If you have $1.4 billion dollars, why invest it?

GREED!

Can you imagine having to set up 14,000 separate bank accounts?

you don't set up any bank accounts...you have someone do it for you

uh_no wrote:

you don't set up any bank accounts...you have someone do it for you

Wrong; you just keep it in a really big safe in your house.

Get it in quarters. That way no matter if yo happen to have a really crazy robbery go down you can't lose that much...too heavy.

I would just pay for the extra insurance.

It is probably cheaper than getting 14,000 bank accounts.

boredom

"what now?" is what usually happens.

After a certain amount of $, its not about the $, its about the challenge.

averaging 5%/year, that is $70mm/year. After taxes, ~$45. thats an extreme amount of consumption. $1mm/week? Some people could (those whose goal is consumption itself), but most people w/ $40-50mm/year in income would not choose to consume it all. Not unless you decided to buy The Vanderbilt Mansion or something and live in it.

I'd really have to give money away if I had that much. I could make one million dollars last the rest of my life if I wanted, let alone a thousand million.

1) tax

2) investing gives entrepreneurs the capital they need, which will create economic growth.

3) greed/power/prominence

Guppy wrote:

I'd really have to give money away if I had that much. I could make one million dollars last the rest of my life if I wanted, let alone a thousand million.

u think so? depends on your age when you get it--

I would help out a bunch of start-ups that were working on things I was interested in.

It's not like most of these people went from $0 to $1.4 billion etc. overnight. Most got at least a significant portion of their wealth from a period of investing, growing a company etc.. They aren't going to just wake up one day and realize they've hit a predetermined magic mark where all their money goes from what it's in to under their mattress. Certainly a lot of very wealthy people are greedy, but it's not greedy to keep investing money just because you have a lot of it. Finally, for many people their money is not sitting in a checking account. It's tied up in some kind of company etc. (that probably employs people). I would say it would be more irresponsible for most billionaires to stop investing than to continue to invest.

I personally know what I'd do with it. I'd turn it into coins and put it all in a vault somewhere and swim through it on a daily basis.

I'd give it all up for a little more.

McDuck wrote:

I personally know what I'd do with it. I'd turn it into coins and put it all in a vault somewhere and swim through it on a daily basis.

best idea so far

First of all, i'm making the assumption that you're referring to the guy who committed suicide after losing $1.4bn in the Madoff scandal. If that's the case, you need to realize that the money was not all his. It's being reported that he had about $50mm of his own money invested, but the $1.4bn was primarily client money.

Even if you're not referring to this guy, what would you suggest you do with $1,4bn if you had it? Keep it in cash under your bed? I'm not trying to be a jerk. But really, what do you do with it? Put it in a bank? What bank? Where is your money safe? That's a legitimate problem these days, and explains why T-bills have a NEGATIVE yield. Yes, people out there are PAYING the government to take their money, knowing they'll get it back (minus a small fraction) in a few months. Crazy.

heck, I think I would just invest it in gov CDs and get the 5% interest or whatever it is. 1.6 billion could help the country out somewhat and I would still be making plenty to live off just the interest.

I would put in stipulations that the money can't go to the auto industry because I think the UAW union is the most selfish and greedy group of people and have helped bankrupt the industry.

what's a government CD? and what's yielding 5%? Even a 30yr treasury bond (is that what you mean by a gov CD?) is yielding half that.

It's like running. If you have to have it explained to you, then you just don't understand.