Charles Schwab
Source of wealth: Discount brokerage
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Charles Schwab's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Charles Schwab could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 5.7 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Charles Schwab could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 2.5 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Charles Schwab could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 3.7 years.
And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country
But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Charles Schwab could pay for it entirely for 5.0 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Charles Schwab could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 21.2 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Charles Schwab with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.5 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
Charles Schwab's fortune is equivalent to 86 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.
A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.
Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.
Charles Schwab could buy 23,062,528 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!
And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 4 trucks to transport them. Although Charles Schwab will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Charles Schwab is co-chairman and founder of the brokerage firm that bears his name.
The company averages more than 7 million trades per day across 38 million client accounts worth $11 trillion.
Schwab was CEO of the business until 2008 and still owns more than 5% of its stock.
He founded the firm as a traditional brick-and-mortar brokerage in 1971, with $100,000 borrowed from his uncle.
The business really took off when Schwab started charging half of what full-service brokers did, after an SEC deregulation of brokerage commissions.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison