What If all billionaires died?

[Dimensional Traveler]

This is an admittedly strange WI that came to me in the middle of the
night but I still think is an interesting idea. What if, within 24
hours of becoming a billionaire, that person dropped dead.

John D. Rockefeller appears to be credited as the world's first
billionaire (in US$) in 1916 so we can assume no change until the early
20th century. Barring something like the ex-billionaire's body
immediately turning bright green or something how long do you think it
would take for people to realize the connection?

I think there would be significant differences in economies (obviously)
and politics but what kinds of differences and what other parts of
recent history would diverge? So what kind of changes do you think
there would be with no Koch brothers or Warren Buffett, no Elon Musk or
Jeff Bezos, no Bill Gates, etc.? Did the "self-made" ones make a bigger
difference before they succeeded or after?

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

[Louis Epstein]

Hmmm...I think hectomillionaires would be lobbying heavily
to issue a new currency where the old dollar equalled a new cent...

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

[trolidous]

Does everyone die if they hold Zimbabwean bank notes
from around 2010?

I am reminded of that story from some while back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottle_Imp

[Rich Rostrom]

On 1/12/24 10:16 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> This is an admittedly strange WI that came to me in the middle of the
> night but I still think is an interesting idea.  What if, within 24
> hours of becoming a billionaire, that person dropped dead.
>
> John D. Rockefeller appears to be credited as the world's first
> billionaire (in US$) in 1916 so we can assume no change until the early
> 20th century.  Barring something like the ex-billionaire's body
> immediately turning bright green or something how long do you think it
> would take for people to realize the connection?

How long does it take, what are the symptoms?

Also - very few people have $1B in cash (even including bank accounts).
Generally speaking, very rich people have stock in corporations, the
value of which varies continually. Also real estate, collectibles,
other types of securities. "Net worth" is usually an approximation. In
many cases, the value of assets is ambiguous, especially if the asset is
illiquid. The value that could be raised by a deliberate sale might be
much greater than in the course of hasty liquidation.

There are also issues of exchange rates and inflation. So who or what
does the calculation? What currency is the benchmark?

All sort of oddities are possible. For example, a man concludes a deal
which increases his worth to over $1B, and then dies, leaving his
greater than $1B fortune to a relative, who dies also, leaving the
fortune to another relative, who promptly dies too - a domino effect
which continues until someone has a will dividing the fortune between
several or leaves it to a foundation or endowment.

> I think there would be significant differences in economies (obviously)
> and politics but what kinds of differences and what other parts of
> recent history would diverge?

Someone will eventually notice. When that happens, history goes
way off the rails because God or somebody is visibly intervening in
the world. The theological and philosophical implications of that
dwarf the economic impact.

--
Nous sommes dans une pot de chambre, et nous y serons emmerdés.
--- General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot at Sedan, 1870.

[Rich Rostrom]

On 1/24/24 3:19 AM, trolidous wrote:
> Does everyone die if they hold Zimbabwean bank notes
> from around 2010?

Did the entire adult population of Germany die in 1923?

[The Horny Goat]

On Wed, 24 Jan 2024 01:19:55 -0800, trolidous <trol...@go.com>
wrote:

I'd be dead for sure since my father had a good selection of 1923
German hyperinflation stamps in his stamp collection which I inherited
on his passing.....(from your description it sounds like we're talking
about the same thing)

[trolidous]

On 1/24/24 16:03, Rich Rostrom wrote:
> On 1/24/24 3:19 AM, trolidous wrote:
>> Does everyone die if they hold Zimbabwean bank notes
>> from around 2010?
>
> Did the entire adult population of Germany die in 1923?

It does look like Germany in 1923 and Hungary after WWII
had similar devaluations of currency.

If you have over a billion units of it, well who knows.