Would you like to have Paris Hilton as a guest-speaker? You could, if you can afford to compete with a $1 million pricetag for a one hour class. This is what The Learning Annex offered the socialite to conduct a talk on "How to build your brand".

It is still unknown whether Hilton has accepted the offer, but if she does she will become the Annex's second-highest paid guest speaker, after Donald Trump. Trump gets paid about $1,5 million per appearance. Bill Zanker, president of the Learning Annex, said that Hilton is the ideal person to talk about building a brand, especially to those members who own small businesses. And I have to admit, she is a pretty good person to... More »

The MTV show "My Super Sweet 16" shows teens having the party of their dreams when they turn 16. More and more teens are demanding similar parties for their birthdays and the amazing thing is that parents are actually willing to pay for this.

Following the popularity of the show, parents have been reported to have taken out second mortgages to pay for their daughters' parties. In addition to this, teens have come to expect cars in the style of those given on the show as birthday presents - nothing less than a BMW will do. Andrea Correale, president of Elegant Affairs in New York, says that it is not unusual for them to handle sweet sixteen parties with budgets up to hal... More »

The luxury goods and services markets have been growing steadily in Asian countries and it seems that wealthy Asians have a particular affinity for the luxury market. In particular, Chinese and Japanese big earners are becoming key in the luxury industry.

In response to this, the Hong Kong Luxury Week has been launched. It will run from 31 August to 9 September this year. The event will be for invited guests only and will have a fashion show with some of the top designers present, including Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta and Givenchy. The show won't only encompass fashion though, as  guests will also be given previews of luxury accessories, cars and some luxury services.

Amidst a recent spate of online businesses vying for the very rich to become members, a new private club is set to launch in London on 1 October this year.

Diamond Lounge will be a social networking, as well as dating and business networking site. On their website they describe themselves as "A secret society where everyone has to keep the secret". Members will be able to create profiles of themselves and communicate using video technology. The networking site will also spill into "real life" as members wil have exclusive access to parties and events.

Membership is set to be very elite, and joining criteria listed on the website are: you must be succe... More »