television deals or Super Bowl Sunday became an unofficial holiday.


The Maras of New York’s Lower East Side traded bookmaking for the risky venture of professional football, believing in the potential of a new American pastime.
The Rooneys of Pittsburgh saw a blue-collar city embracing a blue-collar sport, establishing the Steelers as a cornerstone of the community.
And in Texas, Lamar Hunt’s bold vision didn’t just challenge the NFL—it reshaped the future of professional football.
In today’s episode, we explore the incredible stories of these families and how their American dreams built the NFL into a cultural juggernaut.
In 1925, Tim Mara invested $500 to purchase the New York Giants franchise, a move that would change sports history.
Despite initial struggles, his foresight and persistence transformed the Giants into one of the league’s pillars.
In Pittsburgh, Art Rooney paid $2,500 in 1933 to establish the Steelers, drawing on his reputation in local sports promotion to anchor the team in its community.

You can read more below the vid on youtube.


23:49

The "Old Money" Families Who Built America (Documentary): • The "Old Money" Families Who Built Am...
 

Inside America’s Most Exclusive Schools: Where Wealthy Americans Send Their Children​

Dec 3, 2024

If you've ever wondered how elite society and wealthy families choose the best schools in America, in today's episode, we'll take you through private institutions where reality is far more complex than Hollywood stereotypes or social media myths suggest.

Take a moment and picture this: Your child sits around an oval table with eleven other students, confidently debating international policy with the daughter of a world leader and the son of a tech visionary.
These historic institutions, scattered across New England's rolling hills and pristine coastlines, serve as unofficial training grounds of American leadership, where students learn how to carry themselves in corridors of power, build lasting alliances, and lead with quiet confidence.
Their influence stems not from substantial endowments or ivy-covered buildings, but from creating an environment where excellence becomes the norm and achievement is expected rather than celebrated, as exemplified by Phillips Exeter Academy's Harkness tables where students defend their ideas with intellectual rigor.

Read more below the vid on youtube.


19:22


TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction
0:47 Chapter 1: The Architecture of American Power
4:30 Chapter 2: The Invisible Framework
9:11 Chapter 3: The Hidden Costs of Excellence
13:35 Chapter 4: America's Leading Preparatory Schools
 

The Rise, Fall, and Return of Sam Altman: A Silicon Valley Drama​

Dec 11, 2024

Sam Altman has built a controversial artificial intelligence empire that is competing with Elon Musk and others with such power that it scared his own board into firing him, only to watch nearly every employee threaten to quit unless he returned.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


18:02

How Elon Musk Used Donald Trump To Become The Richest Man Ever: The $334 Billion Election Secret: • How Elon Musk Used Donald Trump To Be...
 

Melania Trump: From Model to a First Lady's $6 Billion Empire​

Dec 13, 2024
While First Lady Melania Trump's personal fortune of $50 million might seem modest compared to her husband Donald's $6.5 billion... it represents an extraordinary journey from her modest beginnings in Yugoslavia to the heights of American power and wealth.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


15:54
 

When "Old Money" Families Become Bitcoin Billionaires: The Winklevoss Twins​

Dec 18, 2024

When "old money" families have a set of twins, it's unlikely they expect them to become Bitcoin billionaires and crypto bros.
Born in Southampton, New York, where they learned the value of both competition and connections, the Winklevoss Twins have a wild story that goes everywhere from Harvard to Facebook to Bitcoin and beyond.
Read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


14:08
 

Kimbal Musk: When Your Brother Makes You A Future Billionaire​

Dec 20, 2024

Being the "poorer" Musk family brother - meaning he's only worth $777 million - is rather like being the second-tallest mountain in the solar system - still an extraordinary achievement by any normal measure.

Read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


15:07
 

When Wall Street Was Owned By One Family: The Lehman Brothers​

Dec 22, 2024

At one time, the Lehman Brothers seemingly had Wall Street in the palms of their hands. By 2008, their family's name would be synonymous with the largest bankruptcy in American history.
Read more, including a time stamp, below the vid on youtube.


11:52
 

The Secret $30 Billion Asian Family Fueling the World’s Biggest Tech​

Dec 24, 2024

With over $30 billion in personal net worth, the Li family of Hong Kong is investing in tech with the Midas Touch that, arguably, only geniuses understand.
You can read more, including a time stamp, below the vid on youtube.


16:57
 

Why $20 Billion Couldn't Save The Family Who Founded Budweiser​

Jan 9, 2025

The Busch family who founded Budweiser, beneath their triumphant surface, darker currents swirl. The Busch saga is marked by shocking tragedies, bitter betrayals, and family feuds that would make Shakespeare's tragedies look tame.

