the last i heard, bill gates was worth 60+ billions. of course, that was several years ago. still, how does lose 20 billion in a few years? (actually, i'm perfectly capable of doing that myself, so i'm no one to talk, but still...)
    ...oh, i get it, being 'worth' so much doesn't mean one actually does have as much. so i have to wonder; if a guy spends $100.00 at the racetrack on a long odds bet that pays off $1,000,000.00, is that what he's worth? (...or is that up to what the gal he's with thinks?) ain't no tellin' nuthin' til the race is over. maybe a gambling analogy doesn't work at all; this race has no end.

Crime pays? Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' Guzman makes Forbes' list of billionaires
By MARK STEVENSON,

6:37 PM PDT, March 11, 2009

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Who says crime doesn't pay? A suspected drug lord who is Mexico's most-wanted fugitive made the Forbes list of billionaires on Wednesday with a fortune described as "self made."

The magazine estimates Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's worth at $1 billion — No. 701 on the list, right between a Swiss oil-trading tycoon and a U.S. chemical heir. Dozens of other people were also tied for the spot.

It is unclear what Guzman thinks of the distinction. Forbes senior editor Luisa Kroll notes that "unfortunately ... Guzman could not be reached for comment."

Often described as Mexico's most powerful cartel kingpin, Guzman has been on the run with a $5 million reward on his head since 2001, when he escaped from prison apparently hidden in a laundry truck.

At the time, he was serving more than 20 years for criminal association and bribery. Mexican officials say he leads the Sinaloa drug gang, though Guzman has never been convicted on drug trafficking charges.

The government had no immediate comment on the listing, which includes an old photo of Guzman taken under police custody while wearing rumpled prison clothes unbefitting the world's alleged 701st-richest person.

Guzman, 54, is not the first drug trafficker to make the list; Forbes says Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar was once included, before dying in a shootout with the South American nation's security forces in 1993.

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