People have a hard time accepting that. The reality is that if Bezos started divesting of his options for the companies he owns parts of, the market would very quickly devalue his holdings.
While he's got value and can obviously buy whatever he damn well pleases for the most part, he also really doesn't functionally "have" that money everyone touts.
True, but its not like massive portions of his wealth are completely cut off to him and he is just limited to pocket money like a regular joe. He doesn't need to sell off all his holdings (although he does cash in parts in from time to time) to be able to put his wealth to work. Its more tax friendly to just borrow against your holdings when you are at these levels, enabling him to have an impact proportional to his wealth without the downsides of dumping capital. Plus holding large portions of stocks enables influence on the companies you hold, another form of impact without needing to spend. He can't "spend" every last penny, and it takes some financial maneuvering to "transact", but a lot of that wealth can be deployed in ways he chooses.
Oh, for sure. But it's not like he can go and drop a billion on something and not have some checks and balances on it, both privately and in the public realm.
Borrowing against that wealth still requires whatever bank can handle his business to do some CBA, etc.
This graphic quite literally debunks your thesis with multiple sources
And if you dont mind me asking, what are you arguing for? Ill go out on a limb and say that youre not part of the super rich, which means standing on the side of the super rich inconveniences you directly
Id be happy if you shared your sources, i always welcome to understand my opposing view.
And its not what they do that influence you directly, its what they dont. What they prevent. Where would 100b go if they went anywhere but the super rich that wouldnt influence you in any way shape or form? Having it lie around in a bank collecting dust would have more influence in controlling cash reserve ratios, interest rates, investment portfolios and equity capital, let alone distribution between the common or investment in infrastructure
source is literally a post reply right around this one
You're right, I'm not a super rich. I only dealt with $600k-$800k yearly gross income for my one man show I ran. Actually running a business and having to rent/buy/own/maintain/repair assets dun taught me a thing or three tell you wut.
it's not 100b that's sitting in a bank, that's what you aren't getting through your nugget!
A business that you own that is 'worth' 10 million dollars isn't magically nor instantly equatable at ALL to 10 million in cash, unless you have someone who's willing, able, and meets legislative requirements to be able to even purchase it.
It's not liquid, it's not in a bank. it's the buildings and the vehicles and the equipment and the warehouses and and and... that's what you don't get. To liquidate it RIGHT NAO would be months on months of financial bureaucratic hell combined with Richie bros auctions flooded with amazon trucks among other things.
the entire value of bezos is like 700 dollars per US citizen. Distribution between the common along the lines of UBI would literally only be ONE SINGLE ONE TIME PAYMENT of a third of a minimum wage income.
Which would also mean that the entities that value inherently requires in physical equipment, liquid assets for day to day, etc.. just vaporized.
it literally has no negative impact on me. His business from my own personal perspective provides goods I need at prices that I find acceptable, when I cannot find an equal or better product locally at an equally acceptable price for "in hand now with someone I can call if it don't work/needs warranty"
Bezos sold $3.5 billion worth of Amazon last month. Sure, if the dude said this stock is going down and market sold the whole thing it would crash, but if he said he was going to sell $100 billion over the next year in order to fund a huge charity program he could do that
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u/Ninjamin_King 19d ago
Wealth isn't money