Maxwell Cornington lives a simple life. He wakes up in the morning, eats eggs, plays World of Warcraft, goes to class and sells really, really sharp knives.
Cornington, a freshman business major at NMU, has recently been added to Forbes’ World Billionaires list. His personal wealth is listed at $51 Billion, which places him first on the list, substantially ahead of both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who have alternated the top position for the past few years.
Cornington’s massive wealth stems from a multi-faceted business he runs out of his Halverson Hall dorm room. His business, Max-Cut International, is recognized as the world’s leading supplier of knives, surpassing the nation of Pakistan in the fall of 2008. In fact, Max-Cut has changed the national exports of America, making knives the United States’ fifth most exported good.
“I’m not going to say that it was planned, but when I started selling the knives six years ago, I knew that it was my destiny,” said Cornington.
The World Billionaires list has garnered its fair share of criticisms in the past, particularly when they chose to include drug dealer, Joaquin Guzman “El Chapo” Loera in their 2009 rankings. Critics have raised similar concerns about the inclusion of Cornington.
“It’s a cheap publicity stunt,” said Adam Linden, author of “Cutting through the Bull: Exposing the Truth about Max-Cut” and outspoken critic of Cornington.
Linden said the inclusion of Cornington does as much damage to the reputation of the list as Loera.
“Cornington is a recklessly irresponsible financial sociopath,” said Linden, “He doesn’t sell drugs, but he does sell knives, and knives kill people.”
According to Linden, Cornington does not even produce his own knives. Instead, Linden claims that every morning, Cornington steals thousands of knives from his university’s cafeteria, The Marketplace (MP).
MP officials have denied the connection between their knives and Cornington’s. Craig Minor, the director of Food and Stuff, has said that they don’t know why they seem to lose so many knives.
“We’re really proud of Maxwell. It’s great that one of our students has shown so much initiative,” said Minor.
Cornington has also denied the link.
“My blades and the Market place blades share similar qualities, but my blades are really, really sharp,” said Cornington, “I mean with my blades you could easily take down. an elk, with an MP blade, you could split a muffin. The choice is up to you.”
Linden isn’t the only one criticizing Cornington. Several environmentalist groups were very upset last year when he used one of his Max-Cut knives to cut down a 3,000-year-old Redwood tree.
“It was the only way I could prove how powerful my blades were,” said Cornington, “The sales that I made off of that demonstration were well worth the loss of that one tree, at least to me.”
Max-Cut also includes a line of fitness related videos that Cornington wrote, produced and starred Maxwell Cornington lives a simple life. He wakes up in the morning, eats eggs, plays World of Warcraft, goes to class and sells really, really sharp knives.
Cornington, a freshman business major at NMU, has recently been added to Forbes’ World Billionaires list. His personal wealth is listed at $51 Billion, which places him first on the list, substantially ahead of both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who have alternated the top position for the past few years.
Cornington’s massive wealth stems from a multi-faceted business he runs out of his Halverson Hall dorm room. His business, Max-Cut International, is recognized as the world’s leading supplier of knives, surpassing the nation of Pakistan in the fall of 2008. In fact, Max-Cut has changed the national exports of America, making knives the United States’ fifth most exported good.
“I’m not going to say that it was planned, but when I started selling the knives six years ago, I knew that it was my destiny,” said Cornington.
The World Billionaires list has garnered its fair share of criticisms in the past, particularly when they chose to include drug dealer, Joaquin Guzman “El Chapo” Loera in their 2009 rankings. Critics have raised similar concerns about the inclusion of Cornington.
“It’s a cheap publicity stunt,” said Adam Linden, author of “Cutting through the Bull: Exposing the Truth about Max-Cut” and outspoken critic of Cornington.
Linden said the inclusion of Cornington does as much damage to the reputation of the list as Loera.
“Cornington is a recklessly irresponsible financial sociopath,” said Linden, “He doesn’t sell drugs, but he does sell knives, and knives kill people.”
According to Linden, Cornington does not even produce his own knives. Instead, Linden claims that every morning, Cornington steals thousands of knives from his university’s cafeteria, The Marketplace (MP).
