Money & power

The Business section of the Sunday Star-Times has published two articles on the personal wealth of political leaders internationally and domestically. The intended message of these business articles is that most of the world's representatives 'are not always rich'. For instance, apparently 'George W Bush has a surprisingly small fortune.  His net worth is estimated at somewhere between $US15m and $US26m'. Similarly, 'Bush's fortune may be small, but British prime minister Tony Blair's is tiny. His net worth is estimated at just $4.2m'. The NZ Dimension story lists the known assets of John Key (which have already been widely publicised) and Helen Clark. Surprisingly, Clark owns an Auckland villa worth $720,000, a Wellington townhouse worth about $350,000, an apartment in Christchurch, property at Rodney, and is 'a beneficiary of two family trusts'. Her joint annual income with her husband is estimated at $500,000.