The 2008 World's Billionaires

What would you do with 1 million dollars? An even tougher question might be, what would you do with 1 Billion Dollars?!? Forbes magazine has released its latest issue on the billionaires of the world. Topping the list is the investment guru himself, Warren Buffet. Buffet is considered the world's richest man at 62 billion dollars of worth. According to Forbes, Buffet's net worth jumped about 10 billion in the past year. Last year's top billionaire was Microsoft founder, Mr. Bill Gates, who has slipped down to 3rd on the list after 13 years being named "world's richest". The man at number 2 is Carlos Slim Helú, a Mexican telecom tycoon who has amazingly doubled his worth to 60 bill in just 2 years.

You may not recognize many Americans on the list below aside from Buffet, Gates and Larry Ellison. According to Forbes' writeup, just two years ago the list of top 20 billionaires was half Americans. Now it includes just 4 Americans in the top 20. Amazingly the number 2 country after the US in terms of total number of billionaires is Russia.

Top 20 Billionaires of the World:

1 Warren Buffett
2 Carlos Slim Helu
3 William Gates III
4 Lakshmi Mittal
5 Mukesh Ambani
6 Anil Ambani
7 Ingvar Kamprad
8 KP Singh
9 Oleg Deripaska
10 Karl Albrecht
11 Li Ka-shing
12 Sheldon Adelson
13 Bernard Arnault
14 Lawrence Ellison
15 Roman Abramovich
16 Theo Albrecht
17 Liliane Bettencourt
18 Alexei Mordashov
19 Prince Alwaleed
20 Mikhail Fridman

See the entire list here at Forbes.

Also of interest is the breakdown of "Youngest Billionaires". Forbes states it's a record breaking year for young billionaires, as Forbes found 50 billionaires under the age of 40. 25 of these young rich people are new to the list. 60% of the under 40 billionaires built that worth entirely from scratch!

One of them is 23 year old Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard student and brains behind Facebook. His site has quickly exploded and received all sorts of buyout offers. He was profiled on Inside Edition Thursday night (which didn't give too much insight into his creative process). Inside Edition did toss it out there that Zuckerberg is single, so females looking to become part of a billionaire lifestyle, add him to your Facebook friends!

But another takeaway point from the young billionaires aspect is the fact that you can make money online with low or no startup funding. Sometimes all it takes is vision, creativity and a great idea put into motion! (via the internet of course)

View Forbe's complete section about Billionaires here. It includes everything from the Youngest Billionaires, Notable Newcomers and Rags to Riches stories.

Also see the previous Monetizer entry: A Billionaire's Mindstate.

Free Online Blackjack

The Monetizer used to be more of a gambler, with the game of choice being roulette. If you're reading this entry from anywhere besides the United States or Canada, you may enjoy the gambling site BlackJack Club which offers online black jack. BlackJack Club's motto is "where the smart players come to win". However, the smart players can only be gamblers in Europe and the rest of the world. Players outside of the US & Canada will surely enjoy the chance to play online slot machines, table games and fun 3-D games for free or money.

First off, BlackJack Club has a slick and stylish gaming look and feel to its site. Done in all black, red and white colors with great images of casino games, there's no question what the site is all about or has to offer. The site offers virtual casino gaming and some great promotions to give free money. In a current promotion, the site is offering to give gamblers a 50% bonus on their first deposit to the site. So if your initial deposit is $100, you'll be given $50 additional. On your second deposit the site is giving a 100% bonus. So $100 becomes $200, $200 becomes $400 and so forth. There's other promotions as well such as $100/pounds for getting a friend to join the site, weekend Double and Triple points on slot games and more! It's always nice to gamble with some free money for the chance to win even more money, so I'd fully recommend this site if you're the gambling sort from Europe or elsewhere. There's also loyalty reward points gamblers can accumulate for every 20 dollars or pounds bet in particular games. 25 Reward Points equal 1 US dollor or a pound. This encourages the gambler to continue playing while racking up more money to play with!

