Sunday, January 29, 2012

Where Every Billionaire Is Cinderella

Apparently, one of the more novel perks of being a billionaire in today’s world is that you get to meet with other billionaires in Davos, Switzerland once a year at the World Economic Forum, where you are treated as a deep intellectual by mere millionaires.

Once there, you can have your picture taken with Bono and Desmond Tutu, and get your balls licked by social climbing court historians like Niall Ferguson. If you’re rich enough, he might even turn off his cell phone for you, or at least put it on vibrate. When things get really hot, he’ll tilt his head back and moan, We musn’t blame the bankers! We musn’t blame the bankers!

Then you can attend seminars with world leaders, thinkers, and very serious pundits who will look at you very seriously, lick their lips, and nod very pensively as you utter portentous sounding nonsense like this: “We must utilize new technologies and formulate new strategies for coping with the unique challenges of globalization in the 21 century, particularly in emerging economies.”

Then you hop in your private jet and fly off to inspect your sweat shops.

(This tweet was posted over on the Bloomberg page that covers the WEF: MLiebreich RT @DavosDeville: The corporate dirigible has been untethered and we are up and away to #Davos! Everyone looks like ants! Tiny, insignificant ants!)

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