Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world with a staggering net worth of over $100 billion. That kind of money is almost impossible to visualize and comprehend. With billions at your disposal, the possibilities for how to spend it are endless. Here are just some of the ways you could drop $100 billion if you had Bill Gates’ fortune.
Luxury Homes and Properties
One of the first things billionaires invest in is an impressive portfolio of luxury residential real estate. Bill Gates already owns a 66,000-square-foot mansion in Medina, Washington valued at over $130 million. But if you were in control of his money, you could take things to the next level with even more lavish properties around the world.
For starters, every billionaire needs an impressive primary residence. For $100-200 million you could purchase a penthouse in New York City overlooking Central Park, a seaside mansion in the Hamptons, a ski chalet in Aspen, or an entire luxury apartment building. For utmost privacy and seclusion, spend up to $500 million to buy your own private island in the Caribbean, complete with a massive villa, dock, helicopter pad, and whatever amenities you desire.
In addition to your primary homes, you could acquire a portfolio of luxury vacation properties to enjoy. Pick up a villa on Italy’s Amalfi Coast for $50 million, a private chateau in France for $75 million, a luxury lodge in Jackson Hole for skiing, and a seaside estate in Hawaii. For the ultimate billionaire trophy property, spend $1 billion to construct your own lavish version of Hearst Castle, with dozens of bedrooms, pools, tennis courts, theaters, and other extravagant features.
Owning an array of luxury real estate across the globe lets you travel in comfort and style. And when money is no object, you can continually upgrade to even more spectacular properties anytime you want. The possibilities for luxury living are endless when you have Bill Gates money.
Private Jets and Yachts
Of course, to travel between all those homes in maximum comfort, you’ll need private transportation. No billionaire’s lifestyle is complete without a private jet and yacht.
Bill Gates already owns a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express private jet, but for $100 billion you could upgrade to a larger, longer-range Gulfstream G650ER, considered one of the most luxurious private jets money can buy. For ultimate aviation luxury, spend $200 million to acquire a Boeing 767 or Airbus Corporate Jetliner customized to your personal specifications, including bedrooms, bathrooms, conference rooms, and anything else you desire. You’ll also want to pick up a few helicopters for shorter private flights.
When it comes to yachts, the sky is the limit. For $400 million you could purchase a 300-foot superyacht with luxe amenities like swimming pools, spas, helipads, and movie theaters. Or spend upward of $600 million for a custom-built 400+ foot megayacht with extravagant features rivaling a luxury cruise ship. Given how much time billionaires spend on yachts entertaining friends, conducting business, or just relaxing onboard, owning the biggest and best yachts is a must.
With your own private air and sea fleet, you can travel the world in total comfort, privacy, and style, avoiding the hassles of normal flying or boating. Never waste time in airports or deal with crowded, noisy flights again.
Exotic Car Collection
A vast collection of exotic luxury automobiles may be one of the most stereotypical purchases billionaires make. But when money is no object, assembling a garage full of multi-million dollar hypercars and vintage classics is an obvious temptation.
A good starting point is acquiring all of the latest models from top luxury brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, and more. Get them in every color and configuration available. Then expand your collection with vintage rarities auctioned at Pebble Beach and elsewhere, like 1950s Ferrari race cars worth $50 million or more.
For the modern supercar enthusiast, make sure to acquire hypercar legends like the Bugatti Chiron and Koenigsegg Agera RS. Custom order unique color and trim specifications are only offered to the world’s elite buyers. For the ultimate in exclusivity, work directly with manufacturers like McLaren to develop your own custom-built hypercar, personalized exactly to your specifications for $10 million or more.
Store your collection across several lavish facilities – an air-conditioned showroom, a racing garage, and a restoration, and detailing workshop – with expert technicians on staff to keep your cars in flawless condition. With billions in the bank, your exotic car obsession can know no limits.
Private Pop Culture Experiences
When you have endless cash reserves, you can turn your favorite pop culture obsessions – like music, movies, sports, or video games – into over-the-top private experiences.
Some ideas: For a die-hard Star Wars fan, pay for your own private screening of the next new film in the franchise, then host a massive costume party on a studio backlot recreating locations like the Death Star, Jabba’s Palace, or the cantina. If you love the finer things, pay for etiquette classes and ballroom dance lessons with the casts of Downton Abbey or Bridgerton. Organize epic paintball or laser tag events and invite your favorite actors from action movie franchises to participate. Hire the LA Philharmonic or New York Philharmonic to give a private classical music performance of your favorite symphonies in your personal concert hall. Throw a celebrity chef cook-off competition and invite Gordon Ramsay, Nobu Matsuhisa, and other stars to participate. The possibilities to turn entertainment into exclusive experiences are infinite when you’re a billionaire.