The Busch family didn't just pass down a recipe - they passed down Budweiser, America's beer, the king of kegs, and the soundtrack to countless celebrations across generations.
From humble beginnings in 1852, when German immigrant Adolphus Busch first set foot in St. Louis, this dynasty would transform American brewing while amassing a fortune that would swell to $20 billion.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


17:55
 

The Beretta Family: 500 Years of Arming Every Major War​

Jan 13, 2025

For nearly 500 years, the Beretta family has transformed a humble barrel-maker's workshop into a $2.5 billion global arsenal that has armed every major conflict since the Renaissance.
In a fairy-tale villa nestled in the Italian countryside, crystal chandeliers illuminate display cases of the world's finest weapons. Here, teenage heirs to the Beretta dynasty learn their family's ancient craft - not winemaking or fashion design - but the art of forging the perfect weapon barrel.
While other billionaires build tech empires or fashion dynasties, this remarkable family has maintained their power through a single-minded obsession: the pursuit of precision in steel and gunpowder.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


16:36
 

When Your Family Makes $33 Billion From Chicken And Controversy: The Cathys​

Jan 25, 2025

You've seen the lines snaking around their restaurants, watched the debates rage on social media, and maybe even caught yourself wishing they were open on Sundays.
Through rain and shine, Chick-fil-A's drive-thrus overflow with devoted customers, while their every corporate decision sparks both passionate praise and fierce protest.
This decision costs them an estimated $1.2 billion in annual sales yet somehow makes their brand stronger.
The secret seems deceptively simple - exceptional food, service that puts competitors to shame, and a menu that isn't trying to be everything to everyone.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


18:54
 

The Russian Oligarch Who Can't Stop Partying: Mikhail Prokhorov​

Jan 31, 2025

This Russian oligarch who has moved to Israel, with a jaw-dropping $10.96 billion fortune as of January 2025, has turned getting rich into an extreme sport, and Mikhail Prokhorov's stake in Norilsk Nickel was perfectly timed to make a Swiss watchmaker jealous.
Picture yourself as one of Russia's most powerful billionaire barons after the fall of the Soviet Union, where your mathematical mind transforms communist factories into a capitalist empire worth billions.
From your Moscow penthouse, you could spend nights calculating billion-dollar deals or hosting supermodels on a superyacht so massive it needs its own support vessel.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


16:22
 
The Russian "oligarchs." Similar to the Sicilician Mafia.

Possible only with a weak, corrupt leader like Yeltsin, and a phalanx of unemployed ex-Soviet officials ready to put their skills to work.

And all this guy has to offer is...no, not skills. He didn't know electricity like Edison or machinery like Ford. He knows GOVERNMENT. How to bribe it; how to steal using it as a cover. How to set one faction against another faction; and how to sell your lie to the public, using media and agitators.

That's the Modern Way to get rich. Co-opt government. Manufacturing, designing, entrepreneurship, is for LOSERS. Those all work to benefit Government and its clients.
 

The Secretive Wealthy Family That Owns Zara: The $134 Billion Ortega Dynasty​

Feb 2, 2025

Behind the racks of Zara clothing lies a $134 Billion secretive wealthy family that has built empire while staying almost invisible — The Ortega family.

We’ve all spent a little too much time in Zara, convincing ourselves that another blazer won’t hurt our wallet.
The Ortega family, founders of Zara and Inditex, are the masters of silent wealth. Unlike other billionaires who race to build rocket ships and dominate headlines, the Ortegas move through their empire like ghosts—eating in company cafeterias, wearing unbranded suits, and quietly amassing one of the greatest fortunes in modern history.
At the heart of this story is Amancio Ortega, the Spanish entrepreneur who transformed fast fashion. Starting as a humble shirtsmaker in A Coruña, he and his first wife, Rosalía Mera, began stitching bathrobes in their living room. Their vision? To bring high fashion to the masses at lightning speed. What started as a small workshop soon became a retail revolution, launching Zara in 1975.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


17:59
 

The Secret Wealthy Family Who Started The Civil War: The Belmonts​

Feb 9, 2025

This secret wealthy family played a masterful political game when the American Civil War erupted, rebranding themselves as a Union crew while maintaining Southern business interests through their Democratic Vigilant Association.

When 24-year-old German Jewish immigrant August Belmont Sr. arrived in New York in 1837 with the Rothschild family's backing, he began one of history's most spectacular rises to power.
Within months, his August Belmont and Company had Wall Street dancing to its tune, as this ambitious newcomer transformed himself from outsider to puppet master of the Democratic Party.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


19:31
 

Inside Walton Goggins’s Enchanting 1920s New York Lodge | Open Door | Architectural Digest​

Feb 11, 2025

Today, AD is welcomed by actor Walton Goggins to tour his home in Hudson Valley, New York. When ‘The White Lotus’ star and his wife Nadia Conners decided to move east for a new chapter, it was an enchanting 1920s property that caught their eye. Built in the style of a Scottish hunting lodge, this prohibition-era property had not been touched in 100 years. With the help of AD100 designer Shawn Henderson, the couple worked to bring the house into the 21st century while preserving the property’s rich history. Despite the years of work, the renovation allowed Goggins to immerse himself in two of his great love languages, art, and design, as the couple brought their new vision to life. “I’m a poor kid from Georgia. How great is it to have our child grow up around art and music and great furniture and all these things that are so life-affirming and expansive?” the actor says, concluding, “This house has stimulated me in ways I’ve never been stimulated before.”


