$1,000,000,000:What $1 Trillion Means These Days

Elon Musk is now the world’s first trillionaire. To put that into perspective, Forbes stacked his fortune up against a variety of economic measures from the size of the defense budget to the cost of milk.

This story was first published on Forbes.com

A trillion dollars is an enormous amount of wealth for any one person to hold. So huge that it’s hard to really fathom. America’s national defense budget is around $1 trillion. So too is federal spending on Medicare, or the GDP of Switzerland or Poland. It’s 1,000 billionaires or 1 million millionaires. It’s equivalent to the combined fortune of 1,000 Dr. Dre’s or 500 Taylor Swifts or roughly 167 Mark Cubans or nearly 10 Bill Gateses. It’s enough to buy 25 million Tesla Model Ys or 77 billion copies of Forbes or 2.5 billion gallons of milk. Looking back in time, one billion seconds ago was October 15, 1994. A trillion seconds was 29,000 B.C., when the Earth was frozen in its last ice age. Size wise, it’s a stack of 100 trillion $1 bills reaching the earth to moon and back 14 times.

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Here are some of the biggest ways $1 trillion could make a difference In America.

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How much every American household would get if $1 trillion was distributed evenly:

$7,500

Based on the number of households in America.

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How many times every American’s total medical debt could be paid off with $1 trillion:

more than 4x

Based on estimates of the total medical debt of Americans.

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How many weekly grocery trips could 
$1 trillion pay for:

5.9 billion

Based on average weekly grocery spending per U.S. household.

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How much of America’s $39 trillion national debt could be paid off with $1 trillion:

2.6%

Based on the U.S. government’s national debt.

Here are some of the ways $1 trillion could help Americans pay the bills associated with raising children.

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The number of childbirths $1 trillion could cover the cost of:

32.1 million

Based on average cost of childbirth in America

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The number of children that could be raised from birth to age 18 with $1 trillion:

4.3 million

Based on average child-rearing costs in Elon Musk’s home state of Texas.

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The number of strollers $1 trillion could buy:

2.5 billion

Based on cost of top rated stroller on Amazon.

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The number of annual nanny salaries $1 trillion could pay:

22.1 million

Based on the average nanny salary in America.

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The number of sets of braces $1 trillion could buy:

200 million

Based on the average cost of braces in America.

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The number of students whose four-year college education 
$1 trillion could fund:

7.7 million

Based on average cost of attending a four-year university in America.