Jeff Bezos And Bill Gates Are Richer Than All Of These Countries Combined
If you've ever felt guilty for having more than someone else, this might make you feel better: There are two people in the world whose combined wealth is greater than many of the world's countries combined. Eh, that might not make you feel better after all, but at least you can take comfort in knowing there are far greedier people on the planet.
You're probably familiar with the names of the world's ultra-wealthy at this point — Jeff Bezos, the richest man of all time, is worth $114 billion according to Forbes, while Bill Gates clocks in at $106 billion. What's crazy is that both of them have given away tens of billions of dollars. In the case of Gates, it's mostly gone to charity, and in Bezos' case, mostly to his wife, who CNN says received $38 billion in a divorce settlement earlier this year, making her one of the wealthiest women in the world.
Which countries pale in comparison to the wealth of these men? Well, you can slice the pie many different ways. Fast Company pointed out that in 2018, Bezos was worth more than "Iceland, Tunisia, Jamaica and Estonia combined," and worth more than the GDP of 125 of the world's 195 countries (not combined.)
Gates and Bezos are worth more than most countries
If Gates and Bezos were to combine their wealth, amounting to $220 billion, their worth would rank them as the 52nd richest "country" in the world, right in between New Zealand and Greece, according to Statistics Times.
Individually, Gates would rank between the GDP of Puerto Rico and Ecuador, which take in around $104 and $108 billion annually while Bezos would sit amidst the Slovak Republic and Morocco, at $112 and $122 billion respectively.
So, these two men have more money than about two-thirds of the countries of the world. Add a few more billionaires and they would be among the top 20 richest. But that's from a broad perspective — individual facts really drive home how crazy this is. For example, The Guardian reports that just 1 percent of Bezos' wealth is equivalent to the entire health budget of Ethiopia, a country with more than 105 million inhabitants. Pony up, Bezos.