13:00
 
He can have it.

NEVER invest in property in an area controlled by totalitarian government. Especially not of the Marxist variety.

Rush Limbaugh, child of Missouri and having lived much of his adult life in Sacramento, California - back when California was Red, outside of the Bay and Lost Angles - he quickly accepted relocation to NYC as a condition to his going national. And at first, he loved it - loved not having a car, and having groceries delivered, and being able to walk to work.

Then, reality set in. As the Big Apple turned Bluer, as the screws tightened, as the media propagandists gave permission to the sheeplike Elites, to openly hate him...as the likes of Son-Of-Mario openly stated that he and his government wanted Limbaugh gone...as they chased him to Florida, for pittances in taxes owed (apparently if he worked a day while in New York, which for a time he had to visit as his network liaisons were in the WABC compound)...he would owe income taxes on money earned that day.

Since he was self-employed, and paid a salary out of his EIB holdings, that wasn't easy to figure. That meant MOAR of a mess.

Why do I bring this up? Because it is the nature of the Left to hate. Hate those better than the cult-leader. Hate those not as well off, that the cult-leaders hate. Hate opposition. HATE THEMSELVES.

Hatred and chaos and self-destructive behavior, is what separates the Left from rational humans.

I love New York. I was born in NYC. I lived almost half my life in NYC, Buffalo and the Southern Tier.

But as far as I'm concerned, the whole state can burn down. My family's cemetery plot is in Oneida County. I have a spot there. I'm going to get planted out here in Montana - I don't even want to go back to Gnu Yuck after I'm dead.
 

The $28 Billion Family Who Own The South: The Cox Dynasty​

Feb 17, 2025

The Cox family of Cox Cable and beyond has mastered the art of quiet dominance, controlling a $40+ billion empire while remaining largely unknown to the public.


24:19
 

The Billionaire From Poland Who Will Own Europe: Rafał Brzoska​

Feb 20, 2025
Polish billionaire Rafał Brzoska has emerged as Poland's answer to Jeff Bezos, transforming a struggling postal startup into InPost, a $10 billion logistics empire reshaping how Europe moves goods.
You can read more including a time stamp below the vid on youtube.


15:49
 

The Indian Family That Looted South Africa: The Gupta Dynasty​

Feb 27, 2025

The Gupta brothers of India recognized South Africa as a nation in flux, its institutions vulnerable and its newly empowered officials susceptible to influence.
In the dying days of apartheid, as South Africa trembled on the brink of democratic transformation, three brothers from a dusty town in northern India saw something that others missed entirely.
Where the world celebrated the birth of Mandela's "Rainbow Nation," the Gupta brothers - Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" - recognized a nation in flux, its institutions vulnerable and its newly empowered officials susceptible to influence.
You can read more below the vid on youtube.


18:06
 

Inside Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe Home – His Final Retreat​

Feb 27, 2025

Gene Hackman, the legendary actor, spent his final years in this stunning Santa Fe retreat. From towering log columns to a handcrafted kitchen and a wraparound veranda with panoramic views, this home was his sanctuary. Now, after his passing, questions arise about the future of this architectural masterpiece. Join us as we explore every breathtaking detail!


3:25
 

The Bankers Who Owned Europe: Jacob Fugger and His Family​

Mar 1, 2025

Jacob Fugger's fortune - equivalent to approximately $450 billion in today - helped this wealthy family be powerful all the way to this very day.
Your bank balance might impress your neighbors, but Jacob Fugger's wealth made emperors tremble.
While modern billionaires measure their fortunes in billions, Fugger's sixteenth-century empire wielded the kind of power that makes today's tech titans look like corner shop owners.
Read more below the vid on youtube.


20:53
 

Why The $62 Billion Family That Started IKEA Hides Their Fortune: The Kamprad Family​

Mar 22, 2025

While you've navigated IKEA's maze-like stores and struggled with Allen wrenches in countless living rooms, you've unknowingly participated in perhaps the most sophisticated wealth preservation system ever devised by a Swedish furniture dynasty.
Kamprad's financial wizardry centered on splitting IKEA into two legally distinct corporate groups by 1982, creating a structure so complex that tax authorities still haven't solved it forty years later.
The IKEA Group, officially INGKA Holding BV, owned by the Stichting INGKA Foundation in the Netherlands, controls most IKEA retail stores worldwide, while the Inter IKEA Group, controlled by the shadowy Interogo Foundation in Liechtenstein, owns the IKEA concept, trademarks, and franchising rights.
You can read mor below the vid on youtube.


21:51
 

The “Kennedys of Italy”: The Tragic Wealth of The Agnellis​

Mar 24, 2025
A Ferrari crashes in the darkness. A fashion heir falls from a bridge. A billion-dollar lawsuit pits mother against children. And the Agnelli curse strikes again.
They call them "The Kennedys of Italy" not just for their $13 billion fortune, but for their uncanny ability to transform triumph into tragedy with clockwork precision.
You can read more below the vid on youtube.


22:29
 
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