Realtor Kurt Rappaport is very well known in the Los Angeles area. Not only does he earn a huge income by being a co-owner of the swankiest and most exclusive boutique brokerages in the L.A., but Kurt also makes millions of dollars by personally listing and selling the luxurious homes of the very rich and famous in Los Angeles.

For those of us who don’t him by name, you’ll probably recall this. He sold his own huge house on Calle Vista Drive in Beverly Hills to Tom Cruise and Kate Holmes in April of 2007. The amount was a shocking $30,500,000.

So where did Kurt Rappaport and his wife end up? They purchased the enormous house owned by auto accessories and tire tycoon, Lawrence Kraines (Kraco).

It was on the market for almost a year, but the 12,981 s.f. mansion finally sold for $15,990,000. Nice discount off the asking price of $18,950,000.   Full article

Ashley Qualls is only 17 years old but is already a millionaire. What started out as an idea and $8 borrowed from her mother, Ashley has seen her web site www.whateverlife.com grow into to huge success story.

Ashley became interested in graphic design just about the same time the online social networking craze began to catch fire. She began to develop MySpace background designs for her friends, then offered them for free on her web site.  Adding music lyrics from popular songs and custom background designs, her site took off and she now grosses over one million dollars a year.  Full article

In just the past two decades, luxury suites and other premium seating for football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc… have transformed the way sports franchises make money and build venues.

Luxury suites, often incorrectly referred to as “sky boxes,” are exclusive, enclosed areas within a sports venue that offer the latest amenities and top of the line service for a hefty price. In major markets such as New York and Los Angeles, suites in prime locations (think 50-yard line in the NFL) go for about $400,000 a season — a price that is likely to keep going higher.

Premium seating, which also includes club seating, courtside seating and party suites, first became prevalent around 1990 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Detroit Pistons. At that time, premium seating accounted for just 3% of the seats in a given building.

Today, premium seating accounts for almost 25% of seats in new buildings and often goes for double or triple the cost of their less luxurious counterparts. In fact, now franchises can project nearly half of all ticket revenue from premium seating

This source of revenue is so vital that many buildings have been torn down or renovated on the sole reason that they didn’t have enough premium seating.

“The entire market was built out on the fact that you need the revenue from premium seating,” said Bill Dorsey, executive director of luxury suite directors, a trade group that represents 1,000 minor and pro league members.

“It wouldn’t be economically viable to build a venue without a mix of premium seats — even minor league or secondary market venues,” said Marshall Glickman, former president of the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers and now CEO of consulting firm G2 Strategic.

Originally, luxury suites were primarily looked at as a way to secure the financing necessary to build new venues, which today can cost in upward of $1 billion. Luxury suite money is considered contractually obligated income because individuals and corporations sign leases for an 8-to-10-year period. Since a team can’t guarantee a bank it will sell out every single game, this is a way to show its minimum ticketing revenue.

While it still serves a financing role, premium seating has become a major source of revenue for franchises and a form of business entertainment for corporations. Businesses use suites to entertain potential clients, retain current ones and recruit future employees.

“Premium spaces are things that companies tend to covet. The suite option has always provided a unique venue for corporations to have access to entertaining clients,” said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Charles Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon.

While luxury suites have been around for about two decades, the business model behind them is still evolving.

The prices have gone up while the number of suites has been flat or declined in some markets. For example, The Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium is expected to have 300 suites at $300,000 each, giving the city a $90 million marketplace. That’s nearly 10 times the market Dallas had just ten years ago, Dorsey said.

Experts said they are seeing a shift away from traditional luxury suites and a move toward more club seating and other premium seats because people like to be in a more social atmosphere.

Also, teams have been experimenting with the location of luxury suites, which are no longer just found above the first level of seating. Today, the suites are being placed closer to the playing field and even in some cases below it. Several NBA venues have built suites beneath the court with the option for several occupants to sit courtside.

Given the hefty price tags that accompany premium seats, franchises are expected to give customers the best accommodations, including the latest high-definition televisions, top-notch service and plush seating areas.

“The challenge is to make the suite experience more than just a place to watch the game,” said Jim Grinstead, publisher of Revenues from Sports Venues.

Experts said franchises must be ready to adapt to the ever-changing desires of premium seat holders.

“We in our industry need to do a better job of designing the venues to have a lot more flexibility,” said Glickman.

This means creating suites that can easily be converted to other types of premium seating. Glickman knows fist-hand, as he said his team didn’t have enough foresight when it built the Rose Garden, the current home of the Blazers.

Customization is another key in the current premium seating market, with leaseholders now having the ability to put their mark on their suites. Some businesses choose to put their logo on the walls or in various other areas of a suite – something that adds value to the investment.

“One size does not fit all. Everything is now customized, and it should be,” said Glickman.

It seems that the ultra rich are getting that way younger and younger. There’s many who simply inherited a pile of cash such as Yang Huiyan, who’s China’s richest woman. She has a $7.4 billion fortune, given by her father, Yeung Kwok Keung.

Many did it the old fashion way, they earned it. The Ukraine’s youngest billionaire, Kostyantin Zhevago, now 34 years old is worth $3.4 billion and is currently a deputy in Ukraine’s parliament. Then there’s American John Arnold, who sped through Vanderbilt University in three years and became an oil trader for Enron, banking about $750 million in 2001.

After the business collapsed, he started his own hedge fund, Centaurus Energy. He has done very well indeed, with a debut on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list – net worth of $1.5 billion.  Full article

(Photo by: J.P. Moczulski / REUTERS/Landov)

The success story of Bill Gates is nothing but spectacular. But by the very same markets that made him rich, he now wants to overhaul capitalism. The founder of Microsoft is calling for a new economics that could help change the world.

Speaking recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates praised technology and science for making the world better, but he warned that “breakthroughs change lives only where people can afford to buy them.”

Billions of people need the great inventions of the computer age, Gates says, as well as basic services. But they can’t express this need “in ways that matter to markets.” Money talks, and they don’t have any.

Gates’s cure is a “creative capitalism” that is driven by self interest and concern for others. It means asking how capitalism could work in the poorest markets.

Companies already know how to sell luxury items to rich shoppers. To become creative capitalists, they would have to figure out how to reap a profit in extremely poor markets. Sometimes the profit would be money, and sometimes it would be in the form of recognition that would attract customers and talented employees.

What could be sold? It won’t be $300 iPods or $45,000 BMWs. Rather, companies would have to listen closely to local needs and respond. That’s what a company in India called the Serum Institute did when it came up with a way to produce low-cost vaccines for babies in developing countries. Communications companies are wiring rural communities around the globe so residents can use wireless phones and computers. Designers are creating portable light sources, and solar-power is purifying water and illuminating communities that lack electricity. And Microsoft is working on a computer driven by images so it can be used by people who can’t read.

To make creative capitalism a two-way street, Gates’s foundation is funding efforts to “help businesses in the poor world reach markets in the rich world.” One example is a program to help African farmers gain access to the premium coffee market, so they can double their incomes.

Gates adds: “I hope corporations will consider dedicating a percentage of your top innovators’ time to issues that could help people left out of the global economy,” arguing that this could be more useful than donating cash.

This promising perspective recasts global poverty as a new frontier where cutting-edge thinkers can advance global innovations.

Now Gates has to keep preaching, until more people can see what he sees. He’ll have to keep calling for partnerships among business, government, and nonprofit groups. And he’ll need famous friends such as Bono, the rock star advocate, to add the gleam of celebrity to the cause.

Opening up new markets alone won’t end global poverty. But creative capitalism could compel more people to try.  Read article

After the slaughter of the Dot.com bust and stock market free-fall, many people took managing their investments into their own hands.  Mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer Susan Pravda recalls, “I had a money market fund here, a stock brokerage account there, and a bunch of 401(k) plans floating around.” Even she had excellent returns, Pravda still  wonders whether she might have fared better if she had followed her own advice to clients, and hired a pro to help her devise a custom portfolio.

For many professionals, whose careers and family responsibilities demand time and attention, tackling complex financial tasks–such as building an asset allocation model or a long-term wealth plan — may get pushed to the back burner and stay there, even as their wealth levels grow.

Recognizing this, more financial institutions are particularly targeting women as potential clients, offering to professionally manage their investment portfolios.  Putting all your money in someone else’s hands can be unnerving. Do your research and thoroughly understand, who’s managing your money.  Full article

Who hasn’t heard of Donald Trump? Although he’s better known as that entrepreneur with the funny hairstyle, he’s so much more. Trump has been in the news as much as anyone these days, maybe not always for the right reasons. His well publicized media battle with Rosie O’Donnell was both intriguing and pathetic. Whether you love or hate Donald Trump, there’s no denying he’s a one-man PR machine.

Donald made a public mainstream name for himself as a real estate developer and a celebrity on the television show “The Apprentice”, and is now passing on his know-how through the Trump University, which offers a range of on-line courses and books.

Born in 1946 to a wealthy New York real estate developer, Donald Trump undoubtedly had a head start for his own real estate business – but it takes more than a foot in the real estate door to rise to the level of success of “The Donald”.

A true businessman and entrepreneur, he overcame financial difficulties in the 1990’s through ambitious real estate developments including Trump World Tower and Trump Place, and is a major real estate player in the United States. He is also CEO of Trump Organisation and founded Trump Entertainment, which operates a number of casinos.

His fame and notoriety raised even further with the television reality show “The Apprentice”, in which Donald Trump is both host and executive producer.

His success can be largely attributed to his entrepreneurial vision, hard-hitting business tactics and just the fact that he has set himself some BIG goals. But more than that, he has a burning desire to be a success – and this desire is what keeps him motivated to achieve.

Is “The Donald” your success role model? Find out his own success secrets through Donald Trump University, which was established in 2005 to share Donald Trump’s entrepreneurial know-how with the world through a variety of courses, programs, books and audios. Their mission is to ‘teach success’ by giving people the knowledge needed to succeed and by adopting a hands-on approach to learning – after all, most of us learn better by ‘doing’ than by reading or listening alone.

Despite a steep downturn in the U.S. housing market, the luxury home market remains strong in throughout the U.S.  A record breaking $175 million real estate sale in Colorado breaks a new national record for the highest value home ever sold. While the overall U. S. housing market has taken a downturn, wealthy home buyers continue to invest in homes at the very top of the market.

Evidence of the strength of the luxury home segment was revealed in late November with the sale of the Trinchera Ranch in Colorado for a record-setting $175 million. This sale breaks the U.S. residential sales record of $103 million set earlier this year in New York’s Hamptons.

Sellers of the Colorado property were the heirs of the late Malcolm Forbes, who acquired control of the historic Trinchera ranch in 1969. The buyer is billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Moore Bacon, who appears as number 286 on the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans. Trinchera is the largest ranch in Colorado and its 171,400 acres contain five residences, as well as a Western style lodge with 16 bedrooms.

Although the Colorado sale set a U.S. sales record, it fell short of the world record residential purchase, also set this year, with Sheikh Hamad of Qatar’s acquisition of a penthouse condominium in London for £100 million – equivalent to about $200 million at the time of the sale.

“Although the vast Colorado ranch, the ocean front lot in the Hamptons, and the London penthouse condominium are not apples-to-apples comparisons, they are each indicative of the health of the very top of the world’s luxury home market,” said Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, an international organization which tracks the luxury home market and trains luxury real estate agents.

“These sales illustrate the fact that there are more rich households than ever before and the world’s wealthiest have shifted more of their investment dollars out of alternative investments like commodities and into multiple residences.

Based on this year’s World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch and CapGemini, the world’s über rich have invested 12% of their total portfolios in homes other than a primary residence,” said Moore-Moore. “In short, there is more money than ever competing for homes at the very top of the market. The luxury residential market is the good news story in real estate.”

Mike Montpetit, a real estate professional with Town & Country Realty and member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, agrees. “In most markets across the country, the very top of the market remains healthy – luxury is the ‘sweet spot’ in real estate.”

To commemorate her achievements as a female pilot and champion of commercial aviation, Krone has created a limited edition Amelia Earhart fountain pen in a herringbone – patterned, blue celluloid with sterling silver accents.

The Amelia Earhart pen is the latest in a long list of exquisite limited editions offered by Krone. The brand is best known for its commemorative pens, the brainchildren of company founder Robert Kronenberger. A longtime collector of historic manuscripts, Kronenberger understands that many people are as passionate about their writing instruments as he is about history. Thus, he strikes the perfect balance in the pens he produces.

Krone focuses on writing instruments that commemorate significant people and events. And Kronenberger assembled a design team of twelve creative young artists to carry this out. Their mission is to bring history alive, not only for traditional pen collectors, but for anyone interested in a particular event or individual. They are charged with being “creative” when conceiving a new pen by looking for new techniques and materials to create beautiful products with imaginative packaging. After the Krone team has completed its images and specifications, craftsmen in Italy, who work in resin and celluloid, and craftsmen in Germany, who work with sterling silver and precious metals, turn the designs into a unique and fully functioning limited edition fountain pen. Other master craftsmen are involved as needed. For example, Russian painters specializing in miniatures decorate the barrels of some models.

The limited edition pens produced by Krone are intended to foster an emotional bond between the owner of the pen and an aspect of history. In doing so, Krone has broadened the appeal of high-end fountain pens beyond pen enthusiasts. Thus, acquiring a Krone pen can be a symbol of something that resonates with a person’s values, beliefs, or occupation. For example, the Abraham Lincoln Pen, which has a piece of Lincoln’s DN A embedded in it, appeals not only to pen collectors, but also to Civil War enthusiasts, attorneys, politicians and American history buffs in general.

Other Krone limited editions commemorate an individual’s achievements or contributions to world culture. The Sir Edmond Hillary Mount Everest Pen, which includes a polished piece of rock from the summit of Mount Everest in its cap, recalls a great adventurer and symbolizes the quest for the nearly unattainable; the William Shakespeare Pen contains a minute piece of the mulberry tree Shakespeare planted outside his house at Stratord-upon-Avon; and the Apollo 11 pen includes a piece of the actual Kapton foil that survived reentry from the moon-landing flight. Similarly, the Krone Lindbergh Pen, the HMS Victory Pen, the Babe Ruth Pen and the Charles Dickens Pen contain artifacts related to the persons and events these pens commemorate.

Still other limited edition writing instruments offered by Krone are revered for their exquisite artwork. For example, masterpieces by Russian miniature lacquer work artists demonstrate craftsmanship of a very high order in several collections, including Anno Domini, A Space in Time and Moses. In these collections, the painting is executed on a mother-of-pearl barrel, allowing the luminescence of the shell to shine through the paint.

This latest Krone limited edition, the Amelia Earhart Pen, reflects the best of Krone craftsmanship and also salutes the life and achievement of a remarkable and unconventional woman. It is available now from select retailers.

There are just 388 pens available, each priced at $2,900, and 68 rollerball pens, priced at $2,800. The fountain pen is also available with rose gold accents, (18 pieces), priced.

What a CEO drives often reflects the type of person he or she really is.  Take conservative Warren Buffett for example.  He’s worth about $42 billion, but for years he drove a silver 2001 Lincoln Town Car with Nebraska license plates, titled: THRIFTY.

CEO’s obviously have high profile positions and what they drive likely communicates a lot about the person. A recent survey of 3,000 people, found that only about 10% did not know what vehicle their chief drove.

“Of all the products in the world, cars are the most reliable representation of an individual’s personality,” says Golden Gate University psychology chair Kit Yarrow.  Full article

As 2007 winds down, we can reflect on the challenges we endured – teetering economy, soaring gas prices, crashing real estate market, and unrest around the world. But KWE Group believes luxury travel markets will continue to expand, while consumers of high-end products will hone their tastes ever more pointedly. The urge for self expression will spread, while a new ethical and environmental consciousness will take a firmer hold. These are among the many forces that will help dictate luxury tourism trends and lifestyle trends in 2008.

Luxury travel markets will continue to expand, while consumers of high-end products will hone their tastes ever more pointedly. The urge for self expression will spread, while a new ethical and environmental consciousness will take a firmer hold. These are among the many forces that will help dictate luxury tourism trends and lifestyle trends in 2008.

1. Traditional demographics won’t define luxury consumers. Buying behavior, geography, interests and connoisseurship will become the new definition of wealth, particularly in emerging markets where luxury status will be displayed outwardly via symbols: luxury goods and labels such as Louis Vuitton handbags or Chanel cuffs, ubiquitous among their peers.

Mature affluents are gravitating to “stealth wealth.” They seek luxury travel products that express personal interests and style, and those which require connoisseurship. They prize uniqueness and limited-edition luxe: originals, one-of-a-kind objects, which are expensive and highly collectible. Think men’s shirts with the monograms inside the sleeves, bespoke Hermes and non-branded, one-of-a-kind hotels that reflect the owner’s exquisite taste, selectivity and demanding standards. To know and appreciate these products, one must savor subtle details and be in the loop.

2. Relationships with family and friends take center stage. Accelerating since 9/11 and fueled by a backlash against 24/7 work schedules and dehumanizing technology, a tourism trend that is growing at a faster rate than all other sectors is family travel. A recent survey of American Express travel agents revealed a significant rise in luxury travel among families; 82% wanted high-end hotels with kids programs and 56% were traveling with nannies. Parents, grandparents and friends are looking to travel as a way to reunite, and to celebrate life’s landmark events. Business trips with the whole family will become as common as tag-along spouses, while high-end business hotels and resorts will get on board with family travel trends, rolling out the red carpet with special suites and villas.

3. Creativity checks in. As Thomas Friedman writes in “The World is Flat,” we are living in the Talent Age. Companies will need to innovate to set themselves apart by finding new solutions and alliances to tap into fresh talent. The right side of the brain will trump the left as creativity and design sell. Look to more companies to follow the lead of Richemont, a Swiss luxury goods conglomerate (Cartier, Montblanc, Dunhill and others), which established The Creative Academy, its own international Master of Arts in Design school, an alliance that bears creative fruits.

4. Concierges are king. A lack of time and information overload for the affluent to sort through, and they will pay experts to create lives they desire. As a lifestyle trend, personal concierges are all the rage. They’re curators for sourcing flowers, a home or even friends, even helping clients define their own tastes and style.

In retail, it’s “curated consumption” – stores offering the finest designs, already individually selected by the proprietor for buyers of electronics, fashion, furniture, etc. There’s an online model – www.couturelab.com– a brilliant webzine that promises to be the template for other luxury products. Luxury travel brands will be expected to go beyond providing just luxury service and hospitality in their hotel, cruise ship or airline. They will be pressed to offer quality, inside-track information and time-saving services, such as Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Wing – a fast track security channel to get passengers from limo to lounge in ten minutes or less.

5. Altruism and social responsibility are a big lifestyle trend. Differing from the cause-related marketing of the 90s, today’s wealthy want to believe their consumption is helping to save the planet or has an altruistic motive behind it. In a recent HSBC luxury goods report, a graphic of American psychologist Abraham Maslow detailed an emotional needs hierarchy. The top, being linked to a higher cause. He said: “The future of luxury will be about imparting real meaning into a product.” The product itself must be sustainable and show a genuine sensitivity to community. The operative words here, as succinctly put by London’s Future Laboratory, are the three “T”s: truth, transparency and trust. A good example of the future’s responsible luxury, courtesy of Jeffrey Miller, consultant and columnist for Luxury Briefing: a Gucci Green Car.

6. Health, well-being and looking good continue to move up in financial priorities. The New York Times recently documented the lives and beauty budgets of three women in different parts of the country. One, a real estate agent from Los Angeles, admitted she regularly spent several thousand dollars monthly just for “maintenance,” just to “be in the game.” Lifestyle trends such as this fueled the spa and medical tourism boom in 2007. Spas are going well beyond the dedicated spa outlet or the home spa, and branching out into mobile spas, “macho” spas for men, and even pets. We are seeing the advent of medical real estate, where entire communities are in the works, such as Cooper Life at Craig Ranch in Texas. Monthly fees provide luxuries, including annual physical examinations and doctor house calls. Five star hotels are increasingly offering medi-healthy packages in alliance with neighboring medical facilities. Next? The buzzword will be “age management” programs to help the rich look and feel young.

7. Saving time is the greatest luxury among travel trends. Any service that achieves this will be a big winner (as evidenced by the number of jet sales and private jet charter companies serving time-starved travelers. Major airports are becoming luxury travel/shopping destinations, targeting power spenders on layovers. Aside from the bevy of high-end watches and handbags, Heathrow’s Terminal 5, set to open in March 2008, will have a two-story Harrod’s department store, stocking only luxury brands. Additionally, numerous companies are springing up to train armies of professional household and estate managers (butlers, maids, personal chefs, wine stewards, etc.). There’s even a new real estate development in Umbria that offers farmhouses with onsite architect, contractors, artisans and maintenance staff, so the owner can move in with just a suitcase. Lenovo just introduced its ThinkPad Reserved Edition ($4999) that comes with supple leather case and in-person assistance on call, guaranteed within four hours.

8. Big money follows culture and is big news. From Miami’s burgeoning Art Basel to the celeb-filled Sundance Film Festival, publicity seekers should take note of the international coverage that cultural events are receiving. Art tie-ins also make good financial sense: Sotheby’s introduced a co-branded World Elite MasterCard, giving cardholders VIP access to cultural events and receptions, even guided tours of newly excavated, private areas of Angkor Wat. More and more hotels are realizing that art attracts a certain art-savvy clientele, who are happy to spend freely on suites, spa treatments and fine wines. We will continue to see hotels become houses of culture, with in-house museums, curators, artists as interior designers, and stepped up marketing efforts that embrace culture. We will see more luxury retail and commercial spaces being treated as curatorial, artistic projects, such as Ferragamo’s flagship in New York: a boutique, corporate office and museum under one roof. Seen, too, are online sites such as Artipolis, a private members club for individuals who meet on- and off-line to share their passion for the arts.

9. The affluent are sated with product and look to unique experiences. Luxury travel is being redefined as experiences as consumers are inundated with products. Today’s well-traveled affluents want new, exciting experiences; to be intrigued, entertained and enlightened. They will spend top dollar to be first, or reach the most remote, exotic places. Witness how quickly suborbital flights and space travel took off. Taking advantage of lifestyle trends, marketers need to think big by turning any product into a life-enhancing experience. This can mean asking how visitors could have interactive experiences instead of passively visiting the Forum in Rome or the pyramids of Teotihuacán. When selling multi-million-dollar condos, marketers must go beyond touting professional style kitchens, but throw in a dinner party cooked by a personal chef when the buyer receives the keys, or a personal training session in a state-of-the-art triathlete fitness center. A travel trend that rates highly is acquiring knowledge and expressing one’s creative side. Hotels, resorts and destination management companies are going well beyond cooking classes to offer everything from videography to tea ceremonies and instruction in the visual arts; even gallantry at Paris’ Belle Ecole.

10. Space, space and more space is luxury. I recall what contemporary music composer John Cage said: the greatest luxuries are time and space. Especially when it comes to first class travel, airlines are vying to outdo rivals in offering the world’s largest airplane bed. Witness Singapore Airlines’ new private suites with double beds that sleep two. It will mean over-sizing hotel guest rooms and ship cabins, not just plush interior furnishings and amenities. Top hotel suites will get larger and pricier, appealing to the super wealthy accustomed to homes of 10,000 sq.ft. or more.