The problem with billionaires — and the debut of True Net Worth | Randall Lane
4/20/202611 min
As chief content officer of Forbes, Randall Lane oversees the magazine's signature list of billionaires, tracking the richest people on Earth. But he has noticed that this prompts the ultra-wealthy to stockpile their money instead of spending it on the public good. He debuts a new ranking — True Net Worth — that applauds billionaires for their philanthropy and rewards generosity. Guess who's in the top five?
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First 90 secondsElise Hu· Host0:00
[on-hold music] You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu.
Randall Lane· Guest0:10
Who wants to know the secret, uh, of every billionaire right now in the world, which is nobody likes them.
Elise Hu· Host0:16
There are now at least thirty-four hundred billionaires on the planet, and only a small minority of people view them favorably. Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane should know. He has spent the last thirty-five years tracking the world's richest people, their habits, their philanthropy, and yes, their egos.
Randall Lane· Guest0:35
Forbes tracks pretty much every billionaire in terms of how much they give to charity, how much end result goes into charity. Compare that with the average American — teacher, fireman — gives two percent of his or her income to charity. That gap, as somebody who loves entrepreneurial capitalism, bothers me.
Elise Hu· Host0:57
In his talk from the TED 2026 stage, Randall says that while today's billionaires are deeply unpopular, the world actually needs them to stimulate widespread prosperity. But how do you encourage the ultra-wealthy to spend money on the public good instead of just piling it up? He debuts a new Forbes ranking that may seem counterintuitive: reward billionaires for giving away money. That's all coming up right after a short break.