Lucky Manhattan

Having opened a branch of Lucky’s, the Coast Village Road carnivore mecca, on Cross Creek Road in Malibu two years ago, entrepreneurial owner Gene Montesano has now set his sights on Manhattan, I can exclusively reveal.

My mole with the martini tells me the planned locale is Lafayette Street in pulsating Greenwich Village, just a tiara’s toss from Keith McNally’s popular eatery Balthazar, a former favorite of mine on Spring Street.

Food for thought, indeed…

Who’s on the List?

America’s super rich are riding high! After losing a collective $500 billion last year, the nation’s 400 wealthiest people have gained it all back.

The elite set is now worth $4.5 trillion in aggregate, tying a 2021 record, and it now takes $2.9 billion to make the Forbes 400, another tied record.

And, of course residents of our rarefied enclave, America’s fifth richest zip code, figure prominently.

Auto and space tycoon Elon Musk, 52, tops the lofty list with $251 billion, with Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, 59, second with $161 billion.

Larry Ellison, 79, who owns properties in Santa Barbara, is third with $158 billion from Oracle.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, 67, is fifth with $111 billion and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 39, seventh with $106 billion.

Google’s Eric Schmidt, 68, who bought the Solana estate of Bill and Sandi Nicholson, with $20 billion is the first Montecito resident on the list at 36 with frequent visitor Jerry Jones, 80, owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, at 42 with $14.5 billion.

Entertainment mogul David Geffen, 80, with $8 billion is at 87 and fashion mogul Ralph Lauren, 83, at 97 with $7.5 billion.

Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner, 79, owner of the Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch, is at 162 with $5.7 billion, while fellow hotelier Rick Caruso, 64, owner of the Rosewood Miramar, ranks 177 with $5.3 billion.

Mega director George Lucas, 79, who has a beach house on Padaro Lane, with $4.9 billion is ranked 202, while fellow director Steven Spielberg, 76, is at 213 with $4.8 billion.

Further down the list is mall magnate Herb Simon, 88, who has homes in Malibu and Montecito, with $3.5 billion and an old friend from Studio 54 days Nicolas Berggruen, 62, with $3.2 billion from real estate investments.

Santa Barbara Polo Club patron Geoffrey Palmer, 73, is ranked with $3.1 billion, also from real estate, with former TV talk show titan Oprah Winfrey, 69, narrowly missing the cut for the third straight year with “just” $2.8 billion after making the list for 25 years straight.

Sightings

Actor Rob Lowe and wife Sheryl Berkoff noshing at Tre Lune with actress Cameron Diaz and husband Benji Madden… Cheers actor Ted Danson and wife Mary Steenburgen at the Granada for Opera Santa Barbara’s Carmen… Maroon 5 rocker Adam Levine breakfasting at the Montecito Coffee Shop with daughters, Dusty Rose and Gio Grace.

Pip! Pip!