Up to 2018, areppim built billionaire datasets, after proper mining, unscrambling and formating, from compilations made and published by Forbes. The choice was justified on the grounds that Forbes' lists include whomever crosses the $US 1B net worth boundary, thus offering the full scope, and hopefully a stable methodology providing for data comparability throughout the years. Regretfully, in 2019 Forbes decided to monetize their datasets, charging $US 1,200 (with a 50% cut for non-profit and academic users) per list-year, and to exclude other means of data sharing. At areppim, we believe in open and free access to data and information of public interest, and do neither sell nor can afford to buy the information appearing in our pages. So, farewell Forbes! Fortunately, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index provides an alternative, which we shall use henceforth. The visitor should be advised that comparisons with previous years are tricky, because Bloomberg editors use their own methodology, and they list only the top 500, instead of the whole set of world billionaires.

Forbes' new position begs a comment. The staff who signs the introduction to the 2019 billionaire list, deplores the failure of modern capitalism to win the souls of growing numbers of people. Among Millennials and Gen Z, free market skepticism is actually the majority view. To fix the issue, he advocates that In an era when consumers crave authenticity [capitalists should see] profits as a by-product of business rather than its singular mission. Sensible words. But the columnist would better look in his own backyard, because in the meanwhile his employer took the other lane, seeking to maximize profits wherever feasible, caring little for the firm's social responsibility. How does Forbes square their act with their gospel?