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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (278875)	9/27/2010 1:25:15 AM
From: Skeeter Bug	Respond to of 306849

from the comments section... how rockefeller has hidden his likely trillions and avoids paying any income taxes whatsoever on his vast, vast fortunes... Damon, Your point about control is key. Ownership is just a legal concept that exposes one to liability, taxation and public scrutiny. The goal is to control. Those who control are perfectly happy for others to invest in ownership in their enterprises as long as they can control the capital. It’s called OPM (other peoples money). I was amused to once again see the published list of the world’s ‘richest men’ this week. Of course there were the usual suspects such as Gates and Buffet who ‘own’ great wealth. Those who never show up on these lists are the ones who ‘control’ vast fortunes that dwarf the likes of Gates, Buffet, Ellison, et al. Back at the beginning of the twentieth century men like John D. Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire back when a billion was a billion, traded ownership of their vast fortunes for the control of tax-free ‘charitable’ foundations where their wealth is compounded tax-free with zero public scrutiny. These foundations control, through layers of legal entities and holding companies, vast holdings in banking, industry, and media and, of course, endow the elite universities where their underlings are recruited and educated. The assets of these foundations are 100% controlled by the family. It is estimated that Rockefeller controlled interests amount to many trillions of dollars in value. Just plug in an average appreciation of only 10% on a billion dollars over the last 100 years and see what you come up with. Even the estates they live on are owned by their foundations sans taxation. Back when Nelson Rockefeller ran for president it was revealed that he paid zero taxes. Ownership is for suckers.