Millionaires and Billionaires

One million dollars has long seemed the threshold of American plutocracy even if John D.Rockefeller passed the billion dollar mark in 1913. Yet Forbes magazine noted that in 1996 more than 110,000 families reported incomes of over 1 million, while the number of millionaire families topped 5 million at the end of the century and is expected to quadruple by 2010. Reflecting both prosperity and inflation, this benchmark now regularly figures in multimillion dollar contracts for sports figures, Hollywood stars, executives and the “young self-made millionaire” entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. Yet it is also portrayed as an accessible goal for a typical American person in coverage of lotteries as well as television programs that promise wealth through game shows or televised marriage. Meanwhile, Forbes also noted that their list of billionaires had skyrocketed from 13 in 1982 to 267 Americans in 1999, led by Bill Gates (roughly $100 billion), whose personal charitable foundation alone has assets of over $21 billion. While affirming the American myth of rags to riches, these plateaus also raise questions about equality class and opportunity for many Americans.