MP officials have denied the connection between their knives and Cornington’s. Craig Minor, the director of Food and Stuff, has said that they don’t know why they seem to lose so many knives.
“We’re really proud of Maxwell. It’s great that one of our students has shown so much initiative,” said Minor.
Cornington has also denied the link.
“My blades and the Market place blades share similar qualities, but my blades are really, really sharp,” said Cornington, “I mean with my blades you could easily take down. an elk, with an MP blade, you could split a muffin. The choice is up to you.”
Linden isn’t the only one criticizing Cornington. Several environmentalist groups were very upset last year when he used one of his Max-Cut knives to cut down a 3,000-year-old Redwood tree.
“It was the only way I could prove how powerful my blades were,” said Cornington, “The sales that I made off of that demonstration were well worth the loss of that one tree, at least to me.”
Max-Cut also includes a line of fitness related videos that Cornington wrote, produced and starred Maxwell Cornington lives a simple life. He wakes up in the morning, eats eggs, plays World of Warcraft, goes to class and sells really, really sharp knives.
Cornington, a freshman business major at NMU, has recently been added to Forbes’ World Billionaires list. His personal wealth is listed at $51 Billion, which places him first on the list, substantially ahead of both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who have alternated the top position for the past few years.
Cornington’s massive wealth stems from a multi-faceted business he runs out of his Halverson Hall dorm room. His business, Max-Cut International, is recognized as the world’s leading supplier of knives, surpassing the nation of Pakistan in the fall of 2008. In fact, Max-Cut has changed the national exports of America, making knives the United States’ fifth most exported good.
“I’m not going to say that it was planned, but when I started selling the knives six years ago, I knew that it was my destiny,” said Cornington.
The World Billionaires list has garnered its fair share of criticisms in the past, particularly when they chose to include drug dealer, Joaquin Guzman “El Chapo” Loera in their 2009 rankings. Critics have raised similar concerns about the inclusion of Cornington.
“It’s a cheap publicity stunt,” said Adam Linden, author of “Cutting through the Bull: Exposing the Truth about Max-Cut” and outspoken critic of Cornington.
Linden said the inclusion of Cornington does as much damage to the reputation of the list as Loera.
“Cornington is a recklessly irresponsible financial sociopath,” said Linden, “He doesn’t sell drugs, but he does sell knives, and knives kill people.”
According to Linden, Cornington does not even produce his own knives. Instead, Linden claims that every morning, Cornington steals thousands of knives from his university’s cafeteria, The Marketplace (MP).
MP officials have denied the connection between their knives and Cornington’s. Craig Minor, the director of Food and Stuff, has said that they don’t know why they seem to lose so many knives.
“We’re really proud of Maxwell. It’s great that one of our students has shown so much initiative,” said Minor.
Cornington has also denied the link.
“My blades and the Market place blades share similar qualities, but my blades are really, really sharp,” said Cornington, “I mean with my blades you could easily take down. an elk, with an MP blade, you could split a muffin. The choice is up to you.”
Linden isn’t the only one criticizing Cornington. Several environmentalist groups were very upset last year when he used one of his Max-Cut knives to cut down a 3,000-year-old Redwood tree.
“It was the only way I could prove how powerful my blades were,” said Cornington, “The sales that I made off of that demonstration were well worth the loss of that one tree, at least to me.”
Max-Cut also includes a line of fitness related videos that Cornington wrote, produced and starred in, and a record label that has promoted Cornington’s latest album, “Tales from V-Town” which he recorded in his dormitory’s lobby. One single in particular, “From the Hood” has garnered harsh reviews from musical contemporaries. Many have said that Cornington is claiming an urban background that he never actually lived.
“You can say the same thing about people like Johnny Depp. He’s not a pirate. Denzel Washington was never a cop,” Cornington said.
Though he is a billionaire, the only thing that Cornington said he has bought with his new found wealth is love, which he refused to elaborate on. He does, however, plan on purchasing an island in the future.
“And not just any island, but that one where all the people are lost. I’m going to buy it and watch them,” he said.
When asked about how the economic crisis facing the United States will affect him, Cornington stared into space and said distantly, “It won’t.”
