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> I think most people don't realize just how much money the richest people have. And yet, there was a time when the richest were significantly richer than they
by brandonmenc 9y ago
> I think most people don't realize just how much money the richest people have.
And yet, there was a time when the richest were significantly richer than they are now.
Adjusted for inflation, Rockefeller was worth at least four times as much as Bezos is.
- maerF0x0 9y agocould you source that claim please?
- lodi 9y agoFirst result for "rockefeller net worth": https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlodonnell/2014/07/11/the-rockefellers-the-legacy-of-historys-richest-man/#727cdd703c26 https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlodonnell/2014/07/11/the-roc... ($340B in 2017 USD)
- kens 9y agoThat source says that Rockefeller's net worth was $30 billion in current (2014) dollars. The $340 billion figure is from a semi-nonsensical calculation that is popular because it yields eye-popping large numbers. They figured Rockefeller's assets equaled 1.5% of the US GDP at the time. And 1.5% of the current GDP would be about $340 billion dollars. But assets as a fraction of GDP is not very meaningful. It's like saying if I moved to a country with a small GDP such as Samoa I'd be richer than Bill Gates. In effect, the $340B Rockefeller number is big because the US economy has grown. The worst part is many websites often confuse the scaled-GDP numbers with constant-dollar numbers, resulting in much confusion.
- brandonmenc 9y agoForbes and Fortune, both of which are cited by Wikipedia. A commenter further down questions their methodology. Honest question - can anyone refute the claim that it is currently not the point in time when the largest share of wealth is in the smallest number of hands?