In the 2008 UK rich list published by The Times last week, India-born steel entrepreneur Lakshmi Mittal was again named as Britain’s richest person for the fourth consecutive years.
Mittal was followed by Chelsea head honcho Roman Abramovich (2nd), The Duke of Westminster (3rd), Sri and Gopi Hinduja (4th), and Alisher Usmanov (5th).
The rest of the top 10 list were made up of Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelly (6th), Hans Rausing and family (7th), John Fredriksen (8th), Sir Philip and Lady Green (9th), and finally David and Simon Reuben (10th).
Lakshmi Mittal hails from a moderate family, whose house back in India came without luxuries and necessities. His father, who inherited steel making skills from the grand father, started a small size factory which grew at unprecedented rate and eventually change the family’s fortune and life.
His company, ArcelorMittal, is today the world’s largest producer of steel, with operation in numerous countries including in United States, Belgium, France, Spain, Romania, Italy, Africa, Indonesia, Argentina, Mexico and many more. Mittal heads as the President and CEO.
With a net worth of $45 billion, Forbes ranked Lakshmi Mittal as the fourth richest men in the world for the year 2008 after Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu and Bill Gates, while the Time magazine listed him among 100 Most Influential People in 2007.
Public servants are supposedly responsible to carry out his or her duty honestly and diligently.
The stake will be higher if the nature of the task involves enforcement and national security.
However, in an apparent abuse of power, a group of officers from the Johor Immigration Department organized a feast to hand out i-Card (i-Kad) to illegal immigrants, as The New Straits Times reported yesterday.
Make-shift tents were put up in a house located in Felda Serting Satu, Johor, with the immigration officers manning the ‘registration counters’, and more than 200 people waiting for their turn to get their instantly approved permit.
Each of them would need to pay RM100 for the i-Kad, and the officers collected RM30 as their pocket money.
The i-Kad was introduced last year to identify foreigners who are either working or studying in this country. It is embedded with a state-of-the-art microchip that stores the biometric thumbprint of the card holder for easy and fast identification process.
The Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) officers who raided the premise last weekend, detained 12 immigration officers, and a number of businessmen who are involved in manpower supply business.
Last month, the Director General of the Immigration Department, Datuk Wahid Md Don was detained and charged for alleged corruption and graft. Later, arrests were made on his deputy, and two other officers holding the rank of deputy directors.
Regardless of your career or profession, if you do your job well, big money will be rolling and your net worth will be skyrocketing.
Sunday Times has compiled a list of the richest football players playing in the English Premier League whose age are 30 years old or less.
It came as a surprise to see Michael Owen, who at present is neither drawing the highest salary nor playing his best football, sitting on top of the ranking.
But as far as the net worth is concerned, it does not matter how the player performs or how high his pay is – it’s how they use the money to grow their value does.
The rest of the list shows familiar figures, with players from big clubs especially Manchester United and Chelsea dominating.
1. Michael Owen
Age: 29. Club: Newcastle United. Net worth: £41 million
Since making his grand entrance in 1998 Word Cup in France, Michael’s pace and accuracy allowed him to single handedly destroyed the opponents, including the Gunners in FA Cup final 2001 and the Germans in World Cup 2002 qualifying round. His sharpness deteriorated after switching club from Liverpool to Real Madrid. Now in the midst of reviving his career with Newcastle.
2. Wayne Rooney
Age: 23. Club: Manchester United. Net worth: £35 million.
At 16, Rooney rocked the world of football after his 25-yard thunder strike helped Everton to end Arsenal’s run of 49 unbeaten games. Realizing his potential, big clubs were lining up to buy him but it was Manchester United who did it with a record transfer fee. While 6 years ago he was earning merely £80 per week as an amateur, now he can stand tall with £130,000 salary per week, excluding bonuses.
3. Rio Ferdinand
Age: 30. Club: Manchester United. Net worth: £28 million.
Known as Mr Reliable, both for his club Manchester United and his country England. His impressive outing as the center back during the World Cup 2002 in Japan earned him a place in the FIFA World Cup squad. Ferdinand broke the transfer fee record after moving from West Ham to Leeds, and then emulated the same feat after joining Manchester United.
4. Frank Lampard
Age: 30. Club: Chelsea. Net worth: £19 million.
In Chelsea shirt, Lampard does not have issue scoring big goals and assuming his captaincy role, but there seems to be a problem when he plays for England – he seldom looks the dangerous Lampard he has always been. However, that does not stop him from earning one of the highest pays as a footballer with £150,000 weekly wages, on top of multi million dollar contract with Adidas.
5. Steven Gerrard
Age: 28. Club: Liverpool. Net worth: £19 million.
Gerrard is highly remembered for his magical role in the Champions League 2005 final against AC Milan, which saw his team coming back from a 3 goal deficit and eventually won the game in a dramatic penalty shoot out. Known for his long short accuracy, dribbling capability and massive stamina. He has also won a string of awards including PFA Young Player of the Year, Player of the Year, UEFA Most Valuable Player and many more.
6. John Terry
Age: 28. Club: Chelsea. Net worth: £16 million.
John Terry is another one of the highest paid footballers around, with £140,000 per week, plus £4 million dollar deal with Umbro. Terry is known for his tough defense, and whenever he goes to the penalty box, he can score goals like a genuine striker. He missed a penalty during the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United last season, and came home as the losing team.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo
Age: 23. Club: Manchester United. Net worth: £15 million.
Cristiano Ronaldo is surely one of the world’s hottest footballers at this very moment. 30 goals he scored last season as a midfield player tells a lot about his supreme capability. Known for his mazy run, superb dribbling skill and deadly finishes. Certain group of people think that his flamboyant life style might lead to premature end to his sterling career. Let’s watch and see.
8. Damien Duff
Age: 30. Club: Newcastle United. Net worth: £14 million.
Damien Duff was once a feared winger especially when played for Chelsea and Republic of Ireland. His style, which is similar to another of Chelsea’s player, Arjen Robben, forced his early exit to Newcastle United. Duff is a versatile player who can play on the right, left or center. He started his career in Blackburn, and after helping the club winning promotion to the Premier League, cash-rich Chelsea came to sweep him away.
9. Didier Drogba
Age: 30. Club: Chelsea. Net worth: £13 million.
A dangerous forward, Drogba is the Premier League’s top scorer and was recently crowned the African Footballer of the Year. There was once a famous saying if Ivory Coast has 5 Didier Drogbas, then the country would have won the last 2006 World Cup. In his youth, Drogba self trained himself by playing football every day in a city’s car park.
10. Emile Heskey
Age: 30. Club: Wigan. £12 million.
A rather low profile player, Emile Heskey is less subject to highlights and controversies, but has always been delivering goods, especially during his days as Liverpool and England player. Mainly plays in front of goal, but his versatility allows him to play in the flank, both right or left.
