F Scott Fitzgerald once observed that: "The very rich are different from you and me." On the evidence of this book, however, this is not true. Actually, the new rich - the hedge fund managers, Wall Street financiers, dotcom entrepreneurs and oil barons - are disappointingly similar.

They crave bigger houses than their neighbours, as well as faster cars, longer yachts and nicer watches. They can be careless with money, getting into debt and not only making billions but losing them again. A lot of them envy what other, richer, people have got and work diligently to catch up. Fewer than half of them believe money has made them happier.