Bill Gates...and money?

Question

I have heard it said that if Bill Gates found a hundred dollar bill on the ground it would not be worth his time to pick it up because he makes more than that.

So, picture him on a football field with nothing but $100. bills on the ground covering the entire field.

And the rules were that he could only pick up one at a time.

Do you think he would do it? If you were him, would you do it?

Explain.

Answer 1

absolutely. a little exercise and a change in daily routine. defiantly.Sounds like fun where do i sign up?

Answer 2

The question is whether or not the opportunity cost of collecting $100 bills laid out over an entire football field is greater than the amount of money Bill Gates makes in the period of time it would take to pick up the bills, assuming no piling of bills.

If we assume the full dimensions of the field (120 x 53.3 yards) can be used, then the number of $100 bills (6.14 x 2.61 inches each) that could be laid out without piling is approximately 517,254, which is about $51,725,400.

If we further assume it takes Bill Gates, or anyone else for that matter, 3 seconds on average to collect each bill with no breaks at all, it would take 1,551,762 seconds to pick up all the $100 bills. That's a little over 431 hours, or about 18 days.

So, if Bill Gates makes more than about $52 million in 18 days, then we have our answer, and this assumes this guy didn't take a break for 18 days while collecting the money!.

Bill Gates owns approximately 25% of the Microsoft fortune, give or take (that's over $50 billion of the $236 billion market cap), so if we assume last year's net income figures of $12.25 billion, then about a quarter of it belongs to Billy Boy, since for the most part Microsoft doesn't give out dividends regularly. That amounts to a little over $3 billion in net income for Billy Boy per year. Even if we assume we cannot use net income, but rely strictly on market cap, then we can safely assume an increase of 7% per annum, since that is the average rate of growth for stocks for the past 200 years. In that case, we still get around $3 billion increase in the holdings of Billy Boy ($50 billion x .07).

In one day, on average, Billy Boy nets more than $8 million ($3 billion / 365). In 3 seconds, that's about $290.

So, the answer is no, he wouldn't do it. The opportunity cost of doing so would be about $190 every 3 seconds. And this is assuming he took no breaks at all.

Answer 3

I think it is better to pay off as much as possible if it is bills like credit cards or anything that you have to pay interest on. You will save money that way in the long run. Better to be broke for a while than drag the payments out longer and pay more interest.

Answer 4

do the math, i'm sure bill could. he would have to bend down and pick up 10,000 bills. can you touch your toes 10000 times? that would be a million. he can concievably make a million in a day talking on the telephone for a while, having lunch, and taking a walk. why would he kill himself over it?

don't make good sense.

EDIT see if it was me, i'd work a deal on it, hire a crew with rakes and a pickup. you need a job? i'll pay minimum

Answer 5

Forget Bill Gates cause I know that I would pick up all that money off the ground even if it took me all day.

And Bill Gates would not do it.

Answer 6

Hello,
Sure i'd do it...
An aweful lot of work with the vacuum cleaner...
Because i would cheat...
Got an extension cord i can borrow???

Answer 7

Go get a vaccum cleaner.

Answer 8

If I were him, I'd let somebody else do it. Like somebody who can't pay their bills.

Answer 9

He'll have someone pick it up for him