Forbes

The biggest home in Los Angeles County is ready for a new nickname: The 56,500-square-foot Manor, dubbed Candyland after owner Candy Spelling, has been sold to another wealthy socialite, British heiress Petra Ecclestone, in an all-cash deal for $85 million. As steep as that price is, it's not a record or even close to what Spelling was asking. The priciest Southland home transaction was the 2000 sale of an 8-acre estate in Bel-Air to financial executive Gary Winnick in a deal that included the trade of other land, for a total value of about $94 million.

Howard B. Schow Manager of Vanguard mutual funds Howard B. Schow, 84, a well-regarded manager of Vanguard mutual funds such as the $30.1-billion Vanguard Primecap, died of natural causes April 8 at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, said Joel P. Fried, president of Pasadena-based Primecap Management Co. A San Marino resident who was co-founder and chairman emeritus of Primecap Management, Schow — rhymes with "now" — managed...

The richest of the rich in America is worth $2.8 billion, while the poorest of the rich checks in at a mere $150 million. But who's counting? Forbes magazine, that's who, and its 1985 list of the nation's 400 richest people is topped by Sam Moore Walton of Bentonville, Ark., who has made $2.8 billion through his Wal-Mart discount stores. Walton, who danced a hula on Wall Street last year when profit goals were met, replaced Gordon Getty, the front-runner for the past two years.

This is called a decent spike in assessed valuation. Also excellent timing. If only the Los Angeles housing market could follow suit. Forbes has come out with its latest evaluations for Major League Baseball teams, and guess which team was credited with a 75% jump in value? Your very own bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers, valued a year ago by Forbes at $800 million, are now estimated to be worth $1.4 billion . And that's for the team, Dodger Stadium and the lease to the parking lots.

In a bid to get people to pick up its Dec. 29 issue--which features a cover story on the often-dry subject of education--the weekly business magazine has intentionally misspelled its own name on the cover as Forbs. "Education is one of the great room-emptiers of all time," explained Sheldon Zalaznick, managing editor. "In the spirit of fun, we decided to do something to wake people up." Some buyers are actually mistaking the issue as a Harvard Lampoon parody, Zalaznick said.

This is called a decent spike in assessed valuation. Also excellent timing. If only the Los Angeles housing market could follow suit. Forbes has come out with its latest evaluations for Major League Baseball teams, and guess which team was credited with a 75% jump in value? Your very own bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers, valued a year ago by Forbes at $800 million, are now estimated to be worth $1.4 billion . And that's for the team, Dodger Stadium and the lease to the parking lots.

The richest man in the world remains Carlos Slim, according to Forbes magazine's list of billionaires. The number of billionaires increased by 199 in the past year, according to the magazine, but it was the Mexican telecom magnate Slim, who kept the No. 1 spot for the second year by increasing his worth by $20.5 billion to $74 billion. Photos: Some of the richest people in the world Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, who is worth $56 billion, is No. 2 on the list.

Inquiring minds want to know: Can Forbes write it off on taxes? I have a special birthday soon, and I know my family and many friends would enjoy a party. We'll fly the Concorde to Morocco and rent a castle from the rich and famous if Uncle Sam will underwrite the fun. Californians will also want to know if Gov. George Deukmejian lists this travel on his gifts while in office. MARIE SMITH, Palos Verdes Estates

In the realm of power list injustices, this one was a stinker. Forbes magazine released its annual "100 Most Powerful Women" list Wednesday, and Walt Disney Co.'s Anne Sweeney appeared to suffer a bruising fall from grace. A year ago, Sweeney -- who as co-chairwoman of Disney Media Networks oversees such influential TV institutions as ABC, the Disney Channel and ABC Family -- ranked a respectable No. 30. This year, even though her job didn't change, Sweeney came in at No. 98. Forbes, say it isn't so. In fact, it wasn't.

Re "Forbes' recognition of cartel boss irks Mexicans," Nov. 14 This article, while newsworthy, appropriately deserved to be exiled to Page A23. It is repugnant for any publication, especially one as revered as Forbes, to showcase a despicable drug trafficker on its purported list of "movers and shakers." No doubt there are many criminals who are very powerful, having profited from crime and the degradation it brings to civilized society. To elevate such miscreants to any semblance of status, however, is a decision that Forbes should regret.

