30 replies to this topic

[Miqque Loveland]

Just heard that the Ellison fellow who owns Oracle just went and bought himself the Hawaiian island of Lanai. Well, 98% of it. Purchase price not released, but rumoured to be upwards (much upward, I would guess) of half a billion dollars. Not that big a deal, as he's worth around 36 billion.

Now, this isn't adinky little island like Branson owns; it's the 6th-largest Hawaiian island.

The man bought himself a huge chunk of our Newest State.

What, wasn't Madagascar or Guam or Greenland available?

What do you think of this?

And what might you do if you were that rich?

[David Meadows]

If I had 36 billion dollars...

I would give any private enterprise with a viable plan for getting to the Moon and/or Mars as much of it as they needed.

Edited by David Meadows, 21 June 2012 - 11:02 AM.

[Mark Millar]

I'd get 3.6 million lap-dances.

MM

[Sanjay]

I'd buy Scotland and then release it into the wild, like Free Willy.

[mattgarvey1981]

I'd get 3.6 million lap-dances.

those are expensive dances

[Mark Millar]

Oh, BILLION? I thought he said million. Ah, right. Well, I'd pay young Bendis to do them

MM

[mattgarvey1981]

can we get a double one then?
I'd like to see him shake his thang!

[David Meadows]

I would also spend a chunk of it on lobbying the British government to use the proper version of the billion again.

[HowardAshton]

But then it'd look like you had less money.

[Stephen G]

I'd invest half, and then use the other half to fund all my costs for the counseling center I work for...and then "semi-retire" to do that full time.

[Ogul]

I'd do what the Koch brothers are doing and buy a President. You can have a lot of fun with your own bought and paid for President. Then with the other 35 billion I'd probably buy Greece on clearance and turn it into an Greece-themed amusement park. Anyone who wants to work at the park gