The World's Richest Leaders

[Zkribbler]

Forbes is reporting on the world's richest leaders:

Be warned: Valuing these folks is a tricky business. First we must determine privately held assets versus those held in trust for the nation. For example, we don't count the crown jewels or Buckingham Palace as part of Queen Elizabeth II's net worth. They technically belong to the British state, much like the White House belongs to the U.S. government.

Some estimates are fuzzier than others. We calculate Fidel Castro's wealth as a percentage of Cuba's GDP. Arafat's net worth is based on proceeds he is believed to have skimmed from Palestinian Authority income.


Kings, Queens And Despots

Of the richest heads of state, only four would make our billionaires list based on their personal fortunes. Click on any name for more information.


Name; Country; Estimated Net Worth

King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud Saudi Arabia $20 billion

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Brunei 11 billion

Hans Adams II Liechtenstein 2 billion

Saddam Hussein Iraq 2 billion

Queen Elizabeth II United Kingdom 525 million

Yasir Arafat Palestinian Authority 300 million

Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard Netherlands 250 million

Fidel Castro Cuba 110 million

Link to Forbes

[FrustratedPoet]

What an arbitrary set of figures ... but at least they have the decency to admit they made half of them up.

[jdd2007]

Arafat has 300m???? No way!!!

[KrazyHorse]

Some estimates are fuzzier than others. We calculate Fidel Castro's wealth as a percentage of Cuba's GDP.

Like this one?

Where did they get the percentage they used?

[DuncanK]

I don't know how they came up with the percentage, but we can figure out the percentage if we find Cuba's GDP.

Does Castro own a percentage of Cuba? I don't think so. I would say he either owns 100% or 0%

[KrazyHorse]

According to che he lives in a small, one bedroom apartment...

[DuncanK]

He doesn't own a lot of nice clothes. I know that.

[KrazyHorse]

[Eli]

Originally posted by jdd2007
Arafat has 300m???? No way!!!

He has at the very least ten times more than that. All the "Palestinian money", the Palestinian dirty bussinesses around the world, the Palestinian income, etc flows directly into his personal accounts.

While a lot of it goes to the Palestinian "cause", it is still on his name.

[KrazyHorse]

Eli, blowing up Jews is a State expenditure, and thus cannot be properly considered as his resources.

[dannubis]

and how many dirty millions are goning into the jewish "sollution" of the palestinian problem ?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Frogger
According to che he lives in a small, one bedroom apartment...

I highly doubt that.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

That QE2 valuation is laughable. Her private art collection alone must be worth near that figure.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by DinoDoc

I highly doubt that.

Why?

[KrazyHorse]

I hate to tell you this Dino, but he actually seems to believe what he says, unlike most of the rest of latin america.