IJMC - Even More Bill Gates

As if he doesn't get enough press on his own, the IJMC tonight shall 
contribute to the glamourization of the Geek's own multi-billionaire, 
Bill Gates. This one isn't as good as the one listing Michael Jordan's 
wealth but it's definately junk so here you go.                  -dave

P.S. Someone just told me I'm cute...and it wasn't Dot.






(Thanks to Flam1ngo)

Most people will have read the recent reports of how Microsoft Chairman
(http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/default.asp) Bill Gates has had his
personal net worth soar over 40 billion dollars.  

He certainly knows how to make money. 

Consider that he made this money in the 22 years or so since Microsoft was
founded in 1975.  If you presume that he has worked 14 hours a day on
every business day of the year since then, that means he's been making
money at a staggering half-million dollars per hour, 

*around $150 per second.*

Which means that if, on his way into the office, should he see or drop a
$500 bill on the ground, it's just not worth his time to bend over and
pick it up. 

He would make more just heading off to work.

It's perhaps more disturbing to look at the slope of his appreciation this
year.  From January to July he's gained some $16 Billion, meaning that at
the rate he's going, if he sees a $10,000 bill, he's just as well to pass
it by.  

(They  do exist, but he won't see one until he buys the U.S.treasury -- 
they are not circulated.  Salmon Chase, former secretary of the treasury 
and chief justice, is on it.)  

If it's a pile of cash he has to count, it's even worse.  At $2,500 per
second so far this year, they would have to be thousand-dollar Bills --
and he would need to have a quick hand -- to avoid him losing the money 
in wasted time while he's counting them.  

Counting $500 bills would be very unprofitable.

The "Too-small-a-bill-for-Bill" index has gone up quite a bit over the
years.  When Microsoft went public in 1986, the new multimillionaire only
had to leave behind $5 bills. 


                         Bill Gates Dollars

Another way to examine this sort of wealth is to compare it to yours.

Consider the average American of reasonable but modest wealth. Perhaps she
has a net worth of $100,000. Mr. Gates' worth is 400,000 times larger.

Which means that if something costs $100,000 to her, to Bill it's as though
it costs 25 cents. You can work out the right multiplier for your own net
worth.

So for example, you might think a new Lambourghini Diablo would cost
$250,000, but in Bill Gates dollars that's *63 cents*.

That fully loaded, multimedia active matrix 233 MHZ laptop with the 1024x768
screen you've been drooling after?  *A penny*.

A nice home in a rich town like Palo Alto, California?  *Two dollars*.

You might spend $100 on tickets, food and parking to take your family to see
an NHL hockey game. Bill, on the other hand could buy _the team_ for *100
Bill-bills*.

You might buy a plane ticket on a Boeing 747 for $1200 at full-fare coach.
In Bill-bills, Mr. Gates could buy *three 747s*. One for him, one for
Melinda and one for young Jennifer Katherine.


                              Other Pages

Some other web pages have had something to say about this staggering amount
of money.  You can try:

1.  http://www.quuxuum.org/evan-bin/sock.pl
       The Bill Gates Net Worth Page

2.  http://www.webho.com/WealthClockRealTime
       Bill Gates Personal Wealth Clock

3.  http://comedy.clari.net/brad/billsearch.html
       Search the rec.humor.funny joke archives for jokes about Bill Gates

4.  http://mp.cs.niu.edu/~z920480/msjokes.html
       Yet Another Unofficial Microsoft Jokes page.

5.  http://www.ijmc.com/
       Go to "Search'n'Rescue" and enter "bill gates" into the engine...