Companies, markets and the fortunes built around them.
The IRS has proposed up to $400mn in extra tax on Viacom’s returns for 2017 to 2019. Paramount Skydance says it disagrees and will book any change in its third-quarter results.
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OB / 02Spain’s wealth tax raised a record €2.15bn in 2024, and the number of people declaring more than €30mn has doubled since 2013. The region famous for not charging it has become one of its biggest collectors.
OB / 03New flats now average more than ¥100mn in 19 of Tokyo’s 23 wards. The buyers are mostly Japanese, and the cause is a building industry that can no longer build very much.
OB / 04Eight months after settling with Mexico’s tax authority, Ricardo Salinas Pliego has not missed an instalment. About 18bn pesos is still to come, and the president now cites him approvingly.
OB / 05Brazilian companies raced to pay out profits before a new 10 per cent dividend tax took effect in January. Six months later, interest on equity has overtaken dividends for the first time.
OB / 06German inheritance and gift tax hit a record €21.4bn last year as owners rushed to hand over businesses. The constitutional court is about to rule on the relief that lets family firms pass on almost tax-free.
OB / 07A 2 per cent minimum tax on fortunes above €100mn has lost in parliament twice and wins in every poll. On 16 September the Socialists put it back on the table for the 2027 budget.
OB / 08The Lee family finished paying a record ₩12tn inheritance tax in April. More than ₩2tn borrowed against Samsung shares to do it is still outstanding, and some of it falls due within months.
OB / 09It now takes $4.4bn to make the list of America’s richest people. Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Altman and Tim Cook are among the billionaires who fell short.
OB / 10Zara’s founder now ranks above Louis Vuitton’s. Amancio Ortega collects €3.2bn a year in dividends and turns it into buildings; Bernard Arnault has lost $65bn as middle-class shoppers walk away.
OB / 11The SpaceX listing made thousands of Texans millionaires. For their neighbours in Cameron County, where home values have more than doubled since 2019, the windfall shows up on the appraisal notice.
OB / 12A snapshot of 100 public companies with the highest reported market values, with the numbers and company records behind the ranking.
OB / 13One hundred listed banks ranked by market capitalisation, with a clear distinction between shareholder value, deposits and total assets.
OB / 14A hundred listed oil and gas businesses ranked by market capitalisation, with the source’s category and a dated value for every company.
OB / 15Explore 100 listed real estate companies by market value, with sources and context on property ownership, development and real estate investment trusts.
OB / 16One hundred listed retail businesses ranked by market capitalisation, with company records and context on stores, online selling and scale.
OB / 17A hundred listed mining businesses ranked by market value, with sources and context on commodities, projects and the scale of resource ownership.
OB / 18One hundred companies ranked by revenue over their last twelve reported months, and why the biggest sellers are not always the most valuable.
OB / 19One hundred companies ranked by pretax earnings over their last twelve reported months, with what pretax profit includes and leaves out.
OB / 20One hundred listed drug makers and biotechnology companies ranked by market capitalisation, with context on patents, pipelines and market value.
OB / 21One hundred listed insurers ranked by market capitalisation, with context on premiums and claims, and on the money insurers manage.
OB / 22Fifty listed carmakers ranked by market capitalisation. The source’s carmaker category held 61 companies when captured, so this is a top 50.
OB / 23A dated snapshot of the world’s 100 largest personal fortunes, with estimated net worth, sources of wealth and a source for every name.
OB / 24Meet 100 women with extraordinary estimated fortunes, ranked in a dated snapshot with sources of wealth and links to the underlying profiles.
OB / 25The 100 largest fortunes held by US citizens, ranked by Forbes’ estimated net worth, with sources of wealth and profile links.
OB / 26The 100 largest fortunes held by mainland Chinese citizens, ranked by Forbes’ estimated net worth. Forbes lists Hong Kong and Taiwan separately.
OB / 27The 100 largest fortunes held by Indian citizens, ranked by Forbes’ estimated net worth, with sources of wealth and profile links.
OB / 28The 100 largest fortunes held by German citizens, from retail and carmaking to pharmaceuticals and fasteners, with a dated estimate for each.
OB / 29The 100 largest Russian fortunes, ranked by Forbes’ estimated net worth. Values carry extra uncertainty where assets are hard to trade.
OB / 30The 50 largest fortunes held by UK citizens, ranked by Forbes’ estimated net worth, with sources of wealth and profile links.
OB / 31Forty-eight countries ranked by how many Forbes billionaires hold their citizenship, with the richest in each and how the counts were made.
OB / 32The 100 youngest people in Forbes’ billionaire data, ranked by age, with each estimated net worth and the business behind it.
OB / 33A hundred economies ranked by IMF projections of 2026 GDP per capita in US dollars, and why output per person is not income.