# Scrooge McDuck-- Forbes Magazine's "Fifth Richest Fictional Character?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 11, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093 "2005-12-11T03:04:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/1 "2005-12-11T03:04:13Z")
[“Special Report: The Forbes Fictional 15”](http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/29/forbes-fictional-rich_cx_mn_de_05fict15land.html)
Now, honestly, **Forbes** ; what were you thinking? This is \*Scrooge McDuck \* you’re talking about here.
Tycoon, industrialist, and adventurer, Scrooge McDuck is the quintessential plutocrat, a living embodiment of the American success story. From his hardscrabble, poverty-stricken roots in rural Scotland, McDuck learned through bitter experience the value of money: indeed, he still proudly owns the first dime he ever earned. He emigrated at an early age to the Land of Opportunity, seeking his fortune in the Yukon Gold Rush. McDuck used his ingenuity, keen intellect and indomitable spirit to single-handedly forge a mighty globe-spanning financial empire, thereby earning himself the title of “The World’s Richest Duck.” His signature top hat and broadcloth coat are known worldwide; he owns uncountable oil wells, gold mines, railroads, factories, and fish houses.
An impressive fraction of his vast personal fortune is housed in the grandly eccentric architectural landmark, the monolithic McDuck Money Bin at the top of Killmotor Hill in Duckburg, Calisota. This massive structure, the seat of power from which McDuck conducts his daily business, contains a staggering dragon’s hoard of wealth: over three cubic acres of money, the value of which his accounting staff has calculated as one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred twenty three dollars and sixty-two cents cash. (This enormous weight of coinage is supported at the bottom by a four-foot layer of star sapphires.) When questioned about this ostentatious volume of lucre, McDuck says cheerfully, “I love money! I love the feel of it and the smell of it! I love to dive around in it like a porpoise! I love to burrow through it like a gopher! I love to toss it up and let it hit me on the head!”
In the face of all this, how… HOW, I ask you…
How could \*\*Forbes \*\* make the unforgivable mistake of including him in a list of _fictional_ characters?
---
### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/2 "2005-12-11T03:08:42Z")
_Aaauugghh!!!_
Sixth. Sixth richest. Not fifth. Number of fingers on right hand, not left. Sixth.
I, plainly, am not one of Scrooge McDuck’s trusted accountants.
---
### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/3 "2005-12-11T03:09:42Z")
> [@Terrifel](#):
>
> [URL=http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/29/forbes-fictional-rich\_cx\_mn\_de\_05fict15land.html]His signature top hat and broadcloth coat are known worldwide; he owns uncountable oil wells, gold mines, railroads, factories, and fish houses.
Not to mention his vast orange juice holdings; clearly Donald is a powerless factotum.
That list is seriously messed up. Jed Clampett wealthier than Bruce Wayne? That’s ridiculous. And I’m sorry, but Monty Burns (since he lost the trillion dollar bill) is barely a billionaire.
---
### Author:  [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/4 "2005-12-11T03:39:28Z")
> [@](#):
>
> one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred twenty three dollars and sixty-two cents cash
…which is much more than the $27.3 billion quoted for #2.
Carl Barks is most assuredly rolling in his grave.
---
### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/5 "2005-12-11T03:51:45Z")
We had this same thread about a week ago. I objected on the grounds that McDuck definitely has more money than the people in front of him - I don’t know where the $8.2 bil came from - but not on the grounds that he isn’t fictional. I’m just not prepared to make that claim.
---
### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/6 "2005-12-11T03:52:24Z")
This peeved me, too. I was happy that he was on the list at all, but to recognize him should’ve been to put him at #1.
Also, what’s up with showing his location in Florida? I’ve always had the impression that Calisota was at least on the west coast, if not definitely California.
Carl Barks may not be around to speak up for himself, but I guarantee you Don Rosa will have something to say about this.
---
### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/7 "2005-12-11T04:00:08Z")
Wouldn’t you know it, _Forbes_ can identify where all these people live **except** Monty Burns.
---
### Author:  [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/8 "2005-12-11T04:14:04Z")
Absolutely criminal. Scrooge was [fourth](http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/13/400fictional.html) in the 2002 chart.
---
### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/9 "2005-12-11T04:32:15Z")
> [@lno](#):
>
> Absolutely criminal. Scrooge was [fourth](http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/13/400fictional.html) in the 2002 chart.
No longer invests? Blasphemy. Each and every coin, jewel, and dollar in the money bin has a personal significance to Uncle Scrooge and, all told, only amounts to a fraction of his actual wealth.
“No longer invests” :rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/10 "2005-12-11T05:13:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> We had this same thread about a week ago. I objected on the grounds that McDuck definitely has more money than the people in front of him - I don’t know where the $8.2 bil came from - but not on the grounds that he isn’t fictional. I’m just not prepared to make that claim.
Opps. I apologize then; I tried to look for any earlier threads on this topic, but my search skills are obviously on a par with my math skills. I thought a search of Cafe Society using the key words “forbes” and “mcduck” would turn up any relevant discussions, but apparently not.
---
### Author:  [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/11 "2005-12-11T06:35:36Z")
I seem to recall hearing that McDuck’s fortune is so vast, he signed over the profits from his long-running reality TV show (“Duck Tales,” I think it was called?) to his young nephews (on condition that they let him invest it for them). Was that true?
---
### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/12 "2005-12-11T16:43:29Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#):
>
> I seem to recall hearing that McDuck’s fortune is so vast, he signed over the profits from his long-running reality TV show (“Duck Tales,” I think it was called?) to his young nephews (on condition that they let him invest it for them). Was that true?
Not true.
_DuckTales_ wasn’t long-running :D.
---
### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/13 "2005-12-11T17:24:30Z")
What are they using for the criteria? Wouldn’t the main character (I forget his name) from the Gateway serise be pretty stinking rich?
Also, Santa isn’t a good role model since he uses slave labour.
---
### Author:  [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/14 "2005-12-11T17:48:41Z")
Mr. Burns is the richest man I know…much richer than Lenny.
---
### Author:  [@Dancy\_McDance\_Dance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancy_McDance_Dance)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/15 "2005-12-11T18:45:36Z")
> [@middleman](#):
>
> Mr. Burns is the richest man I know…much richer than Lenny.
way richer
---
### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrooge-mcduck-forbes-magazines-fifth-richest-fictional-character/335093/16 "2005-12-11T23:01:01Z")
Lucius Malfoy?! Sure there are plenty of old-money Wizarding families, but everyone knows it’s the goblins of Gringotts’ who control the entire magical economy.