COMICSANDS
percolately
georgetakei
secondnexus
george's picks
American astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson just compared Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's net worth into terms that's totally out of this world.
Bezos made Forbes' annual World's Billionaires list for the first time after becoming $40 billion richer thanks to soaring Amazon stock prices. He's now surpassed runner-up Bill Gates by $22 billion.
To better understand the magnitude of such affluence, Tyson put Bezos' wealth into a perspective he understands best: space.
If dollar bills – with their 6.14 inch length – were laid from end-to-end, then 130-Billion dollars "can circle Earth 200 times then reach the Moon & back 15 times then, with what's left over, circle Earth another 8 times," according to Tyson's tweet on Friday.
Not that anybody asked, but @JeffBezos' 130-Billion dollars, laid end-to-end, can circle Earth 200 times then reach… https://t.co/KU7SNgpW9G— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@Neil deGrasse Tyson) 1526084157.0
@neiltyson @JeffBezos I knew a $130 billion bill was big, but I had no idea it was THAT big.— Darth Hater (@Darth Hater) 1526084413.0
Bezo's significant spike in wealth is driven by Amazon's record-breaking stock surge in the past year.
In a 2016 letter to shareholders, he described his "obsession" with delivering top-notch customer service.
Even when they don't yet know it, customers want something better, and your desire to delight customers will drive you to invent on their behalf. No customer ever asked Amazon to create the Prime membership program, but it sure turns out they wanted it, and I could give you many such examples.
Did Tyson take into consideration Amazon Prime's recent membership hike for his calculation?
Forbes explained how Bezos became the first ever cent-billionaire in their list's 32-year-history.
To get there, Bezos' net worth has increased by $39.2 billion in just 12 months. It's the biggest single-year increase on the Billionaires List this century. Bezos' one-year gain alone comes out to about $5.26 for every living human—enough to buy everybody a cheap wallet on Amazon and a couple quarters to keep in it.
By contrast, this Twitter user's net-worth tally doesn't even come close.
@neiltyson @JeffBezos My net worth literally can’t make it from my couch to the front door.— addison a harris (@addison a harris) 1526084239.0
But some pointed out that Tyson's theory doesn't add up.
I’m going to pull a Neil deGrasse Tyson here, and point out that the motion of the earth, moon, and atmosphere woul… https://t.co/Yu1i4kPRZR— Lisa Daly Lehmann (@Lisa Daly Lehmann) 1526084903.0
@LisaDaly @Carma_2012 Not to mention gravity and the structural integrity of cash as a building medium is , well, n… https://t.co/GPJ9KbS4nR— Steven Swenson (RC) (@Steven Swenson (RC)) 1526107064.0
Let's get technical.
@B_Palafox_ @neiltyson @JeffBezos Literally just asked the same thing. 1s makes it 100x longer...— Frankie (@Frankie) 1526084419.0
Whoa.