Condemned by the Christian Bible as the root of all evil and vividly portrayed in Dante’s Inferno as the sin which is most offensive to the spirit of love, the lust for material gain has been classified as an addiction by modern psychology. Before you dismiss the idea that greed is an addiction, it is necessary to point out that if you were to ask any billionaire about how much capital he needs in order to be satisfied, you would come to realize that there isn’t really an ending point to how much fortune they desire.
Awful as it may sound, some of these billionaires have stepped over any imaginable boundary and even got to the point when they deny others the basic conveniences in order to pursue their own dream. Let’s check out some of the people who will be remembered in history mainly due to their greed.
1. Sheldon Adelson
Due to his actions during the US presidential elections last year, Sheldon Adelson is a face all Americans know. Top shareholder and chief executive at the world’s largest casino, the Las Vegas Sands, Adelson stated that he doesn’t regret spending an astronomical sum on his favorite candidate and in fact, he intends to spend double on the next elections. While the public views him as a villain determined to end the process of democratic elections once and for all, in his line of work he is the declared enemy of workers’ union.
2. Larry Ellison
It is said that in business you must come up with a plan and stick to it in order to become successful. Larry Ellison, former Oracle software chief takes this rule very seriously especially since throughout his career his plan was to buy out the competition, steal the clients and fire the staff. Needless to say that he is currently the sixth richest man in the world with a fortune estimated at around $41 billion.
3. Jim Skinner
Thanks to aggressive campaigns of the former McDonald’s CEO, no person looking to earn an extra income by working in a fast-food chain can be entitled to receive in excess of $8.25 per hour. And that “high end” sum is reserved for the workers with over 20 years of experience. Meanwhile, Jim Skinner announced his retirement along with a compensation package of over $82 million.
4. Brian Driscoll
Back in the day, it was considered the captain’s duty to go down with his ship. Oh well, times have changed and nowadays, the captains have their very own yacht or ski jet to rely on when the ship goes down. And, if possible, he would repeat the stunt with the next ship that rescues him. So goes the story of Brian Driscoll, a man who in just one year managed to bankrupt Hostess Foods and leave with all he could squeeze from worker compensation funds. As a result from his actions, Driscoll was named CEO of Diamond Foods and currently receives a salary of over $10 million, whereas his former staff lost wage income and retirement funds.
5. Steven Cohen
Wall Street is the best place in the world to make a ton of cash fast and easy, without the public finding out. Initially an expert poker player, Steven Cohen has decided to try his advanced skills in stocks trading and what a fine job he did. Putting together a top secret hedge fund, in the early days Cohen provided investors with a ROI of over 70%, demanding 50% for himself. In the past years, financial experts claim that his funds are so widespread that $2 out of each $100 traded in Wall Street belong to him. The problem here is that unlike most Americans with an average income, this guy only pays 15% of the profits in taxes.