You know how the economy is still in a recession and too many people are unemployed and people hate taxing the wealthy? Well, chew on this: New York City's richest man, David Koch, the industrialist and the shadowy Tea Party patron, is worth $25 billion, up from $21.5 billion last year, according to new data from Forbes. Mayor Bloomberg clocks in as the Big Apple's second rich guy—he was only worth $18 billion last year, but now Forbes estimates his wealth at $20 billion. That's more money for million-dollar couches and six-figure lighting fixtures! more ›

Before his sextacular political implosion, former Rep. Anthony Weiner was hard at work on a plan to make diplomats pay for their $18 million worth of parking infractions. Weiner may have turned out to be a hypocrite—he himself owed $2,180 in unpaid Washington DC parking tickets—in more ways than one, but his fight against diplomats' ticket exceptions was left hanging in the wind. But Forbes has taken to statistics and maps to better expose the sordid underbelly of what Andrea Peyser once referred to as those "malodorous, greedy, drunk and demented" foreign nationals. more ›

New York City is great, but it's even better when you have unlimited funds... we hear. Just ask the 18 celebrities on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list that live in the city—together they earned over $872 million dollars in the past year. more ›

A new system in place to rank the World's Most Powerful Women has landed Lady Gaga alongside the likes of the First Lady. Stefani Germanotta—who wasn't even on the Forbes list last year—has secured a spot in the top 10 (of 100), coming in at #7. That ranking put her thisclose to Michelle Obama (#1), Oprah (#3), and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (#5). more ›

Michael Bloomberg may have a few more years as the mayor of New York, but his reign as the richest New Yorker (according to Forbes) is over: The new Big Apple fat cat is David Koch, the oilman and Tea Party backer, who you may be more familiar with after this New Yorker profile (besides oil refineries, "Koch Industries owns Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among other products"). more ›

If we had any damn time and weren't so completely frazzled we'd write a long monograph debunking this Forbes ranking of America's most stressful cities. NYC only comes in at #8! Now, it's true that NYC-based media gives us a big edge in dramatizing our stress to the world, but that doesn't mean the stress isn't real. And to rank our stress level lower than such cities as Dallas (#7) and Tampa (#4!!!) makes us want to hurl our scalding hot latte in the face of whichever Forbes intern was assigned to research this story. Guess which city is supposedly the most stressed? more ›

Jersey's own Jon Bon Jovi is (allegedly!) creating a stink over being left off the 2010 Forbes magazine top celebrity lists. Not only was his name missing from their Power 100 roster, but he was also left off the Musicians' Rich List—which even Britney Spears made it on to! Instead of gracefully ignoring his absence, however, the musician allegedly "kicked up a huge fuss and got his people to complain," according to a Page Six source. Forbes confirmed they received complaints from the musician's people, but those people say, "That's ridiculous. Last year, the band took an eight-month break from touring, so there was no expectation that they would rank on this year's list." Aw, you'll get 'em next year Jon Bon. more ›

With its latest list of the 400 richest Americans, Forbes finds that Mayor Bloomberg is holding steady at as NYC's richest rich person. He's number 8 on the list between a Walton (of Wal-Mart) and Charles Koch. more ›

Forbes released its new list of the World's Richest People and our mayor is the richest person in the Big Apple (heck, his net worth even rose this past year!). Michael R. Bloomberg, who is also known as Hizzoner, is at #17 on the list, with his self-made fortune estimated at $16 billion, thanks to "a transaction [that] put a solid valuation on Bloomberg LP: he borrowed to buy a 20% stake in his company from Merrill Lynch in July for $4.5 billion." Is this why he's advising against taxing the rich? Former richest man in NYC, David Koch, is now the 2nd richest (#20 on the list, with a net worth of $14 billion). Also interesting: One of the many billionaires tied for #701 on the Forbes list is a Mexican drug lord. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg can count himself amongst the top echelons of the extremely, extremely rich, as Forbes's list of the 400 Richest Americans places him in the #8 position. The magazine cites his purchase of a 20% stake in his company, Bloomberg LP, as how they value his net worth to be $20 billion. The next richest New Yorker is David Koch, at #9 with $19 billion. Some others: Rupert Murdoch is #47 ($6.8 billion), Ralph Lauren is #76 ($4.7 billion), and Donald Trump is #134 with a net worth of $3 billion. John Catsimatidis, net worth $2.1 billion, is one of the self-made billionaires interviewed; he answers the question "What is the best bar on the planet?" with "Any bar in New York." more ›

Forbes has taken a look at the country's 40 largest cities and declared the most stressful amongst them. The big winner is Chicago, due to the record weekend rainfall, the rising unemployment rate, gas prices, high population density and poor air quality. All of that and more has landed the Windy City in the top spot of America's Most Stressful City list. However, New York isn't far behind, taking the silver at #2 (with Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco following). Forbes notes that locals here compete over subways, cabs, apartments, elite preschools, dinner reservations and bartenders' attention so much that it's only adding to the anxiety over costly housing, allergy-inducing pollution, and, you know, everything else. Breathe in, New York, no need to take any crazy stress tests...but maybe sign up for some (overpriced, cramped) yoga classes. [via NY1] more ›

Curbed points out that "according to a Forbes report culled from data supplied by Hotpads.com," Tribeca is overpriced! The website "produced a price-to-earnings spread for each ZIP code in the nation's 40 largest cities by comparing rental costs with buying costs for similar properties" and blah blah blah 10013 is #1! The zip just edged out Boston's Chinatown to become numero uno. Don't misunderstand, however, Forbes notes that "expensive does not mean always mean overpriced. Consider that a five-bedroom mansion on East 74th Street that once belonged to Eleanor Roosevelt is currently listed for $60,000 a month." Allegedly, this is expensive, but just not overpriced. more ›

Yesterday Forbes magazine, in their annual ranking of the rich, declared New York City is no longer the billionaire capital of the world. Where have all the dollar signs gone? To Moscow, of course, who beat us out by 3 billionaires (they have 74 to our 71). more ›

New York City faced some stiff competition in the Forbes Top 10 “Misery Measure”, but ultimately moped away with a respectable fourth place, losing only to such perennial dystopias as Detroit (#1, forever); Flint, Michigan (#3) and… Stockton, California, in the #2 slot? Apparently, the Bay Area satellite has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country and a swelling population. more ›