David Booth
Source of wealth: Mutual funds
...
...
The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare David Booth's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
David Booth could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 1.2 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, David Booth could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 0.5 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
David Booth could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 0.8 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 David Booth could pay for it entirely for 1.1 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
David Booth could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 4.6 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of David Booth 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 0.1 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
David Booth's fortune is equivalent to 19 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.
David Booth could buy 5,035,074 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 1 trucks to transport them. Although David Booth will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
When David Booth cofounded Dimensional Fund Advisors in 1981, he began a decades-long experiment in applying academic theory to real-world investing.
His former professor Eugene Fama authored the efficient markets hypothesis, which argues that it's impossible to consistently beat the market.
In light of Fama's research, Booth eschewed stock picking and focused on offering investors low-cost, passive mutual funds.
Dimensional manages $777 billion in assets, most of which is steered via hand-vetted financial advisors.
Booth joined the Giving Pledge in 2018, committing to donate at least half of his wealth to charity.
Financial Assets
Financial assets information not available.
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison