4 years ago

Is Jeff Bezos on course to become the world’s first trillionaire?

world's first trillionaire

The journo’s of the world are agag . . . . .

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos increased his personal fortune by $13B (that’s B for billion) in a single day.

Not too shabby for a day's work. He’s now worth over $189B.

That's according to somebody’s estimate. They’re almostly definitely wrong.

And it's also admittedly a long way from making him the world's first trillionaire.

But when you stop to think how old he is, and how many years it took him to get there . . . .

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. . . . I wouldn't bet against it.

I doubt anybody . . . . least of all Jeff Bezos . . . . really knows how much Jeff Bezos is worth.

I guarantee you . . . .

Jeff Bezos wastes not a nanosecond of his time thinking about how much he’s worth . . . .

Or whether he's got more dough than Bill Gates, or Warren Buffett, or Elon Musk . . . . 

His fortune is now enough to buy all four of the UK’s top banks, with enough spare change to also buy British Airways and Sainsbury’s. It exceeds the GDP of several not-so-small countries (for example, the Ukraine).

Well, Oooh-Weeee, that'll allow him to buy a few rounds for his mates on Friday night, eh?

One writer for the Guardian is clearly not happy with this. He’s interviewed people at Oxfam, who used words like “obscene” and “shocking” to describe the Bezos pile.

People, people!

It’s just a number.

It’s just a freakin' number.

A measure. That’s it. How can a number be obscene or shocking?

That’s not the point! you scream. It’s what that number represents!

WHY? What does that number represent?

Most, I expect, will answer with some variation of:

He's ripped off the rest of us hard-working folk, probably with the collusion of governments! 

He’s STOLEN from us!

Precisely WRONGO

On many levels.

It’s wrong, because it’s based on Zero-Sum Thinking

There’s only so much food on the table, doncha know? If I’m going hungry while someone else is stuffing himself silly, then’s he’s taken my food from me. What other explanation could there possibly be?

Kinda obvious, innit?

I mean, We’ve all sat at tables. Thanksgiving. Christmas Day.

Even when it was GROANING under the weight, there was only  SOOOOO much food on the table. Because the table was only SOOOOO big.

That means there's only ever SOOOOO much stuff to go around, right?

It's true of tables of food.

It's true of cash. And true of anything finite, eg cash flow.

Not True in The LEAST of human potential.

Or of the potential value that you can create with your Lifeforce and Energy.

That, dear friend, is INFINITE.

In fact, while Zero-Sum might be true for a table of food, it's not actually true of food.

Incredible as it may seem, the human race has had the potential to produce WAAAAAY more food that we need to keep everyone well fed for several decades now.

And our food production capacity is growing leaps and bounds as time marches on.

(Want some proof? See here.)

The explanation for Jeff Bezos’ seemingly obscene fortune (which I don’t think is obscene in the least) is . . . .

He’s learned some stuff, experimented with some stuff, and gone on some adventures . . . . that the rest of us haven’t.

He's asked (and continues to ask) questions that the rest of us just couldn't be bothered to ask!

He’s found answers! And then he asks progressively better and better questions.

The question WE should be asking about Señor Bezos record-setting payday is:

What lessons, what adventures, what questions . . . . does that figure of $189B represent?

Am I willing to learn the same lessons, go on the same adventures, ask the same questions?
If I'm not . . . .  whose fault is THAT?

Don’t blame Jeff.

Look YOURSELF in the eye.

Zero-sum thinking is your worst enemy.

(Photo credit: Sharon McCutcheon, via Unsplash)

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