How much is a billionaire worth? Kevin Kamen decides

I value people that are in media, newspaper, magazine, broadcast, and famous people”

Kevin Kamen founder and CEO of Kamen & Co. Group Services

For the 10th year in a row, Forbes magazine has chosen financial analyst Kevin Kamen, of Baldwin, to calculate the wealth of media tycoons.

Forbes wealth and media team reporters once again picked Kamen, chief executive of Kamen & Co. Group Services, in Uniondale, to assist in figuring out the tycoons’ net worth for the 42nd annual “Forbes 400 List of Richest Americans.” The list will be published in late September, highlighting the significant contributions of Kamen, whose will help analyze, calculate and forecast the wealth of media billionaires.

“Our internationally recognized publishing organization was formed to fill the demand for practical knowledge and hands-on experience specifically in the newspaper, shopper, magazine, broadcast, tech, video game, and book publishing-driven industry,” Kamen stated on KamenGroup.com. “Our commitment to the success of the industry is demonstrated with all of our clients. We work with and value the goals of each project — small, medium or large.

“We’re multimedia appraisers, accountants and brokers,” Kamen added. “I value people that are in media, newspaper, magazine, broadcast, and famous people.”

Of the 400 richest people on the Forbes list, Kamen is responsible for valuing the majority of those associated with the media. The magazine provides Kamen with its own information and calculations, and then he examines it further. Kamen said he does all the calculations for these valuations and then reports back to Forbes.

“Being in the industry, I know what to look for,” he said. “I am able to come up with a fair evaluation with these billionaires.”

Kamen has been doing valuations for media companies for 44 years, and accurately calculated how much the Boston Globe, Tampa Tribune, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times were worth before they were sold. Kamen has largely built his reputation on these calculations, and Forbes took notice.

“It’s interesting to unfold the amount of investments that these billionaires have accumulated,” Kamen said. “Their portfolios are extraordinary, and what I’ve discovered is the depths of the portfolios of each billionaire is phenomenal.”

Although Kamen often travels outside of his hometown of Baldwin, he noted that he loves his community, and hasn’t forgotten where he got his start. Kamen was board president of the Baldwin Public Library, and served on the library board for 30 years. He was involved in a few expansion projects undertaken by the library, and said he learned some valuable life lessons as board president.

“One of the most important things I learned was to listen to my colleagues and to my community,” he said. “And I take that experience, and all that knowledge that I ascertained through my community as a young man, and take it across the globe with me when I’m negotiating mega deals in the media arena.”

Kamen said he isn’t just an analyst, but also enjoys “really being deeply involved in the media industry.” He takes part in negotiations and puts together various deals across the world. He added that Forbes uses him as an expert in the media sphere, and various editors at the magazine have thanked him for all the work he’s done.

“Thanks again for all your help, Kevin,” Chase Peterson-Withorn, a senior editor, wrote in an email to Kamen. “It’s always so nice when expert sources like you are willing to help out and teach our journalists a thing or two!”

“You’re amazing!” Forbes’s wealth reporter, Jemima McEvoy, also wrote to Kamen. “Thank you so much for your help!”