23.7 Million Millionaires

In June of 2008 I wrote a post titled "Ten Million Millionaires," which took off on a CNN story that, as of that date, the number of people in the world with a net worth (assets minus liabilities) of more than a million dollars had exceeded ten million.

Ten million millionaires. Wow, I thought at the time, that's a lot of people who have a lot of money. 

There were ten million millionaires worldwide in June, 2008. According to a recent estimate of the Federal Reserve, there are 23.7 million millionaires just in the United States ... and that figure was from 2022. Casting our economic net wider, there are an estimated 58 million millionaires (calculated in US dollars) worldwide.

But as I noted in my earlier post, a million really isn't that much any more. Inflation has driven up wages and interest to the point where it's (relatively) easy to amass assets of a million dollars or more if you have a good job, are well advised, and lucky.

But wait - there's more!

While there are estimated to be 58 million millionaires worldwide, the figure for billionaires is staggering: Forbes magazine estimates that there are approximately 3,028 billionaires in the world. Of those, depending on how you count, anywhere from 756 to 902 reside in the United States, with California having the most (186), followed by New York (135), Florida (97), and Texas (73). The only states without any billionaires in residence are Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia. There are a mere seven billionaires in Virginia, of which I am not one.

Well, I guess that means that at least some of us aren't worried about the price of eggs and gas, and can buy our children more than two dolls for Christmas.

How do these millionaires and billionaires get so rich? Some are lucky to have inherited it from wealthy parents, others skillfully manipulate the stock market, still others create amazing inventions, build successful companies, or devise new ways of doing things. Some (not to mention any names) flagrantly abuse their positions of public responsibility while manipulating the legal system so as to avoid accountability. And, of course, some engaged in fraud, deceit, or outright theft.

Some of those billionaires, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, choose to give away much of their wealth, using some of their vast fortunes to help those less fortunate. Others prefer to sit on their gold like the modern-day version of Smaug, pleased (though likely not grateful) that they are able to live so much better than the great unwashed.

As I wrote back in 2008, I'm just an ordinary fellow who's happy when the balance in his checkbook has four figures, and they're not evenly divided on the left and right of the decimal point. If the bills are paid and there's enough left over for a new book or a nice dinner I don't have to cook myself, I'm a happy guy. I have everything I need, although I'd be happier with enough in savings in case of a major emergency. Although I sometimes wonder what I'd do if I hit the lottery, I'm not sure it would make me any happier than I am now. 

So, if you happen to be one of those 23.7 millionaires or 902 billionaires, more power to you. I hope all that money makes you happy, and that you don't need to live in a garishly gilded house to feel important.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

P.S. - did you ever wonder what a billion dollars in cash looks like? In the image below, one billion dollars worth of $100 bills is loaded on ten standard cargo pallets, plus a few extra packs that would't equally fit. It would weigh approximately 2,205,000 pounds, or about 1,100 tons, and occupy about 39,600 cubic feet of space.

If you wanted to spend that billion dollars at the rate of one dollar per second, it would take you about 31.7 years ... of course, a profligate multi-billionaire or the federal government can spend a billion dollars at a much faster rate. Not that you or I will ever need to worry about it.

B.