3 ms·

> 3. Musk is still the wealthiest human on the planet (in history? I expect in nominal terms he's the wealthiest in history). John D. Rockefeller would like to

> 3. Musk is still the wealthiest human on the planet (in history? I expect in nominal terms he's the wealthiest in history). John D. Rockefeller would like to have a word if we're talking about Americans, as would Carnegie and Vanderbilt: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_richest_Americans_in_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_richest_Americans_in_h... Internationally: Augustus Caesar, Emperor Shenzong, Akbar I: * https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3197600/10-richest-people-who-ever-lived-net-worths-ranked-elon-musk-and-jeff-bezos-dont-come-close-genghis https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/31976...

anonymouskimmer 3y ago
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to refer to heads of state as having the wealth of the state. Musk can effectively spend all of his wealth if he chooses to (after paying his debts). Heads of state really can't, except on the state itself. Not even absolute monarchs.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > doesn't make a whole lot of sense to refer to heads of state as having the wealth of the state Caesar Augustus was personally very, very rich. The British Crown has, similarly, its own private assets.
  - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
    The British Crown is barely a billionaire. Augustus may have been independently wealthy, I'm just saying don't attribute the wealth of the state to him as well.
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > British Crown is barely a billionaire I'm using the Crown to illustrate the difference between the personal assets of a head of state and the assets of their state. > just saying don't attribute the wealth of the state to him as well The SCMP article you're responding to makes it clear they aren't doing this.
      - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
        Sort of. But they're also trying to convert percentages of much poorer and much smaller empires of yore into percentages of today's GWP.
    - dragonwriter 3y ago
      > The British Crown is barely a billionaire. The Crown is a billionaire many, many times over. The monarch as an individual may or may not be "barely a billionaire", depending on how you look at things.
      - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
        I thought it was only in the mid 10 figures, but it does appear to be 11 figures.
- defrost 3y ago
  Your reply wouldn't make any sense to Octavian (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus) whose lifetime was marked by frequent episodes of intercepting state funds and adding them to the already stupendous coffers of his family fortunes and using those to divert state armies to his own personal power plays. As a time traveller you'd have little chance of making your case to Octavian, Divi filius (aka "son of a god") that he was bound by some modern rules applied to mere "heads of state".
  - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
    As a time traveler I'm fine. Because in those time travel fantasies I've already ascended to godhood on the Prime Material Plane, and am time-travel gating to Rome in a bolt of lightning during the Flavian era 6 months or so before the eruption of mount Vesuvius to order the Senate and Legions to take action to relocate the inhabitants of Pompeii. (Seriously, I almost never think of the Roman Empire unless prompted to do so by others, but this is a genuine daydream of mine.)
- rsynnott 3y ago
  Roman leaders were often grifters, and Octavian was a particularly notable example. Cash for favours, absolutely massive embezzlement… he did pretty well for himself; it wasn’t the state’s wealth, at least not after he’d stolen it.
- Volundr 3y ago
  > Musk can effectively spend all of his wealth if he chooses to Ehhh kind of. Within certain limits he can liquidate all his stocks and other assets, sure, but unless done over a very long period of time what he winds up with at the end is far less than his theoretical wealth. And even done over a long period of time probably. There isn't actually the demand on the market to liquidate all his assets at the susposed market value, and Elon dumping assets would further reduce said demand.
  - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
    I'm just saying that there aren't state powers that would literally stab him in the back to prevent him from doing so. Even Stalin would have had a quick death if he tried to spend the entire wealth of the USSR on himself.
- throw0101b 3y ago
  > It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to refer to heads of state as having the wealth of the state. "L'État, c'est moi." * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27État,_c%27est_moi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27État,_c%27est_moi

anonymouskimmer 3y ago

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to refer to heads of state as having the wealth of the state. Musk can effectively spend all of his wealth if he chooses to (after paying his debts). Heads of state really can't, except on the state itself. Not even absolute monarchs.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> doesn't make a whole lot of sense to refer to heads of state as having the wealth of the state Caesar Augustus was personally very, very rich. The British Crown has, similarly, its own private assets.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  The British Crown is barely a billionaire. Augustus may have been independently wealthy, I'm just saying don't attribute the wealth of the state to him as well.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > British Crown is barely a billionaire I'm using the Crown to illustrate the difference between the personal assets of a head of state and the assets of their state. > just saying don't attribute the wealth of the state to him as well The SCMP article you're responding to makes it clear they aren't doing this.
    - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
      Sort of. But they're also trying to convert percentages of much poorer and much smaller empires of yore into percentages of today's GWP.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    > The British Crown is barely a billionaire. The Crown is a billionaire many, many times over. The monarch as an individual may or may not be "barely a billionaire", depending on how you look at things.
    - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
      I thought it was only in the mid 10 figures, but it does appear to be 11 figures.
defrost 3y ago
Your reply wouldn't make any sense to Octavian (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus) whose lifetime was marked by frequent episodes of intercepting state funds and adding them to the already stupendous coffers of his family fortunes and using those to divert state armies to his own personal power plays. As a time traveller you'd have little chance of making your case to Octavian, Divi filius (aka "son of a god") that he was bound by some modern rules applied to mere "heads of state".
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  As a time traveler I'm fine. Because in those time travel fantasies I've already ascended to godhood on the Prime Material Plane, and am time-travel gating to Rome in a bolt of lightning during the Flavian era 6 months or so before the eruption of mount Vesuvius to order the Senate and Legions to take action to relocate the inhabitants of Pompeii. (Seriously, I almost never think of the Roman Empire unless prompted to do so by others, but this is a genuine daydream of mine.)
rsynnott 3y ago
Roman leaders were often grifters, and Octavian was a particularly notable example. Cash for favours, absolutely massive embezzlement… he did pretty well for himself; it wasn’t the state’s wealth, at least not after he’d stolen it.
Volundr 3y ago
> Musk can effectively spend all of his wealth if he chooses to Ehhh kind of. Within certain limits he can liquidate all his stocks and other assets, sure, but unless done over a very long period of time what he winds up with at the end is far less than his theoretical wealth. And even done over a long period of time probably. There isn't actually the demand on the market to liquidate all his assets at the susposed market value, and Elon dumping assets would further reduce said demand.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  I'm just saying that there aren't state powers that would literally stab him in the back to prevent him from doing so. Even Stalin would have had a quick death if he tried to spend the entire wealth of the USSR on himself.
throw0101b 3y ago
> It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to refer to heads of state as having the wealth of the state. "L'État, c'est moi." * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27État,_c%27est_moi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27État,_c%27est_moi