Want to know what 2007 holds for billionaires like Google CEO Eric Schmidt and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg? You could ask a stock picker or a political pundit. Or you could look to the stars. That's why we've chosen 10 of our favorite celebrity business moguls from the Forbes list of The World's Billionaires and asked a professional astrologer to give us the lowdown.
We turned to Michael Lutin as our guide to the heavens. As well as giving private readings, Lutin is the author of SunShines: The Astrology of Being Happy; he's also opined about the future of America. We asked him to pronounce on heavyweights whose lives affect our own in one way or another--if not via our stock portfolios, then through the inventions and innovations we use everyday, or through philanthropic donations so vast they are bound to set agendas.
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So what does the year portend? Last year, Warren Buffett gave much of his fortune away, pledging $31 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But as a Virgo "worker bee," in Lutin's words, Buffett just might keep raking in money through his Berkshire Hathaway holding company and other investments.
Amazon.com chief Jeffrey Bezos may have government regulation in his future, warns Lutin, while Oprah Winfrey, he thinks, should try something new - both for her own good and for the sake of the rest of us.
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Apple Computer's Steve Jobs starts off this year in the spotlight, not all of it welcome. But stockholders and Mac fans can rest assured that he's fired up to "keep the wolves at bay," Lutin says.
The birthdays on our list are spread throughout the year, from Bezos, a Capricorn, to Sagittarius Steven Spielberg. But it's not just about the star sign and a handful of set-in-stone characteristics, Lutin is quick to point out. Pisceans, for instance, often get a bad rap as lazy.
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But Steve Jobs is "living proof that Pisceans don't just lie around in a hammock waiting for the end of the world," he says. Sumner Redstone, meanwhile, didn't get where he is via the duality and fickleness that sometimes plague other Gemini. Lutin credits unique birthday-related astrological energies with making each of the figures on our list such a blazing success. "When you see what some people accomplish in this life, you just gotta say, 'What a difference a day makes.'"
A psychoanalyst and fortune-teller rolled into one, Lutin also busts out character analyses for some of our CEOs. Ever wondered just what makes Microsoft chief Steven Ballmer barrel along? Turns out, he was born with a Jupiter Pluto conjunction, Lutin says, "which usually signifies not only grandiosity but success to match."
And Lutin seems to see a tinge of frustration in the mogul life. He says that Winfrey is never quite able to relax; Ballmer wonders if "this is all there is"; Google's Schmidt is a fretter; and Branson needs a vacation.
So, as you turn to your prognosticators of choice for the year, whether they include your stock broker, your mother or a set of darts, add our CEO horoscopes to your list. As any investment adviser will tell you, it's always a good idea to get all the information you can.
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