A billion here, a billion there, as the late Sen. Everett Dirksen once opined in a somewhat different context, and pretty soon you`re talking about real money.
His tongue tucked comfortably back in his cheek, Sen. Dirksen, of course, wasn`t talking about ”real” real money. He was talking about the government kind.
But Forbes magazine, in its annual list of the 400 richest Americans, was speaking of the real stuff, what`s left even after taxes. And it came up with 49 billionaires. That`s billion with a ”b” as in bountiful.
By any measure, a bumper crop of 25 new members joined Forbes`
billionaire club this year, most of them the beneficiaries of rising prices of their stock in Wall Street`s lingering bull market. Only two dropped out of the exclusive group.
USA Today figured a billion $1 bills stacked would reach 123 miles into the sky. Top man Sam Moore Walton`s personal pile of $8.5 billion would tower 1,045 miles.
For most of us, even the low side of those altitudes is way above nosebleed country. But it`s sort of nice to know that some people are taking Mr. Dirksen`s cautionary musings in a more literal sense. A billion here, a billion there. Who knows, one of these days Mr. Walton and his fellow club members may be talking about real money.