In its most recent annual ranking of "business friendly" states, Forbes magazine had some blunt advice for investors: "Utah and Colorado have maintained strong business climates. Forget about California. " Californians like to dismiss such assessments of the Golden State and instead point to its natural beauty and quality of life. They tend not to worry what people in other states think. But they should. California is no longer the economic miracle it once was. Silicon Valley no longer has a monopoly on high-tech talent and innovation.

Spanx inventor Sara Blakely is a billionaire at 41 years old, according to the annual Forbes magazine list of billionaires. Blakely, the creator and owner of the line of women's and men's slimming, smoothing undergarments, is the youngest woman ever to make the list as a self-made billionaire, meaning she didn't inherit or marry into the money. She's one of several billionaires who appear on the cover of the latest Forbes issue. According to Forbes, Blakely was 29 when she was looking for something flattering to wear under her white slacks.

Lenny Dykstra had already filed for bankruptcy and was fighting to somehow keep the $17.4-million mansion he had purchased from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky when he was interviewed by The Times' Alejandro Lazo back in October 2010 . Back then, a defiant Dykstra was confident he would once again make his way back to the top. "I have been fighting my whole life," Dykstra said. "That's why I have a new theme song, dude, and I am going to play it for you: "I want to be a billionaire, so … bad, buy all of the things I never had," he sang along, loudly and off-key, to the Travie McCoy song "Billionaire," as it blared from his Bose computer speakers.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday. Alec Baldwin's battle with American Airlines over Words With Friends enters Day 2. ( Los Angeles Times ) Guns N' Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys are among the next group of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. ( Los Angeles Times ) Kristen Stewart and Anne Hathaway top Forbes' list of best actors for the buck. ( Forbes ) A "Mythbusters" experiment involving a cannon went horribly wrong, sending a cannonball ripping through two homes.

The original flat taxer, Steve Forbes, has endorsed Rick Perry's presidential bid the day before the Texas governor plans to unveil his own flat-tax plan during a speech in South Carolina. “It's going to be very exciting,” the former presidential candidate told Fox News. “A very low rate, generous exemptions for adults and for children, make it worthwhile to invest in America again, drastically simplying the tax code, lowering the corporate tax rate.” Forbes called it a “win-win all around” and praised its “radical simplicity.” That simplicity, of course, is what fueled Herman Cain's rise from near-anonymity to first-tier candidate.

For a television critic, the Emmys are always a mixed bag. It's always great when shows and performances we have supported from the beginning are recognized, but sometimes — if you can believe it — the shows and people we believe deserve to win don't. But there is one consistent bright spot in the process — when people whose work has been consistently terrific over the years are recognized for the first time. This year saw quite a few accomplished performers get their first Emmy nomination.

In Steve Forbes' article, "Make Them Give Back Our Money" (Commentary, Aug. 7), he lists 10 things Congress should do to modify the income tax and ends with a "pro-growth, pro-family, single rate system." Does anyone really believe that Congress won't find amendments that will give special treatment for their friends? The only way to resolve this problem is to eliminate the income tax completely. It can be done, as I have written previously, by imposing a 0.15% tax on international monetary transactions, which would yield over a trillion dollars per year.

As we saw again last weekend, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees dominate the hype, but in a Forbes magazine ranking of the best rivalries in baseball, the East Coast arch-foes rated only second. In first place? The Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. From the magazine: "One of baseball's most enduring rivalries, the Giants have a slight edge over the Dodgers -- 1,154 wins to 1,133 -- in this series, which has always been competitive.

If the San Diego Chargers eventually move to the Los Angeles area, the NFL franchise could see its value jump by at least $200 million. So concluded Forbes as the magazine Wednesday unveiled its annual ranking of how much the 32 NFL teams are worth. The Chargers' value was estimated at $920 million, or 23rd highest in the league, a 1.4% increase from $907 million the prior year. But with two competing proposals to build a new NFL stadium, if the Chargers moved to Los Angeles or an L.A. suburb, it "would increase the team's value by at least $200 million," or 21.7%, the magazine stated.

The richest man in the world remains Carlos Slim, according to Forbes magazine's list of billionaires. The number of billionaires increased by 199 in the past year, according to the magazine, but it was the Mexican telecom magnate Slim, who kept the No. 1 spot for the second year by increasing his worth by $20.5 billion to $74 billion. Photos: Some of the richest people in the world Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, who is worth $56 billion, is No. 2 on the list.