Rather than dredge out all the usual suspects - Gates, Buffett, Redstone, etc. – Pete Newcomb takes a different slant in the April issue of Vanity Fair that's available online. Newcomb has assembled a list of 50 very rich people who got a whole lot richer in 2007 - windfalls that were the result of stock cash-outs, IPOs, sales of companies, real-estate deals, whatever. Bill Gates ends up in the top spot, the result of dumping $2.5 billion worth of Microsoft stock. But after that, the names get more interesting. For instance, the Chandler family ranks third after picking up $1.7 billion from selling its stake in Tribune. Yeah, them. Jerry Perenchio is fifth after making $1.3 billion for selling Univision. You get the idea. Some other notables of local interest:

4. JAMES JANNARD: $1.3 billion - Sold OC sunglass maker Oakley to Italy’s Luxottica Group for $2.1 billion.

9. LARRY ELLISON: $1.1 billion - Part-time Malibu resident unloaded more than $1 billion worth of Oracle stock.

11. HAIM SABAN: $970 million - Made nearly a billion selling a big piece of German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG.

13. SAM ZELL: $900 million - Yeah, him. He sold his Equity Office Properties Trust to Blackstone Group for $39 billion.

21. SUMNER REDSTONE: $362 million - Sold a bunch of stock.

26. BARRY DILLER: $300 million - Might lose his company next week, but he exercised millions of stock options.

49. RONALD TUTOR: $182 million - Sold a bunch of stock in his construction company, Perini Corp.