Forbes 400 Richest Americans. Forbes Magazine, 11 October 2004. 87 pages.

In the early 1960s, students at UC Berkeley spent their summers registering black voters in the south; in 1964 they started the Free Speech Movement and in 1969 it was People's Park. But in 1986 Berkeley seniors voted to invite Ivan Boesky to speak at their commencement. Boesky, who had never been to college, looked up from his text and said, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think that greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." The students broke into spontaneous applause.

Boesky, at the time worth $130 million, was convicted of insider trading. He helped finger Michael Milken, who was worth $700 million when he was released from prison after serving two years of a ten-year sentence. Meanwhile the 1986 class is having trouble finding jobs, and when it comes time for them to invest in their children's education, a good portion of their income will still be paying for the S & L deficit -- which was partially caused by Milken's junk-bond trading. It all fits.

The Forbes 400 list began in 1982. Each name includes a paragraph describing the individual's or family's financial interests. For Forbes it's a big deal who gets bumped every year; in 1985 it took $150 million to stay on, but in 2004 the cutoff was $750 million. The rich get richer.

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Lies, damned lies, and Enron

Name index for Forbes 400 Richest Americans. 2004

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