Status, conferences, media influence, philanthropy, politics, billionaire politics, sports teams.
Think tanks look like universities and work like influence machines. Here’s how the wealthy fund policy research, what the money buys, and why single-donor networks changed everything.
Forbes counts 3,428 billionaires — and quietly leaves some of the richest people alive off the list. Here’s why state-adjacent wealth stays invisible, and how we know it exists.
Why do billionaires pay $10 billion for teams that barely turn a profit? Inside the scarcity, status, tax breaks, and returns behind pro sports ownership.
Buying a newspaper rarely makes money — so why do billionaires keep doing it? How the wealthy shape narratives through outlets, audiences, and pressure.
An individual could give a 2024 presidential campaign just $6,600 directly — yet some gave nine figures. Here’s how modern political money really moves.
Old money and new money aren’t two amounts — they’re two relationships to the same money. Here’s how the styles differ, what each costs, and why most fortunes lose the race.
The 2025 Forbes 400 holds $6.6 trillion. But only 49 of 400 started working-class, the top 10 hold a third of the money, and the average member is 70. A data portrait.
Davos, Sun Valley, Milken, Aspen — the annual circuit where wealth and power meet. What each really costs, who gets in, and why the best room can’t be bought.
