world's first trillionaire?

[Dittohead not!]

Of course, it's Bill Gates, provided his monopolistic heart keeps beating for another 20 years or so. In fact, in the most optimistic of the four scenarios below - which assumes Microsoft shares continue to rise at their historic, nothin'-but-blue-sky rates - Gates will become a trillionaire just five years from now, and a quadrillionaire (1,000 trillion) before he hits retirement age.

It hasn't happened yet, but it just might, the world's first trillionaire.

To put that in perspective, if you spent a million dollars every day, that would be 365.25 million a year. It would take 2.74 years to spend a billion dollars, and 2,740 years to spend a trillion.

Oh, and a quadrillion is about 67 years of the entire GDP of the United States.

link

 

[ecofarm]

Who cares, he can't take it with him.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Who cares, he can't take it with him.

No, he can't, but it sure must be fun to have it while he's here.

 

[davidtaylorjr]

Who cares, he can't take it with him.

He actually gives a lot away.

 

[ecofarm]

He actually gives a lot away.

He sure does. As someone into environmental and development research, I'm rather aware of the Gates Foundation.

 

[DDD]

Who cares, he can't take it with him.

So what will happen with the money?! Under these uncertain circumstances I think it is best for the government to take it after his death. Would help with the debt an all.

 

[Mach]

Staggering. Even more staggering is that the jump form trillion to quadrillion seems so fast...wow.

He's a good leader in philanthropy too though.

Gates began to appreciate the expectations others had of him when public opinion mounted suggesting that he could give more of his wealth to charity. Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and in 1994 sold some of his Microsoft stock to create the William H. Gates Foundation. In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations into one to create the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest transparently operated charitable foundation in the world.[78] The foundation allows benefactors access to information regarding how its money is being spent, unlike other major charitable organizations such as the Wellcome Trust.[79][80] The generosity and extensive philanthropy of David Rockefeller has been credited as a major influence. Gates and his father met with Rockefeller several times, and modeled their giving in part on the Rockefeller family's philanthropic focus, namely those global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations.[81] As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates were the second-most generous philanthropists in America, having given over $28 billion to charity;[82] the couple plan to eventually donate 95% of their wealth to charity.[83]

 

[ecofarm]

So what will happen with the money?! Under these uncertain circumstances I think it is best for the government to take it after his death. Would help with the debt an all.

That's commie.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

It hasn't happened yet, but it just might, the world's first trillionaire.

To put that in perspective, if you spent a million dollars every day, that would be 365.25 million a year. It would take 2.74 years to spend a billion dollars, and 2,740 years to spend a trillion.

Oh, and a quadrillion is about 67 years of the entire GDP of the United States.

link

Well - with inflation it was bound to happen sometime

 

[DDD]

That's commie.

Was being sarcastic.

 

[Canell]

Well, as long there are ****** who buy Windows...
I've been using Linux desktop only since 2004 and I am just fine.

 

[Fisher]

Except Microsoft's stock will not continue to rise at this rate. M2 is only around $11T with maybe 10% of that in actual physical US currency me thinks.

 

[Removable Mind]

Ditto...those are mind boggling numbers of which I can't conceive.

If you don't mind...I'd like to drift off topic for a second or two and look at "trillion" from another perspective.

It hasn't happened yet, but it just might, the world's first trillionaire.

To put that in perspective, if you spent a million dollars every day, that would be 365.25 million a year. It would take 2.74 years to spend a billion dollars, and 2,740 years to spend a trillion.

Oh, and a quadrillion is about 67 years of the entire GDP of the United States.

link

1 trillion seconds is equal to 31688.8 years. And traveling the speed of light is 186,000 MILES "PER SECOND". Think about it....

It's also said that it would take about 25,000 earth years to get to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy (where we live) from earth "travelling the "speed of light" - 186,000 miles "per second". Another wild thing to ponder in relationship to time and distance. Think "seconds" in 25,000 years - then think about the distance travelled per second at the speed of light.

Now...how trillions of miles have been travelled between earth and the center of the Milky Way?

 

[Mach]

Except Microsoft's stock will not continue to rise at this rate. M2 is only around $11T with maybe 10% of that in actual physical US currency me thinks.

Are you suggesting that if he cashed it all out at that quadrillion mark there may be an issue?

 

[Fisher]

Are you suggesting that if he cashed it all out at that quadrillion mark there may be an issue?

For him when the shares would be going ten for a penny if he wanted cash

 

[Slyfox696]

It hasn't happened yet, but it just might, the world's first trillionaire.

To put that in perspective, if you spent a million dollars every day, that would be 365.25 million a year. It would take 2.74 years to spend a billion dollars, and 2,740 years to spend a trillion.

Oh, and a quadrillion is about 67 years of the entire GDP of the United States.

link

Your link is from 15 years ago.

Bill Gates is the richest American for the 20th year in a row and has reclaimed the title of world’s richest person from Mexico’s Carlos Slim with a net worth of $72 billion.

Inside The 2013 Forbes 400: Facts And Figures On America's Richest - Forbes

That's from a few days ago. In other words, he's got a long ways to go to become a trillionaire. Still, it is fun to think about what I'd do if I had even 1% of 1% of his money ($7.2 million, if my math's correct).

 

[Dittohead not!]

Your link is from 15 years ago.

Hmmm.. so it is. I hadn't noticed that.

Inside The 2013 Forbes 400: Facts And Figures On America's Richest - Forbes

That's from a few days ago. In other words, he's got a long ways to go to become a trillionaire. Still, it is fun to think about what I'd do if I had even 1% of 1% of his money ($7.2 million, if my math's correct).

Yes, it is, isn't it?

The first one is actually not likely to be Bill Gates as he tends to give a lot of it away.

Here's another more up to date link.

 

[Mach]

His estate is 66,000 square feet. quite out of the ordinary!

And contrasting to that, I recall an interview with his wife remarking that she'd rather a much smaller house and more time with Bill. And that she had to really push him to work out each week. Very ordinary...he's just a guy like everyone else. He has more power than most people and there is no rule book for what to do with that power, but it seems like with the leadership of other powerful private individuals, he's trying to do some good.

I also recall reading something about Bill visiting Jobs on the hospital and the awkwardness of Jobs talking about his mega-yacht, and bill talking about philanthropy.

 

[Slyfox696]

Hmmm.. so it is. I hadn't noticed that.

When it said Microsoft's share were rising at historic rates, that's what tipped me off.

The first one is actually not likely to be Bill Gates as he tends to give a lot of it away.

He seems to be a pretty decent man.

 

[specklebang]

His estate is 66,000 square feet. quite out of the ordinary!

And contrasting to that, I recall an interview with his wife remarking that she'd rather a much smaller house and more time with Bill. And that she had to really push him to work out each week. Very ordinary...he's just a guy like everyone else. He has more power than most people and there is no rule book for what to do with that power, but it seems like with the leadership of other powerful private individuals, he's trying to do some good.

I also recall reading something about Bill visiting Jobs on the hospital and the awkwardness of Jobs talking about his mega-yacht, and bill talking about philanthropy.

This is "paper wealth", not cash. He is a major philanthropist who has tried to make a difference. I can't imagine how inconvenient it is to maintain and clean a 66,000 sf house. Just taking care of my 1220 sf house is a pain in the ass.

If you have a good day, you're just a rich as Bill Gates is.

 

[RDS]

If it does happen he beats about 150 countries. There are only 16 countries with trillion dollar GDP.