Hip Hop or Comedy (first billionaire)

Revolt TV is the latest enterprise by Sean John (Diddy) Combs (age 44) born Harlem, New York . He is now considered the front runner to be the world's first hip hop billionaire.

Jerry Seinfeld (age 59) and Larry David (age 66) seem to be the front runners to be the world's first comedy billionaires. Chuck Lorre is also in the running, although he is a behind the scenes comedy person.

While the comedians seem closer to the financial goal, they seem to be moving at a slower pace than the younger hip hop guys.


Guy Laliberte is often called the first billionaire clown, but although comedy is a part of the circus, I wouldn't call him a comedian.

Quote: Pacomartin

is now considered the front runner to be the world's first hip hop billionaire.

I still don't what hip hop is exactly but I don't think I want to.
Mickey Spillane was fond of saying that high brow writers never got over the fact that America sold more salted peanuts than caviar.
His famouns "Hemingway who?" comment brought down the house. Maybe the networks are learning: motorcycles make more money than computers.

With what passes for comedy these days, its even worse.

Bing Crosby and Bob Hope were comedy millionaires... though the money came from frozen foods, post offices, etc. Ester Williams had a head for figures too. And Randolph Scott read the Wall Street Journal on a movie set never claiming to be an actor and once sending a print of one of his films to prove it.

Quote: Fleastiff

I still don't what hip hop is exactly but I don't think I want to.

The words "hep" and "hip" originated in black slang, as far back as 1900. The word "hop" refers to broad physical movement, and in particular break dancing.

If Sean Combs makes billionaire, I think he will be the first one born in Harlem.

Quote: Pacomartin

The words "hep" and "hip" originated in black slang, as far back as 1900. The word "hop" refers to broad physical movement, and in particular break dancing.

Yeah, a hep cat was one who was hip to the beat. Now as for "hop"... I thought it was derived from hophead, a guy with a monkey on his back despite a few stays at the Hotel California.

Quote: Pacomartin

If Sean Combs makes billionaire, I think he will be the first one born in Harlem.

H'mmm, lets see now. Harlem was originally a good hill to live on in NYC, then it became a very black area for decades so there may have been some wealthy types in the first incarnation of Harlem. Even in the second incarnation, you had Stephanie (Queenie) St.Clair, who although most famous for running all the policy books in Harlem ran a great many other rackets as well, including prostitution, abortion, race parlors, business licenses and breweries.

Quote: Fleastiff

Even in the second incarnation, you had Stephanie (Queenie) St.Clair,

In 1987, Forbes found 140 billionaires including 96 outside of the U.S. If such a list existed in 1969, I am sure that Madame St. Clair was not on the list.
Generally John D. Rockefeller was the first billionaire in the world. He was declared as such on September 29, 1916.

Columbian drug dealer Pablo Escobar was probably the worst criminal to be considered a billionaire.

Certainly men throughout history would have a proportional wealth of a billionaire, but without the monetary system that existed since the 1870's, they are not counted.

