A thought experiment
2,781 people. One staggering number. Scroll to explore what becomes possible when we imagine putting that wealth to work for everyone.
In 2000, there were 322 billionaires. Today there are 2,781. That's an 763% increase in 24 years.
Source: Forbes Billionaires List 2000–2024
The combined net worth of every billionaire on Earth dwarfs the GDP of every nation except the US and China.
"The world's 10 richest men own more wealth than the bottom 40% of humanity — 3.1 billion people."
— Oxfam Inequality Report, 2024
The gold bar is what they have. The colored bars are what we'd need to solve some of humanity's greatest challenges.
Costs shown in trillions USD. Sources: UN FAO, USICH, Dept. of Education, CBO
$14.2 trillion is not an abstraction. It's a choice.
$330B/year is the UN's estimated cost to end food insecurity globally. Billionaire wealth could fund it for 43 consecutive years.
The USICH estimates $20B/year would house every unhoused American. Billionaires could fund that for 710 years.
Total US student loan debt stands at $1.7 trillion. Billionaires could cancel it 8.4× over — with $2.4T to spare.
Medicare for All would cost ~$3.2T/year — but save $5.8T over a decade by eliminating private insurer overhead. Billionaires could fund 4.4 full years up front.
A full US green energy transition costs ~$1T/year. Billionaire wealth alone could fund 14 years of it — enough to get to net zero.
End world hunger for a year + cancel student debt + house every unhoused American + fund Medicare for a year + a green transition year = $6.25T. That's less than half what they have.
Who else should we get rid of?
A thought experiment — not financial or political advice. Sources: Forbes, Oxfam, UN FAO, USICH, CBO, Dept. of Education.