Jewelry and Fashion
For luxury goods billionaires, no outfit or ensemble is complete without designer clothing and accessories adorned with precious metals, gems, and jewelry.
Couture fashion houses like Dior, Chanel, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and more will happily craft completely custom, one-of-a-kind gowns, suits, dresses, and other apparel exclusively for your personal wardrobe, with price tags starting in the five to six figures. Jewelers like Harry Winston, Cartier, and Tiffany & Co specialize in creating lavish custom jewelry suites for their elite clientele, incorporating enormous diamonds and precious gemstones into necklaces, rings, bracelets, and more costing millions apiece. Even accessories like handbags, scarves, belts, cufflinks, and sunglasses can be taken to another level of opulence with gold, diamonds, and other precious materials.
Some specific suggestions for splurging on fashion and accessories:
- Commission a $10 million couture designer wedding dress encrusted in thousands of diamonds and pearls for a walk down the aisle in ultimate luxury.
- For the ultimate luxury timepiece, acquire a Hallucination or Blue Diamond watch by Graff Diamonds worth $50-55 million.
- Build an immense collection of the largest, rarest, and most valuable gemstones in the world, including rubies, emeralds, and sapphires valued at eight or nine figures per stone.
- Only carry Birkin bags from Hermès, which start around $10,000 but have a years-long waiting list for the most premium versions that cost six figures.
- Accessorize with a 15-carat vivid pink diamond ring worth over $20 million.
- Always travel with a few designer outfits worth $100,000+ as everyday luxury wardrobe-essentials.
The amount you can spend collecting luxury goods is virtually limitless when your bank account balance reads in the billions.
Arts & Antiques
Serious billionaires looking to flaunt their wealth, sophistication, and refined taste often become patrons and collectors of the arts, amassing museum-worthy collections of paintings, sculptures, antiquities, and other rarities.
As an arts patron, you could establish your own private modern art museums, foundation or prize to compete with the likes of The Broad or the Turner Prize. Fund new wings at the world’s top art institutions to get your name memorialized for eternity. Commission the world’s top artists to create new works depicting yourself. Hire architects to design and construct multiple lavish galleries to showcase your acquisitions.
As a collector, no work would be out of your price range at auction. You could snap up record-setting trophy pieces like the $450 million Salvator Mundi painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Bid into the nine figures for iconic paintings by Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, or Basquiat. Acquire millennia-old antiquities from ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, or other cultures for your personal museums. For brevity, the ways in which you could spend billions collecting art and antiquities are too numerous to list.
Sports Ownership
What better way to flaunt your billionaire status than by buying your own professional sports team? The prestige and visibility that comes with owning a major sports franchise make this a very popular vanity purchase among the mega-rich.
The rarest opportunities are to buy majority ownership of a team in one of the major leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, or top European soccer leagues. This allows you to act as managing owner, controlling decisions, hiring management, and most visibly hoisting the championship trophy if your team wins it all. Recent sales include the Denver Broncos selling for $4.65 billion and Chelsea F.C. for $3 billion.
For just a couple billion dollars you could also buy into an expansion franchise, securing your place as owner in the league of your dreams. The NFL’s Carolina Panthers sold in 2018 for $2.28 billion, securing the new owners a place in America’s most lucrative and popular league.
If the major league teams are all locked down, take control of a franchise in the NHL, MLS, or WNBA and try to build them into a champion. You can still enjoy all the perks of ownership for a billion or less.
Philanthropy
While many billionaire pursuits can seem frivolous and self-indulgent, the ultra-wealthy also has a huge capacity for philanthropy. Bill Gates has donated over $50 billion already to charitable causes through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But with billions left in the bank, you could take Gates’ generosity even further.
Some philanthropic initiatives that $100 billion could support:
- Provide clean drinking water to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
- Supply solar energy solutions to make electricity affordable for entire developing countries.
- Fund the distribution of billions of doses of lifesaving vaccines.
- Build and maintain thousands of schools worldwide and sponsor the education of millions of children.
- Create entire new university campuses focusing on climate change research.
- Finance groundbreaking medical research to help cure cancer, heart disease, and other deadly conditions.
- Empower the next generation of philanthropists by donating billions to other charitable foundations.
- Launch your own philanthropic initiatives that connect with your personal interests and values.
Devoting even a fraction of a massive fortune like Bill Gates’ to philanthropy has the power to save lives and change the world forever. The positive impact billions of dollars can make when put to altruistic use is immense.
Spending $100 billion may seem an impossible challenge. But real estate, transportation, personal luxuries, experiences, philanthropy, and investments can all help turn this vast wealth into remarkable good. So don’t just wish you had Bill Gates’ money – start envisioning the incredible things you could do if his fortune were really yours to control! The opportunities are limited only by the scope of human imagination.