Raj Rajaratnam's life has just changed profoundly. The 52-year-old founder, fund manager, and partner at the Galleon Group has been accused of insider trading, conspiring with others (now named as defendants with him) to trade shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Hilton (OTC: HLNQ), and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA), among others. Rajaratnam generated $25 million in profits on these trades, but that's moot now.

Rajaratnam, who is #559 on the list of the world's richest people, with a net worth of $1.3 billion, now faces fines of up to $250,000 and from 5 to 20 years in prison. I doubt he'll be in the same slot on next year's list of billionaires.

Damien Hirst has gotten to the point where the sound of his own voice isn't good enough – now he needs a record of his thoughts for the ages. He and fellow artist Richard Prince (who actually has some talent) discuss the pains of the art market in Requiem II, which is scheduled to be published by Other Criteria this fall. Of course, Hirst is one of the publishing house's founders, making one wonder if this is the only most effective way for him to get a book published.

If a recent interview with ArtNews is any indication, Requiem II will contain the insights you'd come to expect from an artist of Hirst's caliber. My personal favorite: "Yeah, we ain't gonna sell as much art, art shows are gonna get better now the focus shifts away from money."

Brilliant.

Warren Buffett comes across in the media as a very smart man with an impish sense of humor, particularly in his countless appearances on CNBC. But as one of his grandchildren found out, crossing the Oracle of Omaha can lead to a world of hurt.

The world's richest man severed ties with Nicole Buffett after she appeared in the well-regarded documentary "The One Percent," in which the scions of billionaires, including New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, spoke about what it was like to grow up wealthy. The film, made by Jamie Johnson of the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) family, is well worth viewing.

Ms. Buffett, though, made the fatal error of not informing her grandfather about the motion picture debut, according to Marie Claire: "Asked in the film how he'd react to her interview, Nicole responds, 'I definitely fear judgment. Money is the spoke in my grandfather's wheel of life'."

That was a foolish thing to say and the younger Buffett knows it. The head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) has argued his whole career that money is not everything. He abhors inherited wealth and has argued persuasively why an inheritance tax is good thing. That explains why he is giving away most of his money to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

With news that Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) CEO James Cayne has sold all of his holdings in the stock for $61 million, I actually feel sorry for him. Usually when a senior member of management sells stock it's cause for worry, but in this case, what would you have done?

According to the AP report: " Cayne sold 5.66 million shares for exactly $10.84 a share on March 25, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His stake was once valued at about $1 billion when the stock was trading at $171.50 per share."

With all due respect, the man has invested the last 15 years of his life in the company, and to go from being a billionaire, to someone with tens of millions of dollars overnight is a sad story. Now I know you are all going to comment that he still has $60 million, and it was his fault that the bank came crashing to the ground, but that kind of fall must be hard.

If I was in his position I would have sold everything as well. He needs to protect whatever he has, and if he can walk away with a small fortune, then all the more power to him.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 3/28/08

Citigroup (NYSE: C) doesn't want to just be in the business of managing money for rich people. It likes the billionaire money management business even better. Odd, since Citi's shareholders seem to get poorer every year.

The bank has "a newly created unit to serve Asia's super-rich and plans to hire 10 high profile bankers and aims for annual revenue growth faster than its wealth business in Asia," according to Reuters. "Ideally, I would have a team of 10 senior private bankers, with each banker managing 10 to 15 client relationships representing $2.5 billion in assets and earning $25 million in revenue each," the head of the division said.

It may be an interesting business for Citi, but for a bank that deals in hundreds of billions of dollars, it is hardly worth much effort. Unless, that is, there is a by-product.

Most of the world's wealthiest people control assets well beyond their own. Many are heads of multinational companies or are part of the government infrastructure in countries like Singapore. In other words, wealth management could be a Trojan horse for building corporate and investment banking.

And, rubbing elbows with the very rich is probably fun.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

Celebrities -- they're more than superior human beings, they're money-making machines. If these celebrities were stocks, which would be the shrewd buy?

One sure sign of celebrity is first-name recognition, and today's contestants have certainly reached that pinnacle. Oprah and Martha are brands known worldwide, Oprah for compassion and wisdom, Martha for style and elegance.

Martha Stewart's brand is still tainted by her 2004 insider trading conviction and her stretch in Camp Cupcake. Before then, her growth from model and stockbroker to America's favorite lifestyle celebrity was impressive. After authoring the bestselling book Entertaining in 1979, she transitioned to television with her hit show Martha Stewart Living, for which she gathered several Emmys. In 1987, she inked a lucrative deal with déclassé retailer Kmart as a lifestyle consultant, to help it break into higher price-point retailing. In 1990, with Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) she launched Martha Stewart Living Magazine. The zenith of her career came in 1997 when she took herself public. The IPO for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) made her a billionaire.

Pity the poor Chinese; pockets full of cash, but saddled with a government that frowns on overt displays of wealth as injurious to social harmony. How are their magnates to claim their rightful place on the world tycoon runway if they can't build their own palaces?

After all, the size of one's estate has always been the best gauge of one's moral worth. Obviously, Mukesh Ambani of India agrees, as evidenced by his plan to build the first private $1 billion home.

Luckily, we live in a country that understands the need for excess. Forbes recently did a survey of the most expensive homes in the world. The top home in the U.S. was the 56,000 square-foot Hala Ranch, a $135 million hovel in Aspen. Imagine trying to live in a place with only 15 bedrooms and 16 baths! Those with more modest tastes might appreciate Tranquility, a $100 million home in Lake Tahoe (at least, I think it's still there; how worried would you be about forest fires if you owned this place?).

If you need any more proof that the rich keep getting richer, you have to look no further than Forbes' Billionaire list, just released this evening. There are a record 946 people on this rarefied list. That's a lot of billionaires.

Forbes puts out this list because it sells magazines, but also for the same reason lots of us play the lottery: We love to dream of having the really big bucks.
But think about it for five minutes. Would you really want to be a billionaire?

Okay. First think of of everything you want right now. The biggest, nicest house in the best neighborhood in your town. The most fabulous furniture. The hottest car. The finest private schools for your kids. All the bling you can eat.

Now triple all that. Because you can. Get that Park Avenue pied-a-terre. And that London townhouse. Belsize Park or Primrose Hill? Heck, get 'em both. Might as well get the condo in Hawaii and the flat in Rome, too. Or maybe you prefer one of those little hill towns in Tuscany. Oh, and a little place in one of those Caribbean islands, too.