Very few of us can comprehend what it’s like to be uber-wealthy like Mike Bloomberg, one of the richest people in the world and a Democratic presidential candidate.
For example, the former New York mayor spent $11 million of his own money on a 60-second Super Bowl ad. How much money would that mean to you? Let’s put the finances of the ultra-rich into the context of everyday life.
First, what’s your net worth?
You can calculate this by adding up all of your family’s assets (e.g., your house, stocks and bonds, savings, retirement accounts) and subtracting your debts (e.g., mortgage, car loans, credit card debt, student loans). The median net-worth of an American household is $97,300.
Now, let’s compare.
Bloomberg is running an ad-driven presidential campaign. He has already spent more than $250 million of his own money on television and online ads since entering the race in November.
Bloomberg, a business mogul, had an estimated net worth of $60.5 billion as of Jan. 29, according to Forbes.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, is the richest man in the world. His estimated net worth was $115.2 billion as of Jan. 29.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, physician Miriam Adelson, are among the biggest donors to the Republican Party. The casino executive’s estimated worth was $38.2 billion. Miriam Adelson was not ranked in the Forbes top billionaires list.
Over the past decade, we’ve seen an intense concentration of spending on U.S. politics by a tiny group of wealthy donors like Bloomberg and the Adelsons. It’s a bipartisan trend.
Steyer, a hedge fund executive and one of the biggest Democratic donors, is largely self-funding his 2020 presidential campaign. In 2019, Forbes estimated Steyer’s net worth at $1.6 billion.
Now, feel free to explore. How do your finances compare with those of the richest people in the world?
About this story
The net worth calculator uses data from the federal Survey of Consumer Finances, using 2016 dollars. The estimated net worth for individuals listed in this story comes from Forbes, mainly data captured on Jan. 29 on The World’s Billionaires list. Spending data were compiled from Advertising Analytics, the Federal Election Commission and news reports. The costs for each item listed in the net worth comparison are based on their publicly available retail prices.
Images used in photo illustrations by Jonathan Newton (Post), Pablo Martinez Monsivais (AP), Win McNamee (Getty), Andrew Harnik (AP), Nati Harnik (AP), Meg Kinnard (AP), Mary Altaffer (AP), Maria Alejandra Cardona (Reuters), Keith Tsuji (Getty), Paul Morigi (Getty via Bloomberg), Houston Cofield (Bloomberg), Christophe Morin (Bloomberg), Susana Gonzalez (Bloomberg), Eric Risberg (AP), Brendan Smialovski (AFP via Getty), Jeff. Chu (AP), Kelly Sullivan (Getty), Miguel Riopa (AFP via Getty)
