Who are the richest people in the world?

I do not know what value this information is to anyone. It is more or less an answer to the question, who are the richest people in the world? Following is a list of the 25 richest.

Jeff Bezos, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Amazon (Total net worth $99.6B). The richest man in the world!
Bill Gates, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Microsoft (Total net worth $89.9B)
Warren Buffet, Nationality: American (Total net worth $83.1B)
Amancio Ortega, Nationality: Spanish (Total net worth $76.2B)
Mark Zuckerberg, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Facebook (Total net worth $73.1B)
Carlos Slim, Nationality: Mexican (Total net worth $62.1B)
Bernard Arnault, Nationality: French (Total net worth $61.6B)
Larry Ellison, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Oracle (Total net worth $54.4B)
Larry Page, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Google (Total net worth $51.5B)
Ingvar Kamprad, Nationality: Swedish (Total net worth $50.6B)
Sergey Brin, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Google (Total net worth $50.2B)
David H. Koch, Nationality: American (Total net worth $47.8B)
Charles Koch, Nationality: American (Total net worth $47.8B)
S. Rob Walton, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Walmart (Total net worth $46.2B)
Jack Ma, Nationality: Nationality: Chinese (Total net worth $46.2B)
Jim Walton, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Walmart (Total net worth $45.6B)
Alice Walton, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Walmart (Total net worth $44.9B)
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, Nationality: French (Total net worth $44.3B)
Pony Ma, Nationality: Chinese (Total net worth $40.2B)
Mukesh Ambani, Nationality: Indian (Total net worth $39.8B)
Sheldon Adelson, Nationality: American (Total net worth $35.5B)
Hui Ka Yan, Nationality: Chinese (Total net worth $34.5B)
Steve Balmer, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Microsoft (Total net worth $34.2B)
Li Ka-Shing, Nationality: Chinese (Total net worth $33.7B)
Jacqueline Mars, Nationality: American, Source of wealth: Mars Candy (Total net worth $33.4B)

Amazon plans to create more than 100,000 full-time jobs in America

Amazon said Thursday that it plans to create more than 100,000 “full-time, full-benefit” jobs in the United States over the next 18 months.

That sounds wonderful!

Don’t expect Amazon to hire 100,000 coders, however. Much of its current and future workforce is made up of employees working warehouse jobs and answering phones. The average fulfillment associate annual salary is $24,000. That equates to $461.54 per week or $11.53 per hour. Of course if you don’t have a job, $11.53 an hour might sound like at least enough to put some food on the table.

Amazon packaging line

Amazon says the jobs will offer “highly-competitive pay, health insurance, disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company stock.” That is good!

Where are the middle class jobs? They are not at Amazon. They are not at Walmart.

Low paid jobs are now becoming the new normal in America.

Radio Shack and the ever Changing Retail World

Even before the internet became the 21^st century shopping mall major store chains saw their demise. The one thing that they all had in common was their inability to remain relevant at the time of their failure. There is no doubt that Amazon, E-bay and other internet sales companies have impacted the retail world but they only hastened those chain store closings. I believe there is more to the story than that.

A July 18, 1997 article in the New York Times offered this explanation for the closing of Woolworth’s 400 remaining five-and-dime stores. “Among discount stores, Woolworth is only the last, if the most prominent, victim of larger and stronger competitors like Wal-Mart and Target, which offer more selection, quicker checkout and often lower prices.”

Sol and Robert Price raise $2.5 million from friends and family to open Price Club on July 12^th 1976. That was the start of a new wave of warehouse stores that offer limited selection but dramatically lower prices. Part of their success was their ability to negotiate long terms for payment of the merchandise that enabled them to obtain the money to re-pay manufacturers after the goods were sold to their member consumers. Costco’s year to date total return is already 8.43%. Last year’s total return was over 35%. That company has a web site but drop by their stores on a weekend and finding a parking space is a chore.

The latest big chain to enter bankruptcy is Radio Shack. I remember when the chain was known as Allied Radio Shack and its primary goal was serving electronic hobbyists. The chain expanded far beyond that formula and that was its mistake. The chain did not adopt a new formula. Their prices are high and their mix of goods is unimpressive. I am amazed they have survived. “Two brothers open the first “Radio Shack” in Boston, a small retail and mail-order business supplying ship radio equipment and “ham” radios” according to a Radio Shack website.

Sadly Sears will probably follow Montgomery-Ward into a fond memory. The just don’t appeal to the current expectations of retail consumers.