Forbes released its annual listing of fiction’s very wealthiest. I’m shocked to find out that Charles Montgomery Burns (the Simpsons) is richer than Scrooge McDuck! For some reason, I always imagined uncle Scrooge as the cartoon world’s “Bill Gates”. I still think uncle Scrooge is classier than that annoying Mr. Burns.

The biggest surprise is that Santa Claus has been unseated from the number-one spot! In fact, he’s been completely removed from the list and Forbes’ reason for Santa’s disappearance is hillarious:

We still estimate Claus’ net worth as infinite, but we excluded him from this year’s rankings after being bombarded by letters from outraged children insisting that Claus is “real.” We don’t claim to have settled the ongoing controversy concerning Claus’ existence, but after taking into account the physical evidence – toys delivered, milk and cookies devoured – we felt it was safer to remove him from consideration.

Here are this year’s 15 richest fictional characters:

	#1 Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks Net Worth: $36.2 billion Source: Defense Industries Age: 52 Marital Status: Divorced, one child Hometown: New York, N.Y. Education: S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook, B.S. More on Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks>
	#2 Charles Montgomery Burns Net Worth: $16.8 billion Source: Energy Age: 104 Marital Status: Single, one bastard child Hometown: Springfield, U.S.A. Education: Yale University, B.S. More on Charles Montgomery Burns>
	#3 Scrooge McDuck Net worth: $10.9 billion Sources: Mining, Treasure Hunting Age: 80 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Duckburg, U.S.A. Education: Cluck U., dropout More on Scrooge McDuck>
	#4 Richie Rich Net Worth: $10.7 billion Source: Inheritance, Conglomerates Age: 10 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Richville, U.S.A. Education: Richville Elementary More on Richie Rich>
	#5 Jed Clampett Net Worth: $7.7 billion Source: Oil & Gas, Banking Age: 51 Marital Status: Widowed, one child Hometown: Beverly Hills, Calif. Education: Ozark Elementary, dropout More on Jed Clampett>
	#6 Mr. Monopoly Net Worth: $7.1 billion Source: Real Estate Age: 71 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Atlantic City, N.J. Education: University of Pennsylvania, B.A. More on Mr. Monopoly>
	#7 Bruce Wayne Net Worth: $6.8 billion Source: Inheritance, Defense Age: 32 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Gotham City, U.S.A. More on Bruce Wayne>
	#8 Anthony Stark Net Worth: $3 billion Source: Defense Age: 35 Marital Status: Single Hometown: New York, N.Y. Education: MIT, B.S. More on Anthony Stark>
	#9 Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria Net Worth: $2.8 billion Source: Inheritance Age: 37 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria Education: Yaba College of Technology, B.S. More on Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria>
	#10 Thurston Howell,III Net Worth: $2.7 billion Source: Howell Industries Age: 60 Marital Status: Married, no children Hometown: Private Island, South Pacific Education: Harvard University, B.A. More on Thurston Howell,III>
	#11 Willy Wonka Net Worth: $2 billion Source: Candy, Aerospace Age: 57 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Kent, England Education: Academie d’Art Culinaire, Paris More on Willy Wonka>
	#12 Lucius Malfoy Net Worth: $1.3 billion Source: Inheritance Age: 51 Marital Status: Married Hometown: Wiltshire, England Education: Hogwarts More on Lucius Malfoy>
	#13 Tony Montana Net Worth: $1 billion Source: Cocaine Age: 42 Marital Status: Separated, no children Hometown: Miami, Fla. Education: Pinar del Rio High School, dropout More on Tony Montana>
	#14 Lara Croft Net Worth: $1 billion Source: Inheritance, Antiques Age: 37 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Wimbledon, England Education: Cambridge University More on Lara Croft>
	#15 Mario Net Worth: $1 billion Source: Commodities Age: 23 Marital Status: Single Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y. Education: Brooklyn Technical High School More on Mario>

[via msn/Forbes]