All the Money in the World: How the Forbes 400 Make and Spend Their Fortunes, by journalists Peter W. Bernstein and Annalyn Swan is published to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Forbes, the book clarifies the difference between those who have money (lots of actors and athletes) and those with genuine wealth (the 400 richest people in the world, according to the magazine). If knowing how the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett garnered their fortunes and what they’ve done with their wealth appeals to you, the Bernstein/Swan team’s exhaustive research will prove quite rewarding.
All the Money in the World is one of the most detailed books you’ll see, with a host of tables, sidebars, factoids, anecdotes and material. Depending on your politics, the fact that some of these people have lost more money in 25 years than many nations of the world could raise in triple that time might be amazing, interesting or appalling. This amalgam of lists, profiles and stories does humanize the Forbes 400, however, showing that even the ultra-wealthy make mistakes in judgment, have bad marriages, family feuds, unexpected setbacks and other problems. All the Money in the World is not just scholarly; it’s also highly readable and provocative.
