A dying friend gives you a handheld machine that will turn sand into diamonds in 15 minutes. What do you do?

Question

Other stuff:

* The machine is one of a kind and will produce a high quality 5 carat diamond from common sand every 15 minutes.

* You can't sell or give away the machine or it's technology. You are free to sell all the diamonds it produces.

* A reporter is on to you. You will be the subject of a front cover Time Magazine story in one week.

Again, what do you do?

Keep this in mind:

"You WILL be the subject of a front cover Time Magazine story in one week."

Someone is getting close.

Answer 1

I have to kill the reporter. If word gets out that a diamond machine so exists, every government agency, mob boss and petty crook will be gunning for me... it's far easier to kill the reporter and get it over with. Luckily a skilled professional hitman is likely to accept payment in 40 million dollars worth of diamonds... no questions asked where they came from. He'd just as soon assume they were stolen and that's why I don't want him looking into it. Heck, with a week's time it would be little task to hire a team to destroy the whole Time Magazine headquarters... just blame it on Al Queda.

I also have to make certain that I don't produce too many diamonds else the government agencies will catch onto the fact that my bank account inexplicably grew by 8 million dollars overnight, so I devise a scheme to launder the diamonds for cash and hide it all in offshore banks unfriendly to American agencies snooping around. (likely Venezuela or France) That way I can stockpile my wealth without being accused of drug dealing or weapons smuggling or something.

I have to not be very greedy about it too.. I would only produce a few billion dollars worth of diamonds at first, then profit off of those in waves. I have to make it look like I own an actual business and cover my tracks to dispense with suspicion. I have to foster some rags to riches success story that will dazzle the papers... like "investor buys coal mine, finds diamonds" and become the world's luckiest man... do the talk show circuit.

Then... once I have amassed enough wealth from laundering the diamonds... I screw over the whole market by overproducing them as I expressly avoided doing before. I run into ghettos with huge sacks of them throwing them to homeless people, donate massive crates to optical laboratories and drilling companies, give tons to charities, political campaigns, etc and have that massive amount written off for taxes... and never have to pay them again for the rest of my natural born life.

Then I just keep flooding and flooding the markets until diamonds become about as worthless as sand, and benefit the world purely for their asthetic qualities and practical applications rather than their value. Yuppie housewives worldwide would shriek at their husbands now that diamond necklaces cost 99 cents and all their old jewelry needs replacement to keep up with the Jones' wife... and the ruby and emerald suddenly becomes more desireable for wearing than the "common" diamond... since we want most the things we can't have and only others do.

Ultimately I would turn diamonds into a common thing just to watch the rich people who stockpiled them before weep when they saw poor people wear them.

Answer 2

This obviously not real but I would destroy the machine and throw all the diamonds into the ocean. Then they can't write a story on me and I can say I had no clue. Of course I wouldn't have diamonds any more, but eventually some one would ask where I'm getting all of these diamonds. Yup that is what I would do. Even if the gift was from a friend, it doesn't mean I don't care.

Answer 3

I would create diamonds every 15 minutes for a month. I would then move in the middle of the night. Then I would start an online store and sell the diamondsat 20% off of it's appraised price and be RICH and be long gone from the reporter as well!

Answer 4

Probably seek legal advice. If the friend gave it to me of his own free will and there were witnesses (such as doctors and nurses) there to prove it, then I would probably retain the right to the machine. By the time the week was up and the public became aware of the machine's capabilities, I would probably have been able to make and sell enough diamonds to protect myself against anyone wanting to steal the machine (you did not specify in your scenario that it was impossible to steal or destroy the machine). After I'd made sure I was safe on all fronts, I'd settle down and enjoy the money.

Answer 5

I would use the machine to make diamonds to sell to people. Then I would use the money to treat my friend like royalty. It would provide contstant money for us, so I would have to take them on a jet, help them accomplish all their life goals, then spend every moment possible with them until their death. After they die, I would provide for their family and pay for the funeral. Still after, I would use the money to split between charities, sometimes treating myself out. Then after awhile I would hide the machine, only to use it in emergencies for a couple of weeks, allowing it to produce diamonds still. I would ditch the reporter and hide out until it dies down.

Answer 6

Go off to a deserted Island with a private plane and produce as many diamonds as you want. Then come back to the US and sell them.

Answer 7

Hmm. I would move to a far away country and sell diamonds as a living. If the reporter chases me, I would move once again in a more remote place.

Answer 8

First tell the dying friend thank you, and let them know how much you will miss them. Deal with the diamonds after the friend is gone. Then enjoy the rewardds selling the diamonds.

Answer 9

Pay off the reporter in diamonds, of course!

Answer 10

Make a bunch of diamonds, sell them and take my friend on a kick-a** holiday for as long as they want, buying them anything their hearts desire and hiring a nurse, massage therapist and any other creature comfort I can get for my ultra-generous bud.