Good to see things are slowly getting back to normal...

The Survey of Affluence and Wealth, conducted by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group, has found that spending on luxuries is set to rise by about eight percent this year, reaching $359 billion in 2011.   The survey did not include travel and vehicles, and polled only the wealthiest ten percent of American families; those who enjoy a discretionary income of six figures or more.  Those ten percent account for about fifty percent of all consumer spending in the country.  

For more details, head over to Pursuitist.

Shit You Should Be Aspiring To: The entrepreneurial success of Tony Hsieh

There was a great article in the New York Times a couple of days back on Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, the online shoe retailer that grew to success under a business model of providing free shipping and free returns to its customers.  Hsieh sold Zappos.com to Amazon in 2009 for $1 billion, a tidy sum that he added to whatever stash he had left over from his first enterprise, LinkExchange, which he sold to Microsoft for $265 million when he was the tender age of 24.  Champ.

Head over to nytimes.com to check out the story; it's definitely worth a read.  Or, if you prefer, you can go right to the source; Hsieh wrote a book called Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose that spent almost six months on the NYT bestsellers list last year.  Get it here.

Arrogant Male Quote of the Day - April 8, 2011

“Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America.  
If I’m not on there, I go to work.”

~ Robert Orben

American Express Platinum Card continues to spoil its members.

As if all the benefits this plastic beast already offer weren't enough, American Express has announced that they are adding several additional perks for international travelers.  Robin Korn, Senior VP and General Manager of Consumer Charge Cards, noted that “with the launch of these new benefits, combined with the suite of existing ones, the Platinum Card is truly the passport to a premium travel experience."  No argument here.