Vanity Fair just released their 2007 Windfall Report — a.k.a., the biggest paydays last year for the guys whose bank accounts hardly needed the boost. How did they get even richer, you ask? Their windfalls included cashing out stocks, receiving inheritances, selling a family business, real estate deals, or jumping on a lucrative initial public offering.

Bill Gates tops the list for selling $2.5 billion of his Microsoft shares and collecting another few hundred million in dividends. Bill-ion Gates, anyone? Coming in second is Peter Peterson (real name) whose windfall from the Blackstone I.P.O. earned him $1.9 billion practically overnight. Next they name the Chandler Family who got third place by selling the Tribune Co. for $1.7 billion.

Windfalls worth billions continue through number nine on the list of 50, and the smallest amount reported is $177 million. A notable observation about the report is that the only woman is Roxanne Quimby, who got her $185 million windfall when Clorox bought her company, Burt's Bees. Vanity Fair acknowledges that the $12 million inherited by Leona Helmsley's dog, Trouble, is a poochie windfall and gives the heir an honorable mention.

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