Long Scale Billionaires/short Scale Trillionaires
In countries that use the long scale number naming system, a billionaire would have one million million (1,000,000,000,000) units of currency. Under the short scale number naming system, an individual with such a fortune would be a trillionaire. There are no known euro or U.S. dollar trillionaires – in U.S. dollars, such a fortune would be roughly equivalent to the entire 2010 gross domestic product of Mexico. However, some individuals have attained fortunes of over one trillion units in other currencies. According to VnExpress, 9 Vietnamese had stock market assets valued at over one trillion đồng (US$47.5 million) by the end of 2011. According to the Korea Herald, there were 16 Koreans with stock market assets valued at over one trillion won (US$895 million) on March 9, 2012. According to the Jakarta Globe, 116 Indonesians had assets worth over one trillion rupiah (US$117 million) in 2011.
In countries affected by severe hyperinflation, some individuals can become trillionaires as currency units are printed in larger and larger denominations, although in such cases the currency itself quickly becomes virtually worthless.
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Famous quotes containing the words long, scale and/or short:
“The first revolt is against the supreme tyranny of theology, of the phantom of God. As long as we have a master in heaven, we will be slaves on earth.”
—Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876)
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. It is not the part of men, but of fanatics, or of mathematicians, if you will, to say, that, the shortness of life considered, it is not worth caring whether for so short a duration we were sprawling in want, or sitting high. Since our office is with moments, let us husband them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)