Qatar surpassed Luxembourg as the world’s richest nation in 2010 and is set to pull away with wealth that’s almost twice that of the US.

The IMF’s Chart of the Day shows Qatar’s gross domestic product per capita at $88,221 in 2010, beating Luxembourg for the top spot.

The figure may reach $111,963 by 2016, surpassing Luxembourg’s $94,621 and Singapore’s $70,992, the IMF said.

China, already the world’s second largest bullion consumer, has installed the country’s first gold vending machine in a busy shopping district in Beijing.

Shoppers in the popular Wangfujing Street can insert cash or use a bank card to withdraw gold bars or coins of various weights based on market prices.

Each withdrawal is capped at 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) or one million yuan (about $156,500) worth of gold.

Kirsty Bertarelli, the richest woman in Britain and her husband Ernesto have bought the biggest motor yacht ever built in the UK, the 315-ft. foot Vava II.

The $160 million megayacht, which now ranks as the 33rd largest in the world, was built by Devonport Yachts in Plymouth and boasts luxury interiors, a helicopter landing pad, lavish guest cabins and four tenders.

Kirsty is a former Miss UK, while her husband is a Swiss pharmaceuticals magnate who has won the America’s Cup twice with his yacht Alinghi and is worth a reputed $10 billion, making him the 81st richest man in the world and the fifth richest in the UK.

Warren Buffet wrote in an editorial to the New York Times that was published Sunday that he wants to pay more taxes and thinks his mega-rich friends should too.

“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” Buffet said in the editorial.

“These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.”

The winning bidder for a private lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett has set a new record for the cost of dining with the investor, after pledging $2,626,411 for the meal.

The winning bid at the annual charity auction broke the record set last year by a little more than $100.

The opening bid started at $25,000. When the charity lunch began in 2000, this was the price of the winning bid!

In booming India, being rich is not enough. For the moneyed classes, it’s increasingly about flaunting their wealth in ways typical of the nouveaux riches in Russia, China or the Middle East.

India’s well-heeled used to be more shy about displaying their wealth in the decades after independence from Britain when a tightly-controlled economy and dominant socialist thinking limited the opportunities for showing off.

But many prosperous Indians are embracing conspicuous consumption, turning their backs on the mantra of frugality espoused by independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation who eschewed possessions.