Reading lists of the richest people in the world can be fun if only to just imagine what it would be like to have that kind of money. Currently, the richest American atop the list is Bill Gates, who has approximately $56 billion (this number can change quickly, though, due to much of that money being tied up in stocks). Many variables come into play when trying to predict when there will be a trillionaire among us, including “inflation, tax rates, and overall economic growth.” If the inflation rate stays at 3% every year, and the richest man in the world were to stay at the value Gates currently holds (it should be noted that Gates is not the world’s richest man, as that title is currently held by Carlos Slim Helu, but the article uses Gates as the standard for this calculation), it will take 98 years for someone to amass $1 trillion. As the article points out, though, the world’s first billionaire is likely to come from a country other than the U.S. The conditions that would most likely bring about a trillionaire are low tax rates, minimal business regulations, and high growth rates which would all allow for greater wealth concentration. Given those conditions, it is certainly plausible that someone could become a trillionaire before the next century.

These guys must be looking on in envy.

Source: Slate