It still is unfortunate that the site won't allow players from US or Canada, but this is due to various gambling regulations and completely understandable. The site also offers some great looking, cutting edge 3-D games worth checking out at the link here:

http://www.blackjackclub.com/en/upcoming-games/

These games include table card games like "War", "Penguin's Playground" (a virtual slot machine based in a frozen Penguin world) and "Lucky Shot", a golfing game. All of the games look fun, so again it's a shame this isn't available in the US!

If you're outside of the US or Canada and enjoy gambling, stop by and check out BlackJack Club's free blackjack option where you can play for free on a Flash/instant play page. The site also offers support via phone, email or live chat for those needing assistance. With its fun gambling and game environment, BlackJack Club is sure to be a great site for gamblers around the world!

Ximmy & Minimum Payouts

A newer website the Monetizer has been promoting is called Ximmy.com. With this site you earn $10 per every 1000 points you earn as a member there. Points are earned by commenting (1pt) on submitted URL news or if a URL item you submit earns front page status (15 pts), making it very similar to Digg. Digg doesn't offer up any money to its users though which is why I'd prefer spending time giving Ximmy comments. Some people may say "who cares about $10?" but money for website participation is always nice.

Another aspect of Ximmy is if you become an affiliate of their site, you earn 50 cents per member you refer to join. Ximmy states that you'll receive payout once you've earned $25, and they start you with $5 for being an affiliate. Be forewarned with this, you will need to earn $25 in referrals "in addition" to the $5 you start with. So basically, refer 50 members, you'll be payed $30 the 1st of the following month.

Keep this in mind with most of the online earning programs. They may give an initial reward, like Widgetbucks or Shopping Ads both do, but then you will need to earn the minimum threshold amount "in addition" to what you start with. Either way, free money is free money!

If interested, check out the Ximmy site here.

Experience Rome with Romaclick

Of all the vacations I've taken so far, one of my favorites was definitely Roma, the historic city of Rome. Surveying the various historic statues, ruins, landmarks and ancient remains makes you feel like you're walking back in time, as a part of ancient history. It's quite impressive, from walking through the large open Colosseum where gladiators competed, seeing the gorgeous Spanish Steps, throwing a coin into Trevi fountain and viewing the beautiful Vatican along with its brilliantly painted ceilings. There was also the Boca de la Verdad or "Mouth of Truth". Most tourists stop by the statue of a face with an open mouth, and get a picture with their hand in the mouth. Legend says if you have one less hand after that it's because you aren't an honest individual.

I'd recommend everyone see Rome and all it has to offer at least once in their lifetime. If you need to plan this sort of trip, I also recommend doing your homework ahead of time. A website which can be quite helpful is Romaclick.com, which offers information on Rome hotels and Rome apartments should you decide to make an extended trip.

Romaclick.com is run by two individuals who know Rome quite well, Mauro and Paolo. As residents of Rome, they are familiar with all it has to offer, and able to give valuable advice regarding travel within Italy. Their website recommends plenty of hotel choices located central to all the major attractions of Rome. The best aspect of the site is that Mauro and Paolo have seen or been at all of the hotels their site recommends, allowing them to personally let you know of the benefits of any Rome accomodation. They give recommendations for areas travelers should consider staying at based on their age or financial ability. Overall, the Romaclick site has a great clean and stylish look to it, displaying an easily navigated menu, searches and advice along with pictures showcasing all Rome has to offer. One additional feature which stood out was how easy they make it to contact them for info. Whether using email, a live chat feature or Skype communication, they are ready to answer any questions or concerns a traveler may have.

I found the Romaclick site to be very comprehensive in what it has to offer travelers; everything from recommended places to stay, help with finding cars/transportation, bed and breakfast spots, tours and more. If I had known of this resource prior to my trip, it definitely would have been consulted for planning purposes. Visit Romaclick.com at http://www.romaclick.com/ for more info, and definitely see Rome if you get the opportunity. Ciao Bella!