The World's Youngest Women Billionaires

One of the most exclusive groups of billionaires more than tripled its ranks this year.

The number of young billionaire women under the age of 40 jumped to seven from just two a year earlier, bringing the number of women under 50 with 10-figure fortunes to 20, up from 17. The average age of female billionaires has dropped from to 61.5 from 62.5 in just the past year.

In Pictures: The World's Youngest Women Billionaires

The group's youngest: 24-year-old Hind Hariri, the world's second-youngest billionaire after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The daughter of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri and recent graduate of the Lebanese American University in Beirut, she is considered one of the world's most eligible bachelorettes. Alas, Hariri may be off the market; rumor has it--though it has not been confirmed--she's engaged.

Next up is Yang Huiyan, 26, a Chinese native whose father gave her a 58% stake in his real estate development company Country Garden. Yang graduated from Qinghua University in Beijing and went on to study marketing at Ohio State. Her wedding video is posted on YouTube.

There are five 30-something female billionaires, four of whom hail from Turkey.

Three of those four are the glamorous, successful daughters of media baron Aydin Dogan and his wife Sema Isil Dogan, also billionaires. The youngest of the Dogan daughters is 31-year-old Begumhan Dogan Faralyali. A graduate of Stanford University, Begumhan worked as a consultant at Arthur Anderson and is now president of the family's Dogan Holding.

Sister Hanzade Dogan Boyner, 36, a Goldman Sachs alumna, sits on the board of Dogan Holding and is deputy chair of Dogan Gazetecilik, a media company that oversees four Turkish newspapers.

Vuslat Dogan Sabanci, the second-oldest at 37, has held editorial positions at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (she is now chief executive of The Hurriyet, a large-circulation daily newspaper). Vuslat has married into another billionaire family; her husband is Ali Ismail Sabanci, son of Sevket Sabanci. The oldest billionaire sister, Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, head of an influential Turkish business lobby, is in her forties.

Six of the seven women in their 20s and 30s and nine of the dozen in their 40s inherited their money from their fathers. The four enterprising exceptions, who account for more than a third of the world's 10 self-made billionaire women, are an impressive trio.

The youngest self-made female billionaire in the world is Hong Kong citizen Chu Lam Yiu, the 38-year-old head of Huabao International, which makes fragrances and flavorings for cigarettes, detergents, beverages, dairy products and cosmetics. Chu still heads the company, which she started a decade ago and which went public through a backdoor listing.

Chinese billionaire Zhang Xin, 43, worked in a factory stitching apparel in Hong Kong at age 14 before eventually getting a master's at Cambridge University. Today she and her husband Pan Shiyi run one of China's most successful property developers, SOHO China, known for its sleek and modern buildings across the country.

Russian Elena Baturina, also a former factory worker, isn't in business with her husband, Yuri Luzkhov, but his position as Moscow's mayor probably hasn't hurt her company. Baturina founded Inteko in 1991, and it later became one of
the city's biggest construction companies. Inteko sued the publisher of Forbes Russia over a December 2006 cover story about the company. The court ruled in Inteko's favor.

The most famous of these young billionaire entrepreneurs is British novelist Joanne (J.K.) Rowling, 42, formerly a struggling single mother who lived on welfare. That was before she penned the immensely popular Harry Potter series about a boy wizard and eventually transformed herself into the world's only billionaire author.

The question likely on many a men's minds: How many of these ladies are single? Only two are--with certainty--single: Turkey's Serra Sabanci and Filiz Sahenk. Nothing is known about the marital status of Chu Lam Yiu.

Married or single, self-made or inherited, these women, ranging from 24 to 49 years old, have limitless earning potential and decades ahead to see their investments and business ventures flourish. They are emerging from some of the world's biggest economies, taking on corporate roles their grandmothers and even mothers never would have dreamed possible. Largely wrinkle-free and far from retirement, these are certainly ones to watch.

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Bring Your Questions for the CEO of Digg

By Stephen J. Dubner

Jay Adelson

Digg was launched as an experiment in 2004. Now the site claims 26 million visitors per month. It’s called one of the top alternative search engines, and most online articles and videos have a Digg link at the bottom, which lets people Digg (yes it’s become a verb) their favorites and potentially propel them into the strato-blogosphere.

According to Digg.com: “If your submission rocks and receives enough Diggs, it is promoted to the front page …” This can create the well-known “Digg effect,” a sudden traffic increase to the site in question — a phenomenon that has given rise to front-page survival guides.

Jay Adelson, Digg’s CEO, is also chairman of the board of the internet television network Revision3; the founder of Equinix, Inc.; a co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation’s Palo Alto Internet Exchange; and a founding employee of Netcom On-Line Communications, Inc., one of the first ISPs in the U.S.

He has agreed to take your questions, so bring him your best on Digging, online businesses, social networking, and Google rumors. As with our past Q&A’s, we will post Adelson’s answers here in short time.

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Gasoline prices retreat; could fall more: survey

By Franklin Paul

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline prices fell sharply in the last two weeks, just below $4 a gallon, in line with retreating crude oil markets, and prices at the pump may slide further, an industry analyst said on Sunday.

The U.S. average retail price for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline fell to $3.9959, off nearly 12 cents in the past two weeks, according to the Lundberg nationwide survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

"The crude oil market has imposed a down price correction on itself, and this oil price slide is rapidly being translated into a gasoline price correction," said survey editor Trilby Lundberg.

At $3.61 a gallon, Wichita, Kansas, had the lowest average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline on July 25, while the high was $4.43 in Anchorage, Alaska.

U.S. crude oil futures ended down on Friday, hitting seven-week lows, due in part to a report saying that OPEC's oil output is expected to rise by 200,00 barrels a day in July from June because of higher supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Oil has doubled in price over the past year, stoking inflation, triggering protests from Asia to Europe, and compounding the financial pain of U.S. consumers, already grappling with a depressed housing market, job uncertainty and soaring food costs.

But Lundberg said that barring a dramatic change in the global oil market, U.S. gasoline prices may soon pull back another 10 cents per gallon.

"Assuming that oil stays around its current level, that downward price correction would continue its move to the street," she said. "The lag time between wholesale price cuts and retail price response is such that some retailers have yet to receive their price cuts or have yet to pass them through."

During the dramatic price increases in recent months, refiners and retailers shouldered margin losses rather than pass the higher cost of crude to motorists. They will try to hang on to recent margin gains, but softer U.S. gasoline demand makes that very difficult, she noted.

On Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, front month crude futures fell more than $2 to settle at $123.26 a barrel, down about 16 percent from a record over $147 just two weeks ago.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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9 ways you can take advantage of this terrible economy

All right, we get it… Gas prices are high; the real estate market isn’t good, stocks are down, and many banks are in a mess. The media keeps drilling it into our heads like we had no idea.

Despite their negativity this may actually be an excellent time to better your life and the lives of those around you. Tough times are some of the best times for people to become resourceful, innovative, and make positive changes.

Here are 9 ways you can take advantage of this “terrible” economy.

1. Buy foreclosures and invest in real estate

It’s a buyer’s market for sure. You don’t want to look back in ten years from now and have a “shoulda, coulda, woulda” moment. Even if prices aren’t low in your area, explore different towns and states for commercial locations and empty lots. Even if you don’t have the resources and funds to develop right now, stake your claim while you can.

2. Invest in green technology

High oil prices are igniting interest in alternative fuels and green technology. If you’re active in the stock markets, perhaps you should consider doing some research on emerging green companies. If you’re not an active trader, another way to invest is to explore purchasing a hybrid or electric car. It might be costly now, but in a few years you’ll be happy.

3. Start a company

Sure, there are a lot of companies shutting down but this maybe the right time to start a company up. Here are some tips to think about if you want to launch a start up:

- Look for an industry or market with a large number of businesses closing. Are the big competitors shutting down? If so, you’ll have less competition.

- Research the reason why they closed.

- Find a solution and an opportunity in what they did wrong.

- Many of the companies shutting down are large corporations. So one of the best things going for you is being small but thinking big.

4. Switch careers

I know exactly what you’re thinking or even saying right now, “well there are no jobs, and my job’s safe.” Is it really though? Do you like what you do? Is there a long commute? And many expenses? You must ask yourself questions like these. Wouldn’t you rather be your own boss? Or have a job that you enjoy so much you don’t care what you get paid or what it costs you to get there?

5. Move somewhere you’ve always wanted to

A location or town you’ve dreamed about living in might be at its most affordable right now. Seize this window of opportunity to make a big change.

6. Learn

During times like these there is plenty that you can learn. Such facts as:

- Where the US gets most of its foreign oil from.

- How much gasoline the US uses.

- How big of a role the media plays in driving up fuel prices and striking fear in the public about their finances.

Become aware and educate yourself. You can prevent yourself from letting any future economic troubles giving you trouble.

7. Go on vacation!

Many people are skipping vacations because prices aren’t affordable for them. But you shouldn’t let that hold you back. While everyone else is staying home you can live it up and enjoy yourself with smaller crowds.

8. Get your voice out there

If increasing prices, the bad economy, and politicians are making you frustrated, then take action. Harness the power of new and old media to voice your opinions. Offer new ideas and solutions, be controversial, and be a leader.

9. Break bad habits & modify your lifestyle

Old habits die hard, but they might die quickly in a tough economy. Think about walking or riding a bike instead of driving everywhere. You’ll stay fit, save cash, and help out the environment. It’s a win-win-win situation.

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Iran Not Building Nuclear Bomb, Ahmadinejad Tells NBC (Update2)

By Robin Stringer

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC News that Iran isn't developing nuclear weapons and the country would respond positively to a new approach from the U.S.

``We are not working to manufacture a bomb,'' NBC's Brian Williams quoted Ahmadinejad as saying following an interview with the president in Tehran. ``Nuclear weapons are so 20th century.''

In the interview aired today, Ahmadinejad said through an interpreter he sees ``new behavior'' by the United States. ``My question is, is such behavior rooted in a new approach?''

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns and other diplomats met in Geneva on July 19 with Iranian officials including top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, offering Iran economic and diplomatic incentives to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce energy or an atomic bomb.

The diplomats at the highest-level meeting between American and Iranian officials since the 1979 Islamic revolution asked Iran to answer within two weeks.

``We've been hearing some different things out of Iran,'' State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters in Washington today. ``What we're looking for is, at the end of the two weeks, a definitive statement through the normal channels, Jalili to Solana, on where the Iranians stand.''

`New Situation'

Ahmadinejad said that if the U.S. approach changes, ``we will be facing a new situation and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one.''

Although Iran's tone has softened, ``they haven't agreed to a slowdown in progress, not withstanding all the hints they would be doing so,'' Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow for non- proliferation at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies policy group, said in a telephone interview.

``Of course he says they aren't producing a bomb, but they are producing the wherewithal to make a bomb once they have the enrichment capability.''

The Iranian president also said crude oil is overvalued in part because of manipulation, according to Williams.

Iran is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Crude oil for September delivery rose 0.7 percent to $124.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up about 60 percent from a year ago.

`Great Nation'

Asked whether Iran would consider ceasing uranium enrichment -- a key demand of the U.S. and other United Nations Security Council members, who have slapped three rounds of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt the process -- Ahmadinejad said the Islamic Republic is ``a great nation with a great economy,'' and doesn't need ``the services, if I can use the word, of a few countries.''

Iran has threatened to blockade the Straits of Hormuz, an export channel for a quarter of the world's oil, if its nuclear facilities are targeted.

Iran has said its nuclear program is for domestic energy and lawful under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which the country is a member.

Ahmadinejad said on July 26 the country had 6,000 centrifuges for enrichment, which would be up from 3,500 earlier this year.

That number is a ``typical exaggeration,'' Fitzpatrick said. He said Iran actually has about 3,000 operational centrifuges, which could enrich enough uranium to create one atomic weapon by the end of 2009.

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Energy firms ‘conspire to raise prices’

Robin Pagnamenta

Energy companies stand accused today of overcharging customers, leaving millions of households struggling to pay gas and electricity bills.

A report claims that the six biggest energy companies conspire to keep charges artificially high and gives a warning of widespread hardship this winter unless the Government acts.

It also accuses the industry regulator of failing to protect the interests of customers and calls for an immediate overhaul of the way gas is traded, amid concern that speculators are making huge profits at the expense of hard-up consumers.

The damning report by MPs, published today, urges ministers to redouble efforts to alleviate the plight of families plunged into fuel poverty before the winter. The number of families who struggle to pay heating bills has risen to 4.5 million from just over two million in the past five years.

The report comes just two days after the French company EDF announced price increases of up to 22 per cent for its five million customers. Other energy companies are about to follow.

MPs on the Commons Business and Enterprise Committee stop short of accusing companies of rigging prices. But Peter Luff, who chairs the committee, said: “Just because we have found no evidence of collusion does not mean we have given the ‘Big Six’ energy companies a clean bill of health - far from it.

“It is clear that there are very real problems in the energy markets at all levels, and going beyond these six companies, which need to be addressed.”

British Gas, npower, Scottish Power, E.ON and SSE, as well as EDF, - are accused of operating in a cosy world of minimal price competition. This created an environment where it was “easy for those players to make informed judgments about the behaviour of their competitors. This alone can distort competition without any actual collusion occurring.”

Business was also put at a serious disadvantage to its international competitors. “Industrial consumers now face prices above European levels,” it said. “If these price differentials are sustained, they will put many thousands of jobs in manufacturing at risk.”

Specific concerns included Britain’s acute shortage of gas storage - only 13 days’ worth compared with 99 days in Germany and 122 days in France.

Mr Luff said this represented a “pathetically inadequate level of gas storage” that left Britain’s energy market inherently unstable.

He pointed out that the shortage was contributing to the volatility in wholesale gas prices, in particular because the depletion of the North Sea meant that Britain was increasingly dependent on imported gas, which required temporary storage.

About 40 per cent of the gas used in Britain will be imported this year, up from 27 per cent in 2007. That proportion is expected to rise to 75 per cent by 2015.

The report said that the Government had failed to respond quickly enough to the “increasing and entirely predictable gas import dependency”. More storage capacity was an issue of “national importance and should be a high priority in domestic energy policy”.

It also noted that continuing consolidation in the industry threatened to choke off competition further and, in particular, gave warning that the imminent £11 billion takeover of British Energy by EDF threatened to create an overly dominant player, which would add to the upward pressure on pricing.

“I’m not against the sale of British Energy per se but you just can’t sacrifice further competition like that without the creation of robust safeguards,” Mr Luff told The Times. He called for both Ofgem and the Competition Commission to look “very carefully indeed” at the proposed deal.

The report cited the lack of price transparency and liquidity in the forward market for gas as a key area of concern. “We recommend that Ofgem investigates urgently why gas producers seem unwilling to trade in the forward market,” it said.

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Video of Cop Assaulting Cyclist at Critical Mass Ride

Another Critical Mass ride, another stunning display of police brutality. Watch as one of New York's finest violently shoves a cyclist off his bicycle, launching him through the air to the curb at 46th street and Seventh Avenue during Friday night's monthly Critical Mass ride.

Although a judge ruled in 2006 that the monthly Critical Mass bicycle rides could proceed without
a permit, the NYPD's stance remains somewhat adversarial. Though the city has not been enforcing the controversial parade permit law when it comes to Critical Mass, police have been ticketing cyclists during the ride for such infractions as not having the required lights.

A representative for TIMES UP! tells us that the cyclist in this video was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest. One other cyclist was ticketed Friday night for riding outside the bike lane, which is not actually illegal and often necessary, considering how popular bike lanes are for double parking.

UPDATE: MyFoxNY has it that the police officer in the video – 22-year-old Patrick Pogan – has been stripped of his badge and gun and the NYPD has "placed the officer on desk duty pending the outcome of a department investigation." The cyclist, Christopher Long, has not commented, but his lawyer said, "The video speaks for itself."

UPDATE 7/29: More details here, including how Officer Pogan is apparently a third-generation cop and Long is described as an Army veteran who works as a grocer at the Union Square Green Market.

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Suicide hot line got calls from 22,000 veterans

AP Photo: Pfc. Joseph Dwyer, 26, from Mt. Sinai, N.Y., carries a young Iraqi boy who was...

By KATHARINE EUPHRAT, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.

According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.

This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years.

Janet Kemp, national suicide prevention coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Department, said the hot line is in place to help prevent deaths such as Dwyer's. "We just want them to know there's other options and people do care about them, and we can help them make a difference in their lives," she said in an interview.

The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, two veterans groups sued the VA, citing long delays for processing applications and other problems in treatment for veterans at risk for suicide. The department has spent $2.9 million on the hot line thus far.

The hot line receives up to 250 calls per day — double the average number calling when it began. Kemp said callers are divided evenly between veterans from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars. Richard McKeon, public health adviser for SAMHSA, said 10 to 20 of the 1,575 calls received each week have to be rerouted to high-volume backup call centers throughout the country.

The VA estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year.

This month, the hot line began an advertising campaign in Washington area subway stations and buses featuring the slogan, "It takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help."

The veterans hot line, which is linked to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, received 55,000 callers in its first year, including both veterans and people who are concerned about them, according to figures being released Monday. One-third of the 40 specially trained counselors are veterans themselves.

"We try to get them (callers) to talk about their situation and what they remember and see if they can identify exactly what their issues are. I think there's a comfort in knowing that they can get some help from people who do understand what combat stress is like," Kemp said.

From the call center, counselors instantly can check a veteran's medical records and then connect the caller to local VA suicide prevention coordinators for follow-up, monitoring and care at local VA medical centers. Kemp said that since the hot line started, 106 veterans have been steered to free medical care from the VA.

Kemp said the hot line was put in place specifically for those veterans who don't get enough help until it's too late. "They have indicated to us that they are in extreme danger, either they have guns in their hand or they're standing on a bridge, or they've already swallowed pills," she said. Kemp said 1,221 veterans who were in such situations were rescued during the hot line's first year.

The VA is preparing for the eventual return of a large number of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. This could put added stress on the mental health screening program for returning veterans, which could lead to a rise in undiagnosed mental health issues. The VA recently got enough money to double its suicide prevention staff and is planning to hire 212 more people soon.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling 800-273-TALK (8255); veterans should press "1" after being connected.

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Bank Of America Lets Identity Thief Withdraw $40,000 In A Single Day

Bank of America twiddled their thumbs as an identity thief withdrew over $40,000 from Chris Hooley's account over five transactions in a single day. Chris canceled his Bank of America debit card immediately after he lost his wallet, which should have put a big red flag in Bank of America's system to stop them from handing over tens of thousands of dollars to a stranger. Apparently it didn't!

Chris only noticed the massive withdrawals after the police arrested the thief.

They said they caught this guy at BestBuy trying to use somebody else’s credit card to buy a whole bunch of computers. Apparently BestBuy’s register system pops up an alert code if there is somebody trying to use a card that has been reported lost or stolen, and they call the cops. Impressive. The police caught the guy red handed. With drugs. And paraphernalia. And a bunch of people’s personal information.

At the time, I thought they got the sucker before he could do any real damage. But just to be safe, I checked with Bank of America. I was shocked to see my account was overdrawn by almost $300. Last I checked, I had almost 40k in there.

A quick review turned up 5 suspicious transactions. Two were deposits, and three were withdrawals. All five transactions occurred *inside* five different Bank of America banking centers. What amazed me most is the final two transactions. A withdrawal of 26k. And later that day, another withdrawal of 12.5k. Way to spot suspicious activity Bank of America. They handed the guy almost 40k in cash in one day.

Turns out the first two transactions where not just deposits. They were checks written to me, Christopher Hooley. The first one was $6200. The guy kept $5k and left $1200 in my account. The next one was a day later at a different center for $7500. Again, the guy kept $5k. I saw the debit slip online, and this guy’s signature wasn’t even a remote attempt to copy mine. To make matters worse, it turns out he was forging checks from another valley business, who subsequently called the police on ME!

Great work protecting your customers, Bank of America!

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