Wikipedia: info can appear or disappear

The following is an excerpt from a posting in wargamarhaen:

'CASE OF THE MISSING NAME: So is Dr M the world's 2nd richest ex-leader with $ 44 BILLION?
Written by Joe Fernandez, Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

The oddest thing happened a day ago when former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's name was mysteriously removed from a Wikipedia list detailing the wealth of former and current heads of state and government in the world.

Citing 53 references, the Wikipedia page had listed Mahathir as the second richest former head of government after deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak whose wealth stands at somewhere between US$ 40 billion and US$ 70 billion.

However, while the Wikipedia page is still available in Malaysia, Mahathir’s name appears to have been mysteriously removed on Mon 17 Dec 2012 minutes after Malaysia Chronicle ran a story with the headline Mahathir now the world's second richest ex-leader with US$ 44 BILLION? Alerted by a staff that Mahathir's name had been replaced on the No. 2 spot by the late Indonesian president Suharto, the editors decided to withdraw the story pending further checks and granting that information on Wikipedia can sometimes be manipulated...'

More:
http://wargamarhaen.blogspot.com/2012/12/be-afraid-be-very-afraid-of-mahathir.html

Forbes has regular updates of the world's richest persons, but the richest are probably drug kingpins whose wealth are mainly hidden in cash form...

According to a report, the above cash hoard of a drug kingpin in Latin America when arrested, was estimated at US$18 billion, but after counting, was actually US$22 billion! (Just imagine Dr M could be worth twice this in cash form!)

We should also take it with a pinch of salt when referring to richest Malaysians, especially when names like Dr. Mahathir and Daim are not included...

Forbes: Malaysia's 40 Richest, with Robert Kuok heading the list at a mere US$12.4 billion...
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/84/malaysia-billionaires-12_rank.html

Realistically, wealth of politicians are likely to be held by nominees or overseas; what percentage of wealth of the richest in Malaysia are being held as nominees on behalf of present or past political leaders is anybody's guess.

Link