Forbes recently released their annual “Forbes 500,” a list of the 500 wealthiest people on this planet. The “Forbes 500” features all sorts of people, from inventors, to business titans, to realtors. Not so surprisingly, at the top of the list is Mr. Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft. Bill Gates tops off this list with a whopping net worth of $79.2 billion.
It is difficult to understand how much money $79.2 billion is. To illustrate how much money Bill Gates possesses, I made a few calculations to show what $79.2 billion can buy.
Before you read my calculations, please note that they are not meant to misprize Bill Gates’s philanthropy. He donates considerable amounts of money to all sorts of charitable foundations and even has a charitable foundation of his own: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Do you have a need for speed, luxury, and style while driving? Look no further! With $79.2 billion, you can buy 144,315 brand new 2015 Lamborghini Aventadors, enough for a new Aventador every day for the next 395 years.
If you’re not much of a car person, how about some nautical fun? With $79.2 billion, you can buy 558,202 Super Air Nautique G25 sport boats. If you’re not into sport boats, you can buy 943 Sycara V luxury yachts.
Fans of aero travel, have no fear. $79.2 billion can buy you 215 Boeing 747-8 airplanes. For those with a more refined aircraft taste, you can buy 68 B-2 Spirit stealth bombers (the most expensive airplanes ever).
Enough with personal toys. What fun is wealth without sharing it with others? With $79.2 billion, you can buy 1 kilogram of “Almas” caviar, the most expensive food on Earth, enough for every person in the entire population of Slovenia.
You can also pay off the entire combined external debts of Jamaica, Cuba, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe.
For advocates of education, $79.2 billion can completely fund the entire undergraduate education of 323,339 students at the most expensive college in the United States, Sarah Lawrence College. Further, you can completely fund the entire high school education of 2,444,440 students at Cathedral Prep.
Congratulations to Bill Gates on, once again, making more money than anyone else. I mostly laud Mr. Gates, however, because of his outstanding philanthropy, handling of his wealth, and simplicity. It is no mystery that life gets more complicated when tens of billions of dollars is thrown into the mix. For this, I believe that Bill Gates is an admirable person.
Still, though, wouldn’t it be fun to have $79.2 billion?