Is Scrooge McDuck the richest in the world or is it Mr. Burns or Jeff Bezos or Richie Rich or Bill Gates or Bruce Wayne or... ?

Funny you should ask. Latest count says the title goes to Scrooge McDuck. And in this era of believing everything we read, it is the fictional billionaires that give Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates a good run for their money.

Here's that eye-popping list compiled by MetaballsStudio of those who made their fortunes in books, movies, television and comic strips... and yes, it does include Christian Grey. It's no small wonder why Ana took great pains on the 'poor man' to help him work things out.

The Top 15... and bear in mind, Scrooge's fortune is in 1947 dollars and gold:

• Jay Gatsby: $1 billion (The Great Gatsby)
• Lady Mary Crawley: $1.1 billion (Downton Abbey)
• Mr. Monopoly: $1.2 billion (Board Game. He made his money in real estate)
• Lara Croft: $1.3 billion (Tomb Raider)
• Walden Schmidt: $1.3 billion (Two and a Half Men replacing Charlie Harper)
• C. Montgomery Burns: $1.5 billion (Homer Simpson's boss)
• Tywin Lannister: $1.8 billion (Game of Thrones)
• Christian Grey: $2.2 billion (50 Shades of Grey)
• Richie Rich: $5.8 billion ( 1953 comic book... world's richest kid)
• Bruce Wayne: $9.2 billion (Batman's alter ego)
• Charles Foster Kane: $11.2 billion (1941 Oscar winning movie. Do you know Rosebud?)
• Tony Stark: $12.4 billion (Iron Man's alter ego in Avengers movies)
• Carlisle Cullen: $46 billion (Vampire in The Twilight Series... his is blood money)
• Smaug: $54 billion (Fearsome dragon in The Hobbit. Proves any dragon can get rich.)
• Scrooge McDuck: $65.4 billion (Uncle of Donald and his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie)

Point of reference: Jeff Bezos used to be the world's richest at about $186 billion but his recent divorce took $760 billion or so putting his ex-wife in the chase, so those fictional billionaires still have some chasing to do. 

Now, a little more about real money from a blog post I wrote six years ago that is even truer today.

Money, Money, Money...

ABBA: Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Benny, Bjorg

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man's world
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It's a rich man's world


 ABBA had a ton of hits from the mid '70s to the late '90s. Its songs are the heart of the popular musical, Mama Mia. But perhaps no ABBA song has more relevance than its 1976 recording of  Money, Money, Money.

Maybe you've seen this story: 85 of the world's richest billionaires are as wealthy as the poorest 3.5 billion people in the world!

Forbes Magazine tells us there are l,426 billionaires in the world today. So minus the 85 super wealthiest, there are 1,341 'poorer' billionaires (not counting Scrooge McDuck or Richie Rich) on the outside looking in. How's it feel, you guys, to be poorer?

Bill & Melinda Gates with Warren Buffett

Now before you get the wrong idea, I really like the rich... and so should you. Even if, in our lesser status we are envious, make fun of them or notice a few may be jerks and worse, a world without rich couldn't work. I think that's been tried. Most rich have earned their fortunes by creating opportunities and providing services for others... and many are dramatically benevolent.

Not only have Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett already committed more than half of their billions through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they have gotten 102 other 'very rich' to sign The Giving Pledge agreeing to do likewise. And they continually work to recruit others like themselves. Take a look... the Giving Pledge makes very interesting reading. 

Bill Gates once said he and his wife plan to leave their children a very small  (but still not bad) inheritance of their mega billions with the remainder to be used for continuing benevolence. These actions represent just some of the good that money can do.

And no, they and all their pals cannot solve all the world's unbalance. They have done, and will continue to do great things for humankind. Yet, there remain many, many below the poverty line that struggle mightily. These include the new poor--"not only  those laid-off blue collar workers but also downsized tech workers, managers, lawyers and other once-comfortable professionals," says The Atlantic. "Poverty is not a character failing or a lack of motivation. Poverty is a shortage of money... (which) arises largely from inadequate wages."

It is ironic though, that professional athletes in many sports regularly sign million-dollar contracts and in most states, the highest paid state employee is a football or basketball coach, yet a teacher often cannot make a wage great enough to support a family. And no, it is not the athlete's or coach's fault to take what is there but our misguided judgement of value to benefit which has deep roots. Give the rich their due, but money cannot buy everything... and it certainly cannot buy poverty.

The fact is, the spread between rich and poor is widening and the middle class is 'middling' at best and fading fast. The greatest benefit of a robust... or any economy, goes to the wealthy as did the mega-majority of benefits from the Trump tax cuts. It's expensive to be poor because a far great percentage of all dollars goes to just trying to get by... and sometimes, even with help, that is not enough. Poverty is a hole without luxury, opportunity or an easy out.

I hope and pray that those with the power to move mountains get on this case. Trickle down doesn't really trickle too far or too fast, it seems.

Another top 10 list I didn't make

Actually, let's make this a top 11 list because it suits my purpose. The list is Forbes 400 richest Americans. And consider my shock when I didn't make it... again!

Bill Gates at $59 billion is the guy waving the big "No. 1" foam finger this year, after an embarrassing drop in world rankings last year to second place... kind of like Casey striking out. Reason for his surge in a down world: Coupons! He and Melissa always shop on double and triple coupon days... and it paid off. This is a lesson for all of us.

Yes, Warren Buffett, using his senior discount to the max, was second, and blah, blah, blah. But that's not the story.

• Number 6 is Christy Walton and family at $24.5 billion (note they round off to the nearest hundred-million dollars in this league).

• Number 9 is Jim Walton with $21.1 billion.

