Net Worth:

$970 million +8%

Last Year:

$900 million

Age:

42

Residence:

Beverly Hills

Source of Wealth:

Inheritance, real estate, entertainment.

The Money:

The estimated returns for his $80 million investment in the 2005 hit film “The Polar Express” and a bang-up year for the stock market helped compensate for Bing’s big spending habits, including outsized political donations and a film flop.

Buzz:

Politics, not profits, kept the Bing name in headlines this year. The Democratic-friendly film producer donated $49 million in an unsuccessful attempt to pass Proposition 87, which would have taxed oil companies to fund alternative fuel research. He also cut off a $2.5 million donation to Stanford University because ExxonMobil used the school’s name in commercials to “greenwash” the global warming issue. His political donations have made him a Democratic power player as he continues to run his Hollywood production company. Besides “Polar Express,” his Shangri-La Entertainment produced last year’s flop “For Your Consideration.” Upcoming project “Beowulf” carries an estimated production budget of $150 million. Bing inherited about $600 million on his 18th birthday, stemming from 1920’s era investments in New York real estate made by his grandfather, Leo S. Bing, who has a theater named after him at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Notoriously press shy, Bing is one of the world’s most famous bachelors, Bing has fathered children with actress Elisabeth Hurley and former tennis pro Lisa Bonder.