By the numbers: With a net worth estimated at $1.9 billion, New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson is ranked No. 1006 on Forbes’ new ranking of the world’s billionaires. Benson’s global ranking is up from No. 1154 last year, when his net worth was estimated at $1.6 billion. Among American billionaires, Benson is ranked No. 351 this year. He is the lone Louisiana resident on the list. For its 29th annual guide to the globe’s richest people, Forbes reports it found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago. See the complete ranking of the world’s billionaires.
Pressing on: A New Orleans area flood-protection board voted 5-4 Monday against abandoning its appeal of the dismissal of a coastal erosion lawsuit against oil, gas and pipeline companies. The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East filed suit in 2013. It sought damages over the loss of coastal wetlands that form a natural hurricane buffer for New Orleans. A federal judge recently ruled that the board had no legal standing to bring the suit and that the energy companies had no legal duty to protect the board from the effects of coastal erosion. Had the board voted to end the suit, it would have potentially been on the hook for millions owed to private lawyers. The Associated Press has the full story.
At the starting line: As the start of another contentious legislative session nears on April 13, Gannett Louisiana has put together its guide to who’s who in the Legislature. The analysis notes there are 105 members of the Louisiana House of Representatives and 39 members of the Senate, only a fraction of those will have a set policy when the session starts. “And after following Gov. Bobby Jindal in lockstep for his first term and much of the second, virtually all of them will try to distance themselves from the governor this year as his popularity ebbs and his ability to twist arms vanishes,” the publication says. “After all, the governor isn’t coming back next year, but most of the lawmakers want to, either in their current job or in a different chamber.” Read the full analysis.
