Forbes magazine, in 2006, called Las Vegas casino and real estate mogul Sheldon Adelson the third-richest person in the country. He has lost $30 billion, perhaps the largest loss on paper in the history of the United States -- and this includes John D. Rockefeller's adjusted-for-inflation Great Depression losses.

Eddie Lampert of ESL Investments is sometimes called the "next Warren Buffett." But the Sears Holdings chairman has lost, so far, on paper, $5 billion.

And speaking of the still-gazillionaire Warren Buffett, even he's down $13.6 billion on paper, and thus forced to scrape by with only $48 billion.

No one's passing a hat for any of these people. They're still rich. But this shows that even smart guys' money can go south, Antarctica-like south.

The that-guy's-a-crook headlines aside, most rich folks do it the hard way. They get up early, bust their tails, and work harder than their subordinates. They treat their staff, employees and co-workers with respect. In return, employees enjoy their work, remain loyal and work hard for a boss who shows his appreciation. Decades of work later, the boss suddenly wakes up rich.

The rich consider their success primarily a combination of hard and persistent work. But most are humble enough also to recognize the role of luck -- lucky to operate in a place that values free enterprise and risk-taking, with a stable government and an orderly transition of power.

They subscribe to the adage that "the harder I work the luckier I get," without discounting the role of luck, chance and happenstance. But above all -- unlike the Madoffs of the world -- most successful people value and practice honesty.

Ephraim Diamond, one of North America's largest real estate developers, recently died. A former electrical engineer, this Canadian real estate czar came from a poor immigrant family. He co-founded and ran a wildly successful company called Cadillac Fairview. Business associates, friends and co-workers spoke about him with reverence. One of the company's senior directors said he "reeked of integrity."

Diamond once said, "If scoundrels were aware of the benefits of being honest, they would be honest out of pure rascality."