Fred Ehrsam
Source of wealth: cryptocurrency exchange
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Fred Ehrsam's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Fred Ehrsam 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, Fred Ehrsam 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
Fred Ehrsam 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 Fred Ehrsam could pay for it entirely for 1.0 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Fred Ehrsam could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 4.4 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Fred Ehrsam 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
Fred Ehrsam's fortune is equivalent to 18 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.
Fred Ehrsam could buy 4,744,638 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 Fred Ehrsam will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Fred Ehrsam founded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012 with Brian Armstrong. It has since grown into the largest U.S. crypto brokerage.
Ehrsam left the company in 2017 but remains on the board and still owns about 4% of its stock; Coinbase went public in 2021.
In 2018, he cofounded Paradigm, a cryptocurrency investment firm with more than $8 billion in assets.
Ehrsam graduated from Duke and worked as a foreign exchange trader at Goldman Sachs for two years before starting Coinbase.
Growing up, he played thousands of hours of World of Warcraft, where he first learned about the concept of in-game digital currencies.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison