How Bill Gates' Wealth Could Benefit Every Person on Earth

  • Thread starter Thread starter wolram
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Earth
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of Bill Gates' wealth and whether it could be distributed among the global population. Participants explore the fairness of wealth accumulation, the mathematics of wealth distribution, and the ethical considerations surrounding Gates' financial success.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants calculate that if Bill Gates' wealth were shared among the world's population, each person would receive approximately £4.04.
  • Others argue that Gates earned his wealth and did not steal it, suggesting that the perception of unfairness is subjective.
  • There are conflicting calculations regarding the actual amount each person would receive if Gates' wealth were distributed, with some asserting it could be around 7 billion dollars per person.
  • Participants discuss the nature of wealth being tied up in shares and the implications of liquidating such assets.
  • Some express skepticism about the fairness of wealth distribution and the potential economic consequences of distributing large sums to everyone.
  • There is a philosophical discussion about existence and perception, with one participant humorously claiming that others are figments of their imagination.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the fairness of wealth distribution and the ethics of Gates' wealth accumulation. There is no consensus on whether Gates' wealth should be redistributed or on the calculations regarding how much each person would receive.

Contextual Notes

Some calculations presented are based on varying assumptions about population size and the nature of wealth distribution. The discussion includes speculative statements about economic impacts and personal opinions on wealth ethics.

wolram
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Messages
4,411
Reaction score
551
According to an article in the Daily Expreess, if bill gatees' entire wealth was shared amoung the whole worlds population, they would get £4.04 each
 
Physics news on Phys.org
wolram said:
According to an article in the Daily Expreess, if bill gatees' entire wealth was shared amoung the whole worlds population, they would get £4.04 each

But Bill gates doesn't need to do so. Although it may seem unfair that some are extremely rich, its not exactly that they stole the money. They earned it, maybe some of the time not fairly, but acceptable.
 
bull****. Gates has more than 24billion pounds. He gave away 28 billion to charity just last year! (although this is in dollars)

Did I do the math right?

4.04 x 6,000,000,000 (that's six billion right? 9 zeros?) = 24,240,000,000.
 
Oh wait a billion is TWELVE zeros. Right.

Okay well it doesn't really matter. According to forbes he's worth 46 billion dollars. So if he gave away all his money everyone in the world would get roughly 7 billion dollars.

46/6=7.6 reoccuring.

Now, unless the Dollar has plumetted recently 7 billion dollars is still worth more than 4.04 pounds.
 
Bladibla said:
But Bill gates doesn't need to do so. Although it may seem unfair that some are extremely rich, its not exactly that they stole the money. They earned it, maybe some of the time not fairly, but acceptable.

Hmmm, i wonder how many, " earn", this type of money, after all IT and the
internet are a form of addiction.
 
Most of that 46 billion is locked up in shares though. I recently heard that Roman Abramovich the russian owner of chelsea football club has the most cash to spend and that's (only) about 7-8 billion pounds.
 
Smurf said:
Oh wait a billion is TWELVE zeros. Right.
Okay well it doesn't really matter. According to forbes he's worth 46 billion dollars. So if he gave away all his money everyone in the world would get roughly 7 billion dollars.
46/6=7.6 reoccuring.
Now, unless the Dollar has plumetted recently 7 billion dollars is still worth more than 4.04 pounds.
46 billion / 6 billion = 7.6 dollars
how is that 7.6 billion? because its not
?
 
Last edited:
Bill Gates did not "steal" that money? I guess that depends on your definition of steal :smile:

moose, you must remember to ignore smurf while he is doing math (he gets confused easily :smile: )
 
Smurf said:
So if he gave away all his money everyone in the world would get roughly 7 billion dollars.
Wanna try that one again...?

So that's where you get your ideas about economics! :biggrin:
 
  • #10
Yah, 7 dollars each, Smurf. but I like the idea of 28 bn for my family...
 
  • #11
There are only six people in Smurf's world. All the rest of us are just figments of his imagination.
 
  • #12
Andy said:
Most of that 46 billion is locked up in shares though. I recently heard that Roman Abramovich the russian owner of chelsea football club has the most cash to spend and that's (only) about 7-8 billion pounds.

He could, in theory, liquidate all of his net worth, but it would probably take a while and be disastrous to the industries he's invested in.
 
  • #13
moose said:
46 billion / 6 billion = 7.6 dollars
how is that 7.6 billion? because its not
?
You know. I made that mistake all the time in Math 11. You'd think I woulda learned by now.
 
  • #14
I wish I could just drop out of college like he did...
 
  • #15
TheStatutoryApe said:
There are only six people in Smurf's world. All the rest of us are just figments of his imagination.
I don't know who you think you're fooling, but I know everyone here is part of a computer simulation created for my entertainment. I'm the only one on this entire forum who is real.

Prove me wrong.
 
  • #16
russ_watters said:
Prove me wrong.
I think, therefore I am. I know I exist, therefore I exist.

I have just proven my existence. Therefore you are wrong. This proof does not change just because you choose not to believe me. My existence does not depend on your admission of my existence. You are wrong regardless of wether you know it.

The truth is though, I have no way of knowing if *you* exist. Only that I know I do.
 
  • #17
Man... 7 billion dollars... when do i get my fair share...

And what's this BS about stealing. He didn't walk into your houes and take your wallet, you gave it to him. Just because you got reamed and decided you wanted more doesn't mean he steals.
 
  • #18
I just wish i was as smart/sneaky as him to do something similar and make billions of pounds.
 
  • #19
Pengwuino said:
Man... 7 billion dollars... when do i get my fair share...

And what's this BS about stealing. He didn't walk into your houes and take your wallet, you gave it to him. Just because you got reamed and decided you wanted more doesn't mean he steals.

Could you imagine the inflation if everyone in the world got 7 billion


And yes, anyone technically could have done what he did, plus, all of you using microsoft products are helping him :-p (which includes me)
 
  • #20
And just a minor point of clarification here:
mattmns said:
Bill Gates did not "steal" that money? I guess that depends on your definition of steal.
People often say he got his money by stealing it, but it is important to note that Bill Gates has been the richest man in the world since 1993, long before the anti-trust issues that started with Windows 95 and Internet Explorer ('96)(there were rumblings earlier, but nothing came of them).

The only thing he can be reasonably accused of prior to that is some slightly shady ethics in playing the game better than Steve Jobs or Xerox. Jobs gave Microsoft the ideas that became Windows after Xerox gave them to Jobs.
http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/18/cx_ld_0918gates400s.html
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 103 ·
4
Replies
103
Views
26K
  • · Replies 41 ·
2
Replies
41
Views
4K
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
5K
Replies
7
Views
4K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
5K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
7K
Replies
3
Views
5K
  • · Replies 34 ·
2
Replies
34
Views
4K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K