Where do the world's richest splash their cash?

The 85 wealthiest people in the world spent $1.8trn on luxuries last year. But what did they buy and for how much, wonders Rita de Brun.

MONEY can’t buy love. But it can buy luxury. The rich know this. Last year they spent $1.8 trillion on extravagances and indulgences. That’s the equivalent of the wealth controlled by the world’s richest 85 individuals. It’s also more than the combined wealth of the 3.5 billion people who comprise the poorest half of the world’s population, according to Oxfam.

While that’s sobering to contemplate, so too is the wealth reported in the Forbes 2013 rich list. Carlos Slim Helu ($73 billion) was the richest person on the planet last year. He was followed by Bill Gates ($67bn), Amancio Ortega ($57bn), Warren Buffet ($53.5bn), and Larry Ellison ($43bn).