For the Love of Money: The Day Zuckerberg Earned $1.2 Billion
If you love money and statistics, the Interactive Bloomberg Billionaires, which tracks the daily winnings and losings of the world's 200 richest people, is for you.
Last Thursday, June 12, 2014, was a good day for Sheldon Adelson. He made $440.6 million. That was more than any of the 200 richest people on earth made that day, so it's a good bet that Adelson (world's 13th richest human with a net worth of $34.5 billion) made more money last Thursday than anybody on earth, period.
- Warren Buffett: The U.S. is moving toward plutocracy
- U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson makes Forbes' top 10 billionaires list
- Ten Israelis make list of world’s richest
And since his casinos have a total of 2,350 table games and 13,680 slot machines, it's not hard to figure out how he made that day's pile.
Where does this information come from? Bloomberg Billionaires, an interactive chart on the daily ups and downs of the Upper 200, which also tells you all sorts of interesting tidbits about them. (Adelson is "known to tell people he is the 'richest Jew in the world.'") As of Sunday, the chart had been updated to last Friday, June 13.
And while Friday the 13th ironically brought good news for Sheldon, it lived up to its reputation as far as Carlos Slim (No. 2, worth $68 billion) was concerned: The Mexican with a hand in every enchilada lost $723.7 million the day before, more than anybody else in the 200 Club.
No. 1, Bill Gates ($82 billion) had a good last Thursday – he made $366.2 million. By contrast, Warren Buffett (No. 3 with $64.8 billion) bit the big one, losing $481.5 million. Mark Zuckerberg, Mr. Facebook, made a middling $89.5 million. But go back to the start of the week, to Monday, June 9, and how much did the Zuckman pull in? $1.2 billion. (And Facebook is free. Go figure.)
Here, this is heart-warming: The Koch brothers, Charles (No. 5) and David (No. 6), bankrollers of the American right wing, each made $102.9 million last Thursday. They're each worth $52.5 billion as equal partners in Koch Industries. (So is why is Charles No. 5 and David No. 6? Because "C" for Charles comes before "D" for David? Weak.)
There's one Israeli on the list, Eyal Ofer (No. 192, $7.1 billion), who's got it in shipping and property. (Interesting tidbit: He "carries a string of 33 silver beads, for good health.") Poor guy lost $5.2 million last Thursday.
On the interactive chart, you can track the billionaires' day-to-day winnings and losings going back a couple of years. For instance, if we go back exactly one year, to June 13, 2013, we find that Carlos Slim, instead of being the previous day's biggest loser, was its biggest winner: $1.3 billion! And Warren Buffett had a great day, too: $1.2 billion! It just goes to show you – no matter how bad things may seem now, tomorrow's another day.