So it seems as if net worth is now a factor with celebrities, famous business people, etc. There are several sites which you can search for almost anyone’s net worth who is in the public eye. Now net worth is even being shown on some Wikipedia pages of famous people (in the same section as their date of birth, nationality, etc.)

I know someone who seems to know the net worth of all well-known footballers, and he often slips these figures into conversations we have about football. I pretend to be interested.

So why is someone’s net worth of such interest to some people?