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So who is this guy?  He lives here in St. Louis.  He's 85 years old.  I'll even tell you his name:  Jack Taylor.  Still nothing?  Are you wondering why you should care?  Are you wondering why you'd want to be on his good side?

The reason is very simple.  According to Forbes magazine new list of the world's richest people, Jack Taylor has more money than anyone in Missouri.  Its pretty amazing that he could bump into you at Schnuck's, excuse himself and move on, and you'd barely give him a second thought. 

Jack is a Wash-U drop out.  He flew planes in the navy, then came home and sold Cadillacs.
 As the story goes, he took a  50%  pay cut from his boss in return for backing on a little business venture he had in mind.  He got $25-grand, space in the basement, and seventeen cars to start a little company now called Enterprise Rent-A-Car. 
Jack's family is now worth $14 Billion dollars, making him the 42nd richest man in the world.  Maybe he's not Bill Gates, but I'd take number 42 on that list any day!

Speaking of Bill Gates, he's not the richest guy in the world anymore.  For those of us who like to make fun of the "hay-rakes" in Nebraska and the "hoosiers" in Arkansas, those seem to be the homes of the truly wealthy these days.  The world's richest man is now Warren Buffet of Omaha, Nebraska.  And all that Wal-Mart money is still floating around the hills and hollers down there in Arkansas.  Maybe we should re-think which states we're going to make fun of!

As a St. Louisan, you may be wondering about Augie Busch.  I was surprised to find he's not on the billionaires list at all!  I'm new to town, but with the history A-B has, I just would have assumed the billions were in hand.

As for Mr. Taylor:  there's a guy who's worth knowing.  If he needs an extra heir I'm available!

For the Forbes list in it's entirety, go here.

Tags: Enterprise jack Taylor Billionaire Bill Gates Wal-Mart Forbes Washington University