The San Francisco Chronicle falls in love with actor David Ellison, 23-year-old son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry:

We came a bit late to the tech mogul scene, so we missed that whole "Bill Gates is t3h suxxors" phase. Or at least we were still young enough to say "suxxors" without irony when that phase passed. So it is with complimentary — no, congratulatory — attitude that we announce: According to Forbes, Bill Gates is $2 billion richer than he was this time last year, and he's still the richest American alive.

We built this city on lock and roll. The Aeron chair debuted in 1994; it is a symbol of ingenious engineering, the triumph of the new aesthetic, the ergonomic revolution, and dot-com excess. It is as integral to Silicon Valley as the blue button-down or the Dilbert doll. Its co-inventor, Bill Stumpf, passed away this weekend at the age of 70.

Bar the gates! Pull up the drawbridge! From Forbes's latest cover story (scary emphasis mine):

Google's now so rich that it might technically be a mutual fund, and everyone assumes its employees are rolling in it. But not everyone at Google is rich (yet), and it's hard to tell in this culture of inconspicuous consumption.

The Business 2.0 September cover, picturing Fark.com owner Drew Curtis surrounded by falling cash, was cute, but it just lacked oomph. So Gawker Media designer Jennifer Thorpe punched it up a bit, adding TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington in the process.

Valleywag editor Nick Douglas was called in to CNBC this week to tape some background for a story about "the yacht index" — the quick-and-dirty economic theory by Slate writer Daniel Gross. His article, "The CEO Bought a Yacht? Then it's time to sell," inspired our equally quick-and-dirty chart.

Everyone buzzes about YouTube's crazy $2 billion valuations and founder Chad Hurley hanging out with moguls, but has anyone really looked at the company's day-to-day lifestyle?

After Slate connected CEO yachts to stock prices, and Computerworld replied with a countertheory, it was clear that yachts are the new standard measurement for corporate projections.

The Hindu Times, reporting on an India visit from Larry Page, says the Google co-founder "flew down to Madurai by a special plane." Just how special?

Before anyone forgets, the throne of Malibu, lately claimed by a drunk Mel Gibson, could really belong to Larry Ellison. The Oracle owner snapped up a $100 million spread of Malibu beach property two years ago — it's just one of his many playgrounds, along with his Japanese-style estate and his Gulfstream V.

The Associated Press still doesn't deliver those examples of friction at the Sun Valley media mogul retreat, but it shares some telling stories:

Oh Associated Press, you coy little news syndicate! How can you tease us with mentions of "friction bristling beneath the surface" of this week's Idaho media mogul retreat without sharing a story or two? Instead you leave us to imagine scenes like this:

No wonder the Google founders tried to seal court docs in a lawsuit over their jumbo jet. The juicy stories in there outclass the argument over Sergey's mile-high king-size bed. As the Mercury News gleefully points out, these docs reveal some ludicrous discussions between Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as told by the jet's former designer.

The Google jet being custom-fitted for founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin is a monumental achievement in the size wars of Silicon Valley billionaires. Larry and Sergey's Boeing 767 outclasses all other corporate jets in length. As shown above, its impressive girth also dwarfs those of lesser moguls.

Larry Ellison recently told a reporter, "I think after a certain amount, I'm going to give almost everything I have to charity because what else can you do with it?" For the Oracle CEO, "everything" means over $18 billion. "What else can you do with it" means:

Anyone who walks onto the personal jet of the Google co-founders will need a map, and how kind of the Wall Street Journal to provide one (no subscription needed)! (I labeled it so no one accidentally walks into Larry Page's room when they meant to jump on Sergey Brin's California king-size bed.)

The Wall Street Journal blesses us with an investigative report on the Google founders' private plane. Aviation designer Leslie Jennings reports on the project to remodel an old 767 for Sergey Brin and Larry Page's personal use.

Larry Ellison released a messenger falcon from his castle turrets to officially announce why he stiffed Harvard for a promised $115 million donation. Without Harvard prez Larry Summers on board, Ellison's minions said, he just didn't feel the gift was right.

When the New York Times (and every other media outlet — good job, Buffett's PR firm!) went on and on about Warren Buffett's $31-billion donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and how Buffett and Gates are such good pals, it seemed fair to point out other tech mogul buddies like the heads of Apple, Oracle, and Google — and to diagram them in this handy guide.