Posts Tagged ‘Billionaires’

Everything’s in Billions, These Days

December 14th, 2009

How much is a billion, exactly?

Take a look at the headlines. “Abu Dhabi Gives Dubai $10 Billion for Use on Debt.”

“U.S. Could See $13 – 14 Billion Profit on Citi: Official.” This word – billion – is all over the place. “Tiger Woods, the billion dollar sportsman.” Or he was. Everything seems to be at least a billion dollars these days. Has your child asked you to explain one billion yet? When we were kids there was almost no such word. The upper limit of our vocabulary and our imagination was about a million. There were few millionaires around and we knew all their names.

Billions are everywhere

These days the word ‘billion’ is on the front page of every newspaper every day. Look at this: “Exxon’s Natural Gas Holdings Grow With $31 Billion Deal.” There’s a chocolate deal going on with Cadbury’s for an amount of about 17 billion dollars. That’s a big pile of chocolate! French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday unveiled details of a 35 billion Euro ($52 billion) government-backed spending program.

The one billion dollar investigation

What exactly is this billion that everyone is writing about? I decided to investigate.

How long would it take to count to one billion?

If you count one number every second without stopping until you reach a billion, the task would take you 31 years, 259 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes and 40 seconds.

How much is a billion in time?

Here are some ideas to stun you:
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

And a billion dollars?

At the rate our government is spending money, a billion dollars lasts only 8 hours and 20 minutes.

A billion dollars is a lot of cash. Actually, that depends on who you speak to. Bill Gates made a cool 50 billon last year. According to Forbes there were 793 billionaires in the world in 2005.

And then there’s Mr. Madoff and other people’s billions

Bernard Madoff allegedly siphoned billion of dollars from the world’s economy. When you say it like that, it sounds like a kid’s game of Robin Hood or Ali Baba. It means that if the entire 7 billion person population of the world lined up in front of Madoff, every man, woman and child would hand over about 7 dollars as they passed him. Where has it all gone?

How much space would 50 billion dollars fill?

If one took 50 million dollars home and tried to hide it, he would have a problem. 50 billion spread over a football field would bury the players in about 30 feet of money.

Back to reality

After that brief excursion into the world of the billions it’s back to the real world where a small overdraft at the bank can lead to many woes.

Tags: Billionaires, Billions, Cadbury’s, Large deals, Tiger Woods
Posted in Economy, Finance | No Comments »

It’s all about lots of money

November 6th, 2009

US tycoon fights for white rhino trophy

One of the richest men in America is embroiled in a heated legal battle with South African wildlife officials to recover the trophy head of a white rhino bull. However, the story is not straightforward. It seems that the rhino at the center of the row appears to be alive and healthy in a game reserve in Natal after surviving a hunting attempt more than three months ago by Texas property tycoon H Ross Perot Jr., son of H Ross Perot, former US presidential candidate.

Missed shot

The animal was apparently shot and wounded by Perot Jr. in late July, but the bull ran off and wildlife officials have been unable to find any sign of a carcass or a wounded animal, indicating that it suffered a flesh wound or was not seriously injured. A professional hunter acting for Perot then engaged lawyers to allow a “follow-up” operation and it was agreed that Perot could have the animal’s head if it was tracked down during a hunting operation scheduled to start this weekend.

About turn

But in a dramatic about-turn last night, conservation authorities pulled the plug on the second hunt and declared that Perot was no longer entitled to his trophy horns in any circumstances. The initial decision to allow Perot’s agents to have a “second bite at the cherry” drew strong opposition after it emerged that the animal would be shot by the Wildlife Parks authority if there was a visible bullet wound from Perot’s large-caliber hunting rifle. Despite initial opposition, the Parks authority later agreed that the trophy head and skin would become the property of Perot and could be shipped back to Texas. But last-minute discussions were held last night between a Parks authority executive and the chief executive of the Parks world heritage site.

The money angles

Perot is listed on the Forbes list of America’s richest people, although he is not quite as rich as his more famous father. Perot Jr.’s wealth fell from $2,2bn to $1,25bn in the most recent Forbes list. It is not known how much Perot Jr. paid for the hunt, but sources suggest a single rhino trophy hunting package would cost in the region of $65,000.

No second chance

It has now been officially announced that there would be no second hunt. Other sources felt the decision to allow a follow-up was “morally absurd” and merely a pretext to obtain the animal’s head. They said the animal had suffered a flesh wound and was unlikely to bear any remaining visible wounds. In any case, Perot no longer has any claim to its head.

The hunting party

It has been established from correspondence that Perot Jr., 47, was accompanied on the recent African safari by one of his sons, Hill Perot, 27. While Perot Jr. apparently bungled his shot in the controlled hunting zone of the reserve, Hill Perot is understood to have succeeded in bagging his own rhino trophy.

Tags: Billionaires, Hunting, Rhino Horns, Trophies, White Rhino
Posted in Economy, Finance | No Comments »

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