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> That's personal wealth, not including assets held by corporations. Are not all assets held by corporations also personal wealth in the form of shares? I'm n

• whack 8y ago
  You're right. The $100B cash held by Apple is already priced into its market cap, which is turn included in the personal wealth of all its investors. If someone were to sum up both personal wealth and corporate assets, they would be double counting. That said, I think wahern's general point is still sound.
  • wahern 8y ago
    I'm no financial expert, but AFAIU the mechanics of securitization mean that we can assume some multiplier greater than 1x. You can borrow against your shares at the same time Apple can borrow against its cash holdings and, ceteris paribus, the end result will be more debt than Apple's cash reserves even after considering a reduction in Apple's stock value. And this debt can be used to buy more assets. (Basically, fractional reserve isn't just a banking thing. It's inherent to the mechanics of capitalist finance.) In addition, the ability to do this enhances capital allocation efficiency, which adds independent value to the entire system. So there's not a simple function mapping corporate wealth to personal wealth, though you certainly can't simply sum corporate-held assets to personal wealth. I'm happy to be corrected for the implication.