How rich are Gates and Zuckerberg? Here's some context
Justin Li | CBC News | Posted: March 30, 2017 6:11 PM | Last Updated: March 31, 2017
The top 5 richest have combined a $372.1 billion total net worth, according to Bloomberg
Bloomberg released its billionaire index on Wednesday, listing the 500 richest people in the world.
The top five richest had a combined total net worth of $372.1 billion US. That kind of money can be hard to conceptualize.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates once again tops the list, and comedian Louis C.K. once joked that if he was Gates-level rich, he would buy all the pants in the world and just burn them, just because he could afford to do so.
Here are other ways you could put that much money in context.
Bill Gates, $86 billion
Bill Gates is rich. Really rich. Even by rich people standards. According to Bloomberg, he is the world's richest individual with $86 billion US, a comfortable $10.4 billion more than the world's second richest.
Context: Some of Gates's former Microsoft co-workers own NBA teams. Former CEO Steve Ballmer, the 25th richest person at $27.5 billion, owns the Los Angeles Clippers. The world's 36th richest, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, at $20.9 billion, owns the Portland Trail Blazers.
Gates could buy every single NBA team in the league for $40.6 billion and still have $45.4 billion left over — almost as much as Ballmer and Allen's combined net worth.
Jeff Bezos, $75.6 billion
Perhaps the biggest surprise on Bloomberg's billionaires index is the placement of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who jumped to No. 2 spot on the list, supplanting Warren Buffet. Bezos also owns the Washington Post newspaper, for which he paid $250 million, in cash; he founded a human spaceflight startup; and he was an early investor in a bunch of companies, including Google, Airbnb and Uber.
Context: A national digital subscription to the Washington Post costs $99 US a year (it's on sale!).
Bezos could pay for a Post subscription for every one of the 321,418,820 people in the U.S. for two years.
Warren Buffett, $74.9 billion
U.S. business tycoon Warren Buffett dropped from second to third on the index, but he has about 74.9 billion reasons not to care too much. However, despite his immense wealth, Buffett still lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500 in Omaha, Neb.
Context: During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Buffett supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and was a vocal critic of Republican candidate and eventual president Donald Trump — Buffett challenged Trump to release his tax returns, promising to release his own.
According to Bloomberg's billionaire index, Trump has a net worth of $3.02 billion. So, Buffett's net worth is equivalent to that of just under 25 U.S. presidents.
Amancio Ortega, $74.2 billion
Amancio Ortega is the richest person in Europe and fourth richest in the world with a total net worth of $74.2 billion.
The Spanish business tycoon is perhaps best known as the founder of the Zara clothing line, among others.
Context: A basic unisex T-shirt from Zara costs $15.90 US; unisex trousers are $29.90; a pack of socks and underwear are each $9.90 (men's); and unisex sock sneakers are $89.90. The complete outfit would cost $155.50.
Ortega could dress each of his fellow 46,418,269 Spaniards in a version of that outfit, 10 times. Much nicer than burning every pair of pants in the world.
Mark Zuckerberg, $61.4 billion
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the fifth richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg, with a total net worth of $61.4 billion.
Context: One of the most expensive burgers in the world is the 777 Burger from the Burger Brasserie in Las Vegas which, predictably, costs $777 US. According to its menu, the burger is made with kobe beef, pancetta, goat cheese, foie gras, arugula, maine lobster and 100-year-aged balsamic vinegar. It comes with a BLT salad and a bottle of Dom Pérignon.
Facebook is known to offer its employees free lunches, so if Zuckerberg fed his 17,048 Facebook employees a 777 Burger for lunch every day including weekends and holidays, he could do so for about 12 years and 255 days.