Billionaire Math
Tonight, because I love math, and because we've been talking about the "Big Beautiful Bill” quite a bit lately, I thought we could take a look at the state of money in America and how to actually save a few dollars around here. So I figured the best way to do that is find the money pits, aka the 10 richest people in America, and see what a little chump change could do to help the deficit, feed and clothe a few people, and maybe even predict the weather.
So here goes.
The top-ten richest people in America according to the Bloomberg Index as of July 12, 2025--all men--are as follows:
Elon Musk - Tesla, SpaceX, X - $347 billion
Mark Zuckerberg - Meta/Facebook - $258 billion
Larry Ellison - Oracle - $251 billion
Jeff Bezos - Amazon, Blue Origin - $243 billion
Steve Ballmer - Microsoft - $174 billion
Larry Page - Alphabet - $160 billion
Sergey Brin - Alphabet - $150 million
Warren Buffett - Berkshire Hathaway - $144 billion
Jensen Huang - Nvidia - $142 billion
Jim Walton - Walmart - $117.7 billion
Now, I’m going to be kind and leave all these guys with $1 billion to play with for the rest of their lives. With the assumption that they all live to 100 years-old, Warren Buffett, the oldest, can spend $533,333.33 a day and never go broke; whereas poor Mark Zuckerberg, the youngest, can spend only $46,535.44 a day for the rest of his life.
That leaves us with a surplus of $1,976,700,000,000, or $1.9767 trillion. What could we pay for in the U.S. with that kind of money? Well...
$890 billion would fully fund Medicaid
$220 billion would erase all medical debt
$112.8 billion would pay for SNAP (food stamps) for 42 million people
$11 - $30 billion would end homelessness
$12.27 billion would pay for Head Start and early Head Start for 900,000 kids
$7.81 billion would pay for citizenship fees for all 11 million undocumented immigrants
$3.8 billion would fully fund Alzheimer's research
$1.3 billion would fully fund the National Weather Service
$535 million would fully fund Public Media, including PBS and NPR
$262 million would pay off all public school lunch debts
$9.3 million would fully fund all public libraries
And we’d still have $697,913,700,000 left in the bank.
Currently, the Big Beautiful Bill allots $150,273,061,000 for military spending. However, this is $53 billion more than our 2024 expenditure, which was higher than a combined total of the next 9 countries, including China, Russia, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom. Let's say we keep it at a conservative $997 billion (as in 2024) and save that $53 billion for a rainy day.
We'd still have $750,913,700,000 in the bank.
What about ICE and immigration reform? Well, the Big Beautiful Bill wants to spend $81,405,000,000 building detention centers like "Alligator Alcatraz," located in the middle of the Everglades and surrounded by alligators and pythons as a deterrent against escape, or the 1400-acre ranch in Starr County, Texas, gifted to the Trump Administration by Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. This includes $63,808,000,000 given directly to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to last through December 31st, 2029. Their entire operating budget for 2024 was $9.99 billion. Let's say we stick with $10 billion a year--that leaves us with an ICE budget surplus of $1,488,000,000.
We'd still have $752,401,700,000 in the bank.
Now, you may see where I'm going with all this and where I stand on capitalism vs. socialism, blah blah blah. Could be the Biblical camel-through-the-eye-of-a-needle take or "suffer the little children to come unto me." Or it could just be "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." However you want to look at it, I don't know how anyone can spend $46,535.44 every day for the rest of their life and know that 37% of kids in Texas's 19th district (home of Jodey Arrington, author of the "Big Beautiful Bill") are on Medicaid, that 50,000 kids in Palm Beach County (home to Mar-a-Lago) go hungry every day, and 75,000 people live on the streets in Los Angeles County (home to Elon Musk's 6 mansions).
Currently the deficit stands at $1.83 trillion. The Big Beautiful Bill aims to increase that debt anywhere from $3.3 to $5.5 trillion more. It's simple math and simple compassion from the richest men, women, and families in America that could save this country from poverty and greater debt for our children's futures. But in 2024 Elon donated only to Donald Trump's presidential election. Jeff Bezos made significant donations, including $60 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, but then voted for a President who is now making "major cuts" to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as almost all conservation programs, including the National Parks. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan made "significant charitable donations" related to education, health, and scientific research. But then they donated $1 million to the Trump campaign, which has made it their goal to bulldoze public education, and health and science research.
I don't really know where I'm going with all of this; I think I just needed to yell into the void a little and say we have enough money to protect the health and well-being of the citizens and non-citizens of the United States of America, and still have a strong military presence with up-to-date equipment, and safe and normal procedures at the border. It is possible to not be in debt as a nation with common sense and integrity. It is possible to support our own values without denigrating the values of our neighbors. It is possible to stand alongside people who don't look or talk like we do, and still have room for everyone to go to work, feed their families, and sleep under a roof at night.
I leave you with the last words inscribed in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty:
"Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" - Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus
Ellie is an author, editor, and owner of Red Pencil Transcripts, and works with filmmakers, podcasts, and journalists all over the world. She lives with her family just outside of New York City.
Why do people need all that money?
My husband and I are on a fixed income and still manage to spend $100.00 a month on charities, not counting what I donate to whatever charity our local stores are supporting in the checkout line!
You’re next on my list to subscribe to. I’m waiting until my husband’s retirement pay cut kicks in next month to see what we have leftover.
We have 3 grandchildren that we spoil as much as possible and an adult daughter that’s a
NURSE(!) in Alabama that we need to help occasionally. Can you believe it, a NURSE! She barely makes a living wage so if something breaks down she needs help!
I have multiple subscriptions on Substack that’s my personal splurge.
We donate to Unbound, St. Jude, and ACLU.
it makes me nauseous to think of how many people could be helped with even a 10th of their money!
Great post! I believe that tRUMPs moral compass is lower than a snake’s navel.
But is beyond belief that the entire Republican Party is so spineless and corrupt that they sold their constituents down the toilet when they passed the Big Horrible Lie-Filled Bill.
I guess that greed is more motivation than doing the right thing for children, the homeless, the hungry, the poor, or the physically/mentally ill, the elderly. Basically anyone in our society who is vulnerable or has special needs.
So the ultra- wealthy are going to get more money from the government and the poor will lose the most.
What a sad commentary on the state of our country. It’s shameful. This is not the America I want my children and grandchildren to live in.