There Are Now 1,426 Billionaires on Earth, and You Are Each Worth Exactly $762.95 to Them
Forbes published a rundown yesterday of America's top-paid CEOs, based on data from its annual billionaires list. That's how we learned that there's an annual billionaires list, because apparently billionaires need something to obsess over besides billions of dollars. There are 1,426 billionaires among the human race's 7 billion or so members, meaning you have a roughly .00002 percent chance of becoming a billionaire, all other things being equal. But of course all things are unequal, and your odds are pretty improved if you didn't grow up in a favela or a shanty on the banks of the Ganges. (Good news, developed America: You account for 442 billionaires, the most of any country on the list!)
Here's another way to look at those stats: These 1,426 billionaires have a collective net worth of $5.4 trillion billion. That means they could afford to buy every man, woman, and child on the planet for roughly $762.95 apiece. Excellent news, humans: Through the magic of indentured servitude, you can finally afford an Apple desktop!
