It would be remiss to talk about the super-wealthy and fail to mention those who owe their wealth to the privileges of wealth and rulership. The current king of Thailand (Bhumibol Adulyadej) is reported to be worth around $30 billion due to royal investments in major Thai businesses like Siam Cement, Christiani & Nielsen, and Shin Corp…

Though King Bhumibol will almost certainly not live long enough to attain $1 trillion, the growth of potential of Thailand and Southeast Asia is such that it would not be unthinkable that an heir to the throne (the 59-year old Prince Vajiralongkorn or a further descendant) could eventually reach that point.

– Extracted from Stephen Simpson, “Who Wants To Be A Trillionaire?”, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 March 2011. For related coverage see New Mandala posts here and here.