Category Archives: Rich people

Jet shopping? Here’s the place to go

Meltdown Coprate Jets.JPG If you’re interested in buying a new jet – and who isn’t these days – you should check out The Jet Business website.

Or better yet, visit The Jet Business showroom in London. The one in England. Apparently it’s the place to visit if you have a few million bucks to spare and don’t care about soaring fuel prices. And you might run into some interesting folks.

The showroom is “designed to provide high net worth individuals, government officials, royalty and influential corporate executives with a place to plan their business jet sale or purchase with experts,” says a news release.

Apparently The Jet Business treats clients pretty nice. The company provides “unparalleled expert advice, access to the world’s most extensive aviation information library, consultations on tailor-made interior concepts and a lifetime entitlement to service and aftercare,” according to the website.

Lifetime entitlement — that sounds good.

I don’t hang out with any high net worth individuals, but it’s nice to know they have a place to shop for aircraft.

Here’s the website: The Jet Business

Photo: AP archives

Burning your bridges with style

Former Goldman Sachs exec Greg Smith has set a new standard for burning your bridges.

Smith didn’t resign with a graceful note to HR. Nope. He blasted his former employer with an editorial in The New York Times. He questioned Goldman’s “moral fiber” and said he was sickened by former colleagues who put their own financial gain ahead of their clients’ best interests.

The notion that rich investment bankers would squeeze money from their ultra rich clients isn’t exactly surprising. I was, however, shocked to learn that some of the Goldman boys referred to clients as “muppets.” To turn the beloved muppets into a term of derision crosses the line.

Goldman needs to apologize immediately to Kermit and friends.

Meanwhile, the rest of us can celebrate Smith’s entertaining exit.

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Really rich is fiction

Despite the recession, the number of U.S. millionaires rose 15 percent to 4.7 million last year, according to a report released last week by Boston Consulting Group.

That’s a lot of millionaires. You may be living next door to one and not even know it.

But if you’re looking to rub elbows with the truly wealthy, the real money is in fiction. Mere millionaires are no where to be found on Forbes 2010 Fiction 15, a list of the richest fictional characters.

Tops on the list is Carlisle Cullen, multi-billionaire vampire and small town doctor of Twilight fame. He’s one of six newcomers on this year’s Fictional 15.

See the complete Forbes list here.