Money Minute: Millionaires, Yahoo, Circuit City

BusinessMoney Minute: Millionaires, Yahoo, Circuit CityMoney Minute: Millionaires, Yahoo, Circuit CityThe Associated PressThe world's millionaires club is getting bigger _ and its members decidedly richer. The AP's Mark Hamrick reports on that and the rest of Tuesday's top business headlines. (June 24)AP Money MinuteThe world's millionaires club is getting bigger _ and its members decidedly richer. According to the 12th annual World Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch, the number of people around the globe with at least $1 million in assets swelled by 600,000 or 6 percent last year to 10.1 million. The combined wealth of the millionaires' club meanwhile grew 9.4 percent to $40.7 trillion. Their average wealth, which didn't include primary homes, surpassed $4 million for the first time.------------------------Yahoo's depressed stock has jumped by more than 3 percent on reports that the Internet pioneer is once again exploring a possible deal with Microsoft. The Silicon Valley blog TechCrunch says the two companies are talking, but a person close to Yahoo told The AP that Microsoft still isn't interested in buying Yahoo in its entirety. Microsoft and Yahoo didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.------------------------Circuit City isn't saying a buyout is in the future for the electronics retailer, but an activist investor expects an announcement of a possible sale within the next month. Mark Wattles, whose investment firm holds a 6.5 percent stake in Circuit City, said three companies are in the late stages of conducting due diligence in regard to buying the company. Wattles says, "the sniffing is over with."i'm Mark Hamrick with AP Money Minute(****END****)