David Cheriton
Source of wealth: Google
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare David Cheriton's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
David Cheriton could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 4.5 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, David Cheriton could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 2.0 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
David Cheriton could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 2.9 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 Cheriton could pay for it entirely for 4.0 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
David Cheriton could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 16.7 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of David Cheriton 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 0.4 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries

David Cheriton's fortune is equivalent to 68 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 Cheriton could buy 18,131,568 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 3 trucks to transport them. Although David Cheriton will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
"Professor Billionaire" David Cheriton, who is professor emeritus at Stanford University, made his fortune thanks to an early investment in Google.
Cheriton and Andreas von Bechtolsheim (also now a billionaire) each invested $100,000 in Google when it was just getting started.
The pair cofounded 3 companies: Arista Networks (IPO in 2014), Granite Systems (sold to Cisco in 1996) and Kealia (sold to Sun Microsystems in 2004).
Cheriton resigned from Arista's board in 2014.
Cheriton became chief data center scientist at Juniper Networks after the acquisition of his company Apstra in 2021.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison