Mo' money mo' problems, right?
Well, billionaires have a lot of it, and that tends to breed enemies, like fellow rich folks,
entertainment franchises and even internet commenters.
So let's just forget about our own measly bank balances for a minute, as we check out
the biggest billionaire beefs of all time.
It was only a matter of time before Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg started feuding
after the former mayor of New York City entered the 2020 presidential race.
"Mike will get it done."
In classic Trump form, a nickname came quickly, with his tweet:
"Mini Mike is a 5'4" mass of dead energy who does not want to be on the debate stage with
these professional politicians.
No boxes please."
To that, Bloomberg responded,
"We know many of the same people in [New York].
Behind your back, they laugh at you & call you a carnival barking clown.
They know you inherited a fortune & squandered it with stupid deals and incompetence."
Bloomberg ratcheted things up by purchasing billboards in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada
debate that read,
"Donald Trump cheats at golf."
…And,
"Donald Trump eats burnt steak."
Bloomberg then went on to get absolutely demolished at the debate, and his poll numbers took a
massive hit.
Trump pounced after Bloomberg's disastrous showing on Super Tuesday, tweeting:
"Mini Mike Bloomberg's consultants and so-called 'advisors'…are on the 'gravy train' and
all making a fortune for themselves pushing Mini hard when they knew he never had what
it takes.
Don't pay them anymore Mike, they [let] you down."
"As I said back in Philadelphia, in 2016, 'Not the right guy for the job.'"
Three days later, Bloomberg was out.
Senator Bernie Sanders loves to rail against billionaires, but he's got one specific target
who he describes as one of the quote "faces of greed:" Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.
In 2016, the Bezos-owned Washington Post infamously published sixteen negative stories on Sanders
in sixteen hours, according to FAIR.org.
"And I think it is important to take a look at the power and influence that Amazon has."
Beyond the countless stories of alleged worker mistreatment and employee deaths in Amazon's
more than 100 fulfillment centers across the country, Sanders relentlessly hammered the
tech CEO for also failing to pay his workers a livable wage.
Sanders tweeted in 2018,
"Count to ten.
In those ten seconds, Jeff Bezos…just made more money than the median employee of Amazon
makes in an entire year."
As a result, Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign bested all candidates in donations from Amazon
employees.
That same year, Sanders introduced the "Stop BEZOS Act," a bill that…
"Would require large employers such as Amazon.com and Walmart to pay the government for food
stamps, public housing, Medicaid and other federal assistance received by their workers."
Less than two months later, Amazon announced that it would raise the minimum wage to $15
an hour.
Former Microsoft CEO and current L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer entered a very public
feud with Madison Square Garden Company CEO and New York Knicks owner James Dolan over
the most sports billionaire of things, a new stadium.
"Work, defense, work!"
Ballmer is proposing a new stadium for the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, California,
once the team's lease at the Staples Center is up in 2024.
The problem for Dolan?
The new stadium would be located a mile from the Forum, an indoor arena owned by his Madison
Square Garden Company, and the two would directly compete with each other for concert and event
revenue.
So how did Dolan respond?
He quote "filed lawsuits against the city" and even bankrolled a failed mayoral bid to
block the construction.
Ballmer told ESPN in October 2019,
"We're on a path where we think we can build the arena, whatever happens in the litigation.
You want to hit us in the nose?
OK!
We'll keep moving.
You can't knock us down!"
Per the New York Daily News, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attempted to reach an agreement
between the two billionaires, but it didn't happen.
In March 2020, though, USA Today reported that the Clippers had bought The Forum.
So it looks like they really will keep on moving forward with their plans.
The Porsche Taycan Turbo is an electric car that's in direct competition with Tesla.
And tech entrepreneur Elon Musk makes sure everyone knows it.
The Turbo's battery range is substantially lower than even the cheapest Tesla, which
led Musk to tweet:
"Um Porsche, this word Turbo does not mean what you think it does."
A few months later, another tech billionaire inadvertently entered the mix.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said in an interview that while he appreciated Tesla
for the current electric car boom, he bought a Porsche Taycan Turbo instead.
Musk caught wind of Gates' purchase when a Twitter user tagged him in a post that read:
"I'm disappointed because a lot of people are going to watch the interview and they
are going to trust Bill's word for it and not even consider EVs.
Why?
Because Bill Gates is a really smart guy!"
But Musk doesn't appear to be sweating it.
He responded,
"My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming tbh."
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie isn't the high-profile star she once was, but she's
always been an activist fighting for underprivileged people around the world.
As a Goodwill Ambassador for The United Nations Human Rights Council, Jolie has been on several
field missions speaking with refugees in more than twenty countries.
She donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders, and her Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation
is dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty, protecting natural resources, and conserving
wildlife in Cambodia.
So when Oprah Winfrey came calling, asking Jolie to help promote her Oprah Winfrey Leadership
Academy for Girls in South Africa in 2006, you'd think it would be a natural fit.
However, Jolie didn't just politely decline, she flat out refused.
Wanna know why?
Remember that whole Jennifer Aniston being married to Brad Pitt when he met and fell
in love with Jolie on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith thing?
Supposedly, Winfrey came down on the wrong side of the scandal.
"You think this story's gonna have a happy ending?"
"Happy endings are just stories I haven't finished yet."
A source told Star magazine,
"Oprah says it's the last time she'll ask Angelina to help with any of her causes.
Angelina has never forgiven Oprah for siding with Jennifer Aniston after Brad Pitt split
from Jen."
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