(FORTUNE Magazine) – THE ECONOMY

36 Fortune Forecast The Quarters Ahead Still Shine America' s trade deficit scares the stock and bond markets, but the gap is closing and the long- lived expansion looks secure. by Vivian Brownstein

MANAGING

43 Accounting Bores You? Wake Up The numbers are so bad that most companies don' t even know which products are making money and which ones aren' t. by Ford S. Worthy

MONEY & MARKETS

57 How to Steal an S& L -- Legally The Green family of Philadelphia grabbed $1 billion in assets for only $1 million. by Brett Duval Fromson

TECHNOLOGY

69 Live Experts on a Floppy Disk Artificial intelligence is helping companies approve loans, hunt enemy submarines, and more. by Andrew Kupfer

79 The Russian Who Makes Pros out of Amateurs

SELLING

85 The Quickest Way to Sell Real Estate It' s the auction. Even luxury properties are going under the hammer now, and many beaming buyers are picking up bargains. by Irwin Ross

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE

97 Companies to Watch

THE WORLD

101 South Korea' s Days of Danger New whiffs of democracy have emboldened long- underpaid workers to strike for more. by Joel Dreyfuss

THE BILLIONAIRES: THE WORLD' S RICHEST PEOPLE

INTRODUCTION 116 The world' s more than 100 billionaires -- including six heads of state -- have a total net worth that exceeds all the dollars in circulation.

THE LIST, RANKED BY ASSETS 120 After nearly a year of research, FORTUNE presents the most comprehensive, detailed, and revealing tally of the superwealthy ever compiled.

THE WORLD' S RICHEST MAN 132 The Sultan of Brunei has two wives, nine children, a 1,788- room palace, and an oil- rich country all his own. His estimated worth: $25 billion.

THE ROYALS 134 England' s Queen collects stamps and manages a king' s ransom with a decidedly homey touch. Beatrix of the Netherlands does her own redecorating.

THE REAL ESTATE MEN 138 Big ideas plus big egos equal billions in building. California' s Donald Bren controls land that could make him America' s richest property tycoon.

THE RETAILERS 142 Building empires with specialty stores, from the Gap to the Limited.

THE ENTREPRENEURS 144 These bootstrappers stuck strictly to business. Gritty Estee Lauder started out peddling homemade skin potions.

THE COMPUTER KINGS 148 The biggest prizes go to pioneers who chase their dreams but hold on tight to their companies' shares.

THE PROVISIONERS 152 Their recipe for success: Sell something simple but tempting, like French fries or beer.

THE OIL BARONS 153 Mix blood, oil, and money, and you' re likely to get an explosion. Just ask the Koch brothers of Kansas.

THE MEDIA MAGNATES 156 TV Guide' s Walter Annenberg knows that people pay up for information. Six other lords of the press agree.

THE INHERITORS 160 Instead of melting down the family fortune, all of them did what they could to make it shine more brightly.

THE OVERSEAS CHINESE 162 Often starting as penniless immigrants, they dominate business from Indonesia to Taiwan. Their delight is making money, not spending it.

THE JAPANESE 166 Pharmaceuticals heir Shoji Uehara, 59, and 92- year- old Konosuke Matsushita, the electronics wizard, compete for the dubious honor of top taxpayer.

THE ARAB POTENTATES 167 Long before the rise of OPEC, these monarchs were renowned for their glittering wealth. Now they' re almost incandescent.

THE OTHER ARABS 169 Close ties to royalty help, but Suliman Olayan never had them. ''He may be the best businessman I' ve ever met,'' says one Wall Street sachem.

THE ITALIANS 172 They own and run huge conglomerates, but fear of kidnappers keeps their spending quiet.

THE FRENCH 174 High taxes and state control of industry have cut France' s crop of billionaires to just two. But the climate for capitalism is getting warmer.

THE GERMANS 176 Preserving family money through decades of hyperinflation and defeat in two wars was a special challenge.

THE DUTCH 180 Head for head, the Netherlands has the most billionaires. Why? The Dutch are masters of minding their own business.

THE BRITISH 182 Riches drawn from food and shops, and a duke whose ancestral cabbage patch turned into central London.

THE CANADIANS 183 Weak antitrust laws have nurtured a surprising concentration of wealth. K. C. Irving' s stash: $6 billion.

THE LATINS 185 They' re known for profligacy, but one of them parlayed two burros into a construction kingdom.

THE RUNNERS- UP 188 Missing from the club: the du Ponts, Prince Rainier, and Donald Trump.

THE POLS & PARIAHS 189 The loot of cocaine kingpins and shady heads of state surely runs into the billions, but it' s impossible to trace.

4 The Editor' s Desk

10 News/ Trends The FDIC' s deep pockets, Hong Kong' s wide- open stock exchange, the boom in art at auction, Playboy in the age of AIDS, and more.

21 Letters to Fortune

191 Fortune People The first ladies of finance are poles apart, boy wonder William Dean Singleton falls for another newspaper, and ''Idi'' Abboud gets a third chance to prove his mettle. by Nancy J. Perry

192 On the Rise

195 Personal Investing Lots of hidden riches in regional banks. by John Paul Newport Jr.

TW Services Inc. could fly a lot higher now that it' s smaller. by Jeremy Main

Investors are moving into new real estate funds. by Andrew Evan Serwer

Portfolio Talk: Peter Anderson of Federated Stock Trust.

217 Keeping Up The politics of dogs, a comma that counted, on losing a double- header, and more. by Daniel Seligman

225 Books & Ideas How an iron- willed CEO transformed Sears Roebuck. by Bill Saporito

A fascinating look at the roots of human intelligence. by Daniel Seligman

235 Other Voices The college sports cartel is anticompetitive and morally bankrupt. It ought to be busted up. by Robert McCormick and Roger Meiners

239 Office Hours Hate conducting performance appraisals? Get the appraisee to help you pick the yardsticks. by Walter Kiechel III

Cover: Queen Elizabeth II of England (Yousuf Karsh -- Camera Press). Other billionaires, from left: Donald Bren, August von Finck, Katharine Graham, Konosuke Matsushita, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Alfred Heineken, Anne Cox Chambers, Edgar Bronfman Sr., Sir John Sainsbury, the Sultan of Brunei, Harry and Leona Helmsley.