I Didn't Even Make the Top 746!

There are 9 Washington State billionares listed by Forbes this year. Unfortunately your humble blogger is not listed among them. I am still ticked off that People magazine keeps leaving me off the Sexiest Man Alive list too...

1. William Gates III, Washington, 50, $50, Microsoft
6. Paul Allen, Washington, 53, $22, Microsoft, investments
24. Steven Ballmer, Washington, 50, $13.6, Microsoft
147. Jeffrey Bezos, Washington, 42, $4.3, Amazon
365. Craig McCaw, Washington, 56, $2.1, McCaw Cellular
606. James Jannard, Washington, 56, $ 1.3, Oakley
746. John Edson, Washington, 73, $1, leisure craft
746. Charles Simonyi, Washington, 58, $1, Microsoft
746. John Stanton, Washington, 50, $1, wireless

On a related note, what is with Paul Allen? He was lucky enough to drop out of WSU (which I would generally suggest is a good idea anyway) to start Microsoft with Bill Gates, but since then he has been a crappy investor. OK, the Seahawks finally did make it to the Superbowl, but give me $22 billion and I can do better than that! From today's WSJ:

It's hard to pity Paul Allen? The Microsoft Corp. co-founder is worth $21 billion, owns a 414-foot yacht with its own yellow submarine and the chair Captain Kirk sat in on "Star Trek." Yet these expensive toys have cost little in comparison with the money Mr. Allen has blown in misconceived business ventures.

Since leaving Microsoft two decades ago, Mr. Allen has struggled to dispel the notion that he owes his wealth solely to his prep-school camaraderie with Bill Gates. During the dot-com mania he dropped billions into the Internet, tech and telecom sectors -- in firms ranging from Priceline.com Inc. to broadband group RCN Corp. -- with little to show for it.