WEALTH: How a Sultan Pays His Bills

Billionaires may not need to carry change for the parking meter, but that does not mean they are totally out of touch with their money. The Sultan of Brunei, for one, is evidently not the sort to delegate bill paying to a cadre of briefcase-toting accountants. When he recently bought a Boeing 727 jet from financially strapped Arms Dealer Adnan Khashoggi, the Sultan stunned bankers on the scene at his palace by pulling out an ordinary checkbook in a tattered plastic folder. He proceeded to pen neatly a check for $18 million, then slowly wrote down the check number, date and amount. That kind of careful record keeping may help the Sultan stretch his $30 billion fortune a little further.