The World’s Richest Cartoon Characters
Assessing the wealth of a cartoon character is something of a difficult task, considering that their wealth, like everything else about them, is completely fictional. Some organizations have made the attempt over the years, however, and what follows represents the opinions of those experts in the field of cartoon wealth. Some of the most well-heeled cartoons will be quite predictable and others may come as a genuine surprise.
Scrooge McDuck, a Disney property, is depicted literally swimming in piles of money at times. Not a pastime available to the majority of the world, this duck is flush with cash, enjoying a fortune that enables him to maintain several houses and seemingly infinite vehicles. Some of his fortune was amassed the old-fashioned way, through hard work and smart investments. He does remain a questionable character, however, known for travelling worldwide with family members seeking to loot various sites that may have historical value.
Evil villains need a good amount of wealth. Death rays don’t come cheap, one needs a fleet of spaceships to be taken seriously by one’s peers and, of course, there are those legions of henchmen who need to be paid. Ming the Merciless, despite his constant capital outlays for failed plans to conquer the universe, is estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Proving that wealth does not necessarily translate to capability, his most complex plans have over and over again been foiled by a man living on a footballer’s salary, a woman drawing a journalist’s wages and a scientist of questionable means.
Probably no investor is better equipped to handle the volatility of the market than is Gomez Addams. Possessed of an enduring gallows humor, a loving and supportive family and a wife who is oftentimes the brains of the outfit, Addams has been able to amass a fortune that would make any good capitalist green with envy. His house may be a bit eccentric, but such tastes are often defining characteristics of the exceptionally well-heeled. Unlike many wealthy people, Addams lives with his extended family, proving that noble values can be sustained with the collection of wealth.
There is probably no villain as well-known and, ironically, beloved as C. Montgomery Burns from the Simpsons. His main investment seems to be the Springfield Nuclear Power plant where some of his fortunes, presumably, have been made at the expense of basic safety standards. Like many famous wealthy people, he is an eccentric, presumably over 100 years old and always looking for a way to make a few more dollars. Some of his more notable efforts include constructing a device to control the distribution of sunlight and to profit thereby. Aside from his wealth, he is most well-known for his hounds which are quickly sent to chase any troublemakers from his grounds.
Today’s financial markets have been more unstable than ever. If there is one individual who has managed to maintain his solvency in the worst of times, it would have to be Mr. Monopoly. Even in the hardest conditions, he continues to play the game of capitalism, sometimes winning, sometimes losing and, every now and then, ending up in jail for his efforts.
Bruce Wayne, better known as Batman, managed to amass enough wealth from his parents and his investments to fuel a lifetime hobby of fighting crime. No matter which villain he faced, Batman’s greatest weapon seemed to be an endless supply of cash which he used to build constantly-innovated technologies designed to put the bad buys behind bars. Some of his more impressive properties include the Batmobile, various types of airplanes, compact devices no more than 6 inches in width that are able to fire hundreds of feet of cable and an array of weapons that would make any military contractor nervous.
Speaking of military contractors, another superhero comes from their ranks and is an established billionaire. Tony Stark-alter ego Iron Man-is a defense contractor who managed to fight all manner of global threats using customized technologies built just for him. Like many successful individuals, he does battle his demons, which usually constitute crises of confidence and alcohol.
One more recent cartoon character-or comic character, properly-that should be included is Ozymandias, also known as Adrian Veidt, of the Watchmen. Though he existed in an alternate universe, he was recognized as the world’s smartest man and his holdings were generally beyond reckoning. He was wealthy enough to offer the clichéd “I could buy and sell you” line to a group of auto company CEO’s, including the famed Lee Iacocca in the booming 1980’s. His endeavors include real estate, computer technology and manipulating the world governments into peace through a “false flag” program whereby he falsely accused a well-known superhero of launching an attack on a major American city.
This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Just For Fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
