Forget Bitcoin millionaires; Bezos, Gates may become trillionaires
Follow UsIt hasn’t been a week since Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was named the world’s richest when experts started speculating Bezos’ chances of becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
To be honest, Bezos and his Microsoft counterpart, Bill Gates, emerge as the top contenders, as of now.
Bezos is currently worth a whopping $105 bn, thanks to the skyrocketing value of Amazon shares which were reported to have grown by over 60% in the past and by 6.6% in just five days of trading in 2018.
Bezos now stands ahead of Microsoft's Bill Gates who's worth $93.3 billion and stands second on the list (WION)
While Microsoft’s Bill Gates (closely) chases Bezos to becoming the world's richest man again, experts suggest Gates' actual worth to be somewhere near a gigantic $150 bn -- if one takes into account a large chunk of his wealth given away in charity.
Oxfam’s report published around the same time last year predicted the possibility of the world getting its first trillionaire in the next 25 years.
Keeping in mind the pace at which the Gates and the Bezos empire continue to grow, both appear as the top runners in the race to become the first trillionaire.
Twenty-five years hence, Gates would be 86 while his Amazon rival will be 78 years old.
Microsoft’s Bill Gates closely chases Bezos on road to retaining the top billionaire spot again. (Getty)
Others in the run
If Bitcoin trading can materialize the quintessential ‘rags to riches’ tale for the man next door, imagine what fortune its secret founder could be sitting on.
The mystery founder of the cryptocurrency certainly qualifies as the one to own assets worth a trillion dollars in the future.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the mystery man behind the birth of Bitcoin, may stand a chance to become the world’s first trillionaire.
Although Nakamoto is estimated to be sitting on close to $17 billion at present, Nakamoto is likely to rocket up to becoming a trillionaire in years to come -- keeping in view that Bitcoin's value rose by close to 1800% in past.
Thinking of Nakamoto as the world’s first trillionaire would not be preposterous. Who could have really imagined Bitcoin's value to having soared the way it did the previous year? And who can say for certain that the trend won’t repeat itself with a greater intensity in the future?
Bitcoin once amounted to one USD, it then rose to $200 and now equals to a whopping 13777 USD.
As of now, nobody really knows if Nakamoto is actually a living being or a group of people. What we do know is that Nakamoto sits on a whopping 1 million Bitcoins, all untouched so far.
A look at Forbes' list of top billionaires suggests Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's co-founder Larry Page and Alibaba's Jack Ma to hold immense potential to make to the top of the billionaire list soon and emerge as the ultimate trillionaire.
All said and done, anticipation and speculation will have its course of ebb and flow; wealth is subject to change, suddenly and unexpectedly.
When tycoons like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs started their careers over four decades back, who could have ever imagined anything like Bitcoin, right?
The years to come will see magnificent strides in the field of technology, and as entrepreneurs explore newer, uncharted territories -- Jeff Bezos' obsession with space travel and his founding of Blue Origin (a spaceflight manufacturing company) is not unknown -- the run-up to becoming the first trillionaire will only become more interesting, exciting with newer participants joining the run.
In a nutshell, as a Guardian report sums it up, "it may or may not be Jeff Bezos, but when the world does produce its first trillionaire, there is every likelihood that many of us will not simply be admiring, envying or resenting him – we will also be ruled by him."