• Number 10 is Alice Walton at $20.9 billion

• Number 11 is S. Robson Walton with $20.5 billilon

(Side note: The Walton family dog, Snert, dropped to number 23 this year with $3.4 billion and is concerned where his next doggie treat is coming from.)

So let's see... the Walton worth, taking 4 of the top 11 spots, comes to $86 billion. Pretty good total for a discount retailer. You did good, Sam. But what does that tell us about America? (It's a different story than you think.)

Walmart (the new logo style) isn't the world's #1 retailer because nobody goes there. We all do... even if we go in disguise so our friends won't know... or dress so outrageously that we grab our 15 minutes on YouTube.

And we all buy there... in great quantity. Walmart did $450 billion in retail U.S. sales last year! And do you know what its biggest seller was? This will kill you... bananas!

Walmart is the world's 18th largest public corporation in size and the largest in revenue. It has 8,500 stores in 15 countries. Two million people cash Walmart paychecks. Founder Sam Walton did something that wasn't high tech, so I guess you can say, he earned all those billions the hard way... by being the most desired SUPPLY to the consumer DEMAND... and he did it in a way we all seem to like, with low prices, high volume and lots and lots of stuff.

While no numbers are public, opinion and data say that considerably less than half--some guess 15 percent or so--of Walmart product, excluding groceries, is made in the USA.

We are all for "Made in America," but the reality is that supply (at the price we reward with our purchases) to fill our demand is what it is all about. As Sam said, as he built his little store, "There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."

There is a reason why half of the cars on our roads are foreign made and you can't buy a television made in the 50 states. It is not because we wanted it that way, it is because that's what happens in a free world market. Competition for the dollar is the key variable as consumers weigh benefits, quality and perceived value. It's called capitalism and we are "the deciders."

Just a little on Sam Walton's roots. Growing up during the Great Depression, Walton had numerous chores to help make ends meet for his family as was common at the time. Says Wikipedia, he milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers. Afterwards, he would deliver newspapers and sold magazine subscriptions. Upon graduating, he was voted "Most Versatile Boy." As success came, he still drove his old pick-up truck from store to store, or flew himself in his small single-engine plane.

Today, his legacy for low-cost operation can still be felt at Walmart. The corporate headquarters of the world's largest retailer looks like an old elementary school or bus station--no marble floors, custom-built furniture or executive dining rooms. Management still travels on a tight budget when taking business trips and the overwhelming corporate mission is to keep prices low and associates happy.

Isn't it interesting that this impressive American entrepreneur founded one of the most successful companies in the world--a company that probably sells more foreign-made goods in the United States than any other? But that's not the story. The story is about the America dream that we all share-- to be GREAT-- and the impressive list of those like Sam that it has spawned. Where but here could it have happened that way? In this, we can take great pride. Seriously.

As for "Made in America," it's not them, it's us, the third largest country in the world... and its greatest consumer.

The richest of the rich: Just think of the good that could happen if this duo put their differences aside and stood together. Why, they could save the world!

Thank you Forbes, for helping us settle an argument. Just who is the richest on the planet?

Forbes has long been know to keep tabs on the world's richest person, largest company, highest earning athlete, etc. But growing up, the one image that sticks with me is Scrooge McDuck rolling in all his gold coins, laughing at how he outsmarted the Beagle Boys (who are always scheming to steal his gold) again.

So if Scrooge is so rich, how does he compare to Bill Gates, USA's richest at $54 billion? Well, after calculating all his gold (measured scientifically by Forbes' "moneyologists"--depth of gold x area of arena-size vault--at today's soaring market prices), poor Scrooge only came up to $44 billion... a measly $10 billion shortfall.

OK... two "realities" here... Scrooge must have lost at least $10 billion in gold by playing with his money, swimming in it, running it through his webby fingers, etc. (Mom always told me not to play with my money or I might loose it. That's why I still use the old "wrap it in my handkerchief and pin it inside my pocket trick.") Or, maybe those Beagle Boys did siphon-off $10 bil. or so... one never knows. All I can tell you is that they drive a new car every year.

Viewed another way, picture all of Bill Gates' wealth in gold... the way Scrooge likes it... with Bill sitting on top of a pile that is 20 percent bigger than Scrooge's! Now that's impressive. (Also impressive is that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have given nearly $25 billion to worthy causes everywhere in the world through their still growing foundation, which is incredible... and worth a look for your own information.)

So we have settled that. Bill Gates is worth more than Scrooge McDuck... and what Gates has benevolently given makes him more valued by far than any other billionaire, of which there are now 1,210. (Officially according to Forbes 2011 listings, Gates is the second richest man on earth... behind Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu by only a paltry $12 billion, give or take a few bucks.)

Other fictional billionaires that made this year's Forbes' list:

• Richie Rich is worth $9.7 billion
• Bruce Wayne (aka Batman... but don't tell anyone), $7 billion
• Mr. Monopoly, of course, $2.6 billion
• Montgomery Burns (Homer Simpson's boss) $1.1 billion

Dropping off the Fictional Billionaire's list from prior years: Jabba the Hutt, Thurston Howell III, Jed Clampett, Laura Croft, Willy Wonka, Cruella De Vil, Lex Luthor, "Daddy" Warbucks... and sadly, Santa Claus, who, with the price of toys increasing every year along with the growing population, is using all his resources just to keep the elves in food, clothing and shelter so they can continue to give hope to all the children of the world... God bless the elves for staying with him.

And, as I always say when I play my traditional role of Tiny Tim in our annual family Christmas recreation of Scrooge, the movie and stage play, "God bless us, one and all."