Gallery: America’s Obscene Wealth, in Pictures
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All, Annie, Hannah and Berit are 13 years old. They are popular at their school in Edina and told the photographer that wearing clothing from Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, or J. Crew is crucial.
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“Limo Bob” builds, sells, and rents out limos in Chicago. His fleet includes a 100-foot-long limo and one made from a Boeing 727. He wears 33 pounds of gold jewelry on his hands and neck.
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Christina and her parents ride Cinderella’s glass coach to her wedding ceremony at Walt Disney World.
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Mijanou, 18, was voted Best Physique at Beverly Hills High School in 1993. She’s pictured skipping class to visit the beach with friends in Santa Monica, California.
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A VIP guest makes it rain at the Marquee Las Vegas, where some people drop $50,000 in a night.
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Models wait backstage at Prada's spring 2009 show in Milan.
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Xvonne Xue, 44, is board chairman general manager of Shanghai Si Tong Cable Industry and vice board chairman of Shanghai Huiyang Industry Company. She practices her golf swing in her Shanghai bedroom decorated with a Versace bedroom set.
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Film director and producer Brett Ratner and Def Jam cofounder Russel Simmons (left) dine at L’Iguane restaurant on St. Barts. Because few restaurants accept credit cards, visitors bring lots of cash.
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David Siegel, 74, and his wife Jackie, 43, pose in the master bedroom of Seagull Island, their 26,000-square-foot home on a peninsula in Winderemere, Florida. When the photographer met them, they were in the process of building a 75,000-square-foot home.
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