return2ozma@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world · 21 days agoWhat are your thoughts on billionaires?message-squaremessage-square137fedilinkarrow-up11arrow-down10
arrow-up11arrow-down1message-squareWhat are your thoughts on billionaires?return2ozma@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world · 21 days agomessage-square137fedilink
minus-squarejordanlund@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkarrow-up0·21 days agoIn terms of scale, from the person at the top making xxx times the person at the bottom, they’ve likely always been around. “Robber Baron” is the ye olde term. Google tells me John D. Rockefeller peaked at around $1.4 billion in 1937. 1.5% of US GDP. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47167 The average wage in 1937 was $890 a year. https://time.com/archive/6760420/personnel-above-average/ So Rockefeller, at his death, had amassed as much wealth as 1,573,034 average people would earn in a year. In order to hit 1.5% of current US GDP (27.36 trillion), Bezos or Musk would have to hit 410.4 billion. That’s how wealthy Rockefeller was. 1.2 Musks. 2 Bezoses.
In terms of scale, from the person at the top making xxx times the person at the bottom, they’ve likely always been around.
“Robber Baron” is the ye olde term.
Google tells me John D. Rockefeller peaked at around $1.4 billion in 1937. 1.5% of US GDP.
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47167
The average wage in 1937 was $890 a year.
https://time.com/archive/6760420/personnel-above-average/
So Rockefeller, at his death, had amassed as much wealth as 1,573,034 average people would earn in a year.
In order to hit 1.5% of current US GDP (27.36 trillion), Bezos or Musk would have to hit 410.4 billion. That’s how wealthy Rockefeller was.
1.2 Musks. 2 Bezoses.