If The World's Richest Paid for Govt Spending — Mukesh Ambani Can Sustain India For 20 Days, Jack Ma Can Fund China For 4 Days
A hypothetical assessment on how long the nations could survive if their day-to-day expenditures were borne only by the country's richest individual.
Washington, Feb 13: India's richest individual — Mukesh Ambani — with a total wealth of US $40.3 billion, could sustain the expenditure of Indian government for 20 days, said the Robin Hood Index report released by Bloomberg. China's top industrialist Jack Ma, on the other hand, could sustain the functioning cost of his nation for only four days, the report added.
The index took into assessment the wealth of 49 richest individuals of the world, each with differing nationality, and compared it to the per day expenditure cost incurred by the respective governments of their nations.
The wealth of the richest individuals were based upon an estimate of their net-worth by December-end 2017. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the International Monetary Fund's statistics were used as the fundamental elements for the research.
How long will the governments last if only the nation's most richest person were to fund it?
The net worth of Jeff Bezos - $99 billion - could sustain the government costs of the United States of America for five days.
Hugh Grosvenor of UK and Dieter Schwarz of Germany could also bear the expenditure costs of running their respective governments for five days each.
Carlos Slim of Mexico, with total wealth of $62.8 billion could fund Mexico's day-to-day operations for 82 days.
Li-Ka Shing of Hong Kong, with net worth of $34.7 billion, could sustain the expenditure of Hong Kong for 191 days.
Italy's Giovanni Ferraro & Family ($24.5 billion) could run the government for a total of 9 days.
France's Bernard Arnault, with total net worth of $63.5 billion, could sustain the government's expenditure for 15 days.
The maximum period for which a nation's day-to-day cost could be borne is 441 days, by Cyprus's richest man, John Fredriksen, whose net worth is $10 billion.
The Robert Hood Index report concludes with the fact that the 49 richest individuals on the planet could hypothetically make more optimum use of their wealth if it is to be used for governing the 49 nations in an accumulated manner. Their combined total net worth amounts to a mammoth $911 billion.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 13, 2018 07:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).