The original 1987 billionaire's list (only Americans).
1, Walton, Sam Moore, $8500, Bentonville, Ark., Wal-Mart Stores, 69, R
2, Kluge, John Werner, $3000, Charlottesville, Va., Metromedia, 73, M
3, Perot, Henry Ross, $2900, Dallas, electronic data management, 57, T
4, Packard, David, $2870, Los Altos Hills, Calif., Hewlett-Packard, 75, T
5, Newhouse, Samuel Irving Jr., $2350, New York, publishing, 58, M
7, Crown, Lester, $2100, Chicago, inheritance, industrialist, 62, MF
8, Murdoch, Keith Rupert, $2100, New York, publishing, 56, M
9, Buffett, Warren Edward, $2100, Omaha, Neb., stock market, 57, F
10, Wexner, Leslie Herbert, $2100, Columbus, The Limited Inc., 50, R
11, Pritzker, Robert Alan, $1900, Chicago, financier, 61, F
12, Pritzker, Jay Arthur, $1900, Chicago, financier, 65, F
13, Bronfman, Edgar Miles, $1800, New York, Seagram Co., 58, MF
14, Chambers, Anne Cox, $1800, Atlanta, inheritance (Cox Enterprises), 67, M
15, Anthony, Barbara Cox, $1800, Honolulu, inheritance (Cox Enterprises), 64, M
16, Arison, Ted, $1800, Miami Beach, Fla., cruise ships, banking, 63, S
17, Taubman, Adolph Alfred, $1500, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., real estate, art, 62, RE
18, Hillman, Henry Lee, $1500, Pittsburgh, industrialist, 68, F
19, Davis, Marvin Harold, $1450, Denver, oil, entertainment, real estate, 62, OG
20, Hewlett, William Redington, $1450, Portola Valley, Calif., Hewlett-Packard, 74, T
21, Helmsley, Harry Brakmann, $1400, New York, real estate, 78, RE
22, Anschutz, Philip Frederick, $1350, Denver, oil, investments, 47, OG
23, Busch, August Anheuser Jr., $1300, St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, 88, MF
24, Dorrance, John Thompson Jr., $1300, Gladwyne, Pa., inheritance (Campbell Soup), 68, MF
25, Petrie, Milton Jack, $1300, New York, Petrie Stores, 85, R
26, Kauffman, Ewing Marion, $1300, Mission Hills, Kan., Marion Laboratories, 71, MF
27, Hunt, Ray Lee, $1300, Dallas, inheritance, oil, real estate, 44, OG
28, DeBartolo, Edward John, $1250, Youngstown, Ohio, shopping centers, 69, RE
29, Gates, William Henry III, $1250, Seattle, Microsoft, 31, T
30, Bren, Donald Leroy, $1250, Newport Beach, Calif., real estate, 55, RE
31, LeFrak, Samuel Jayson, $1200, New York, real estate, 69, RE
32, Bass, Robert Muse, $1200, Fort Worth, Texas, oil, investments, 39, F
33, Gaylord, Edward Lewis, $1150, Oklahoma City, broadcasting, publishing, 68, M
34, Mars, Forrest Edward Sr., $1150, Las Vegas, Nev., candy, 83, MF
35, Mars, Forrest Edward Jr., $1150, McLean, Va., candy, 56, MF
36, Mars, John Franklyn, $1150, Arlington, Va., candy, 53, MF
37, Vogel, Jacqueline Mars, $1150, Bedminster, N.J., candy, 48, MF
38, Simmons, Harold Clark, $1150, Dallas, investments, 56, F
39, Goldman, Sol, $1100, New York, real estate, 70, RE
40, Hill, Margaret Hunt, $1100, Dallas, inheritance (oil), 72, OG
41, Bass, Sid Richardson, $1100, Fort Worth, Texas, oil, investments, 44, F
42, Bass, Lee Marshall, $1100, Fort Worth, Texas, oil, investments, 31, F
43, Tisch, Preston Robert, $1000, New York, Loews Corp., 61, F
44, Tisch, Laurence Allan, $1000, New York, Loews Corp., 64, F
45, Rockefeller, David, $1000, New York, inheritance, banking, real estate, 72, F
46, Stern, Leonard Norman, $1000, New York, pet supplies, real estate, 49, MF
47, Lindner, Carl Henry II, $1000, Cincinnati, insurance, banking, 68, F
48, Milliken, Roger, $1000, Spartanburg, S.C., textiles, 71, MF
49, Kroc, Joan Beverly, $1000, La Jolla, Calif., inheritance (McDonald's), 59, F

Quote: Pacomartin

Generally John D. Rockefeller was the first billionaire in the world. He was declared as such on September 29, 1916.

You have to wonder how much the Rockefeller family
is worth even today. When the old man died, his fortune,
in today's $, is estimated to be 450-600 billion. The richest
man there ever was or probably will be.

His grandsons, like Nelson, lived like Saudi princes. Nelson
never had a drivers license. He never carried cash or even
credit cards. He was was surrounded by body guards and
his 'people' all his life. If he went into Tiffany's and spent
a few thousand, he never asked the price and one of his
'people' took care of it. He appeared in the press like he
was a normal person, but it was far from the truth.

The Rockefeller family has so much old imbedded wealth
there is no way of even estimating what their real value
is. They're like the Royal Family, the kids are taught how
to be Rockefeller's from an early age, it's a way of life.

"The first billionaire in hip hop right here from the motherf----n West Coast," Dre announces.

He later took down the post, but he may be correct. Apple is in talks to buy Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion, according to several news reports.

Dr. Dre just purchased Tom Brady’s multi-million dollar mansion in Los Angeles. According to TMZ, Tom Brady and his wife, Gisele Bündchen, listed their home for $50 million dollars after it was just done being built, and after receiving several offers from different buyers, the power couple decided to accept Dr. Dre’s $40 million dollar offer.