Oliver Bateman Does the WorkVerified account

whenever a rich person behaves badly, the mainstream media fires off at least a few stories about how they're "Not Really a Billionaire" (Trump, Epstein) and "Only Rich on Paper" (Madoff, various stock scammers). Are we supposed to see this as another part of their crimes?

"Well, he probably wouldn't have been such a bad boy if he were a Real Billionaire like Warren Buffett...no sir, no way, no how. He'd just have been endowing foundations and controlling the world and being very invisible otherwise."

Also, what rich person in the world is anything but "rich on paper" unless they've got a bunch of tanks, planes, commandos, aircraft carriers, and nukes backing them up?

HED: "noted billionaire arrested for vile crimes" CORRECTION: a recent study of Mr. Billionaire's assets shows that he is worth a mere $986 million...he's just a millionaire. Nothing to see here, move along.

We see something similar when universities rush to remind newspapers that "convicted professor Joe" is "just a one-semester adjunct," although of course if "Joe" won an award, the school would claim him as at least a "lecturer" or perhaps even a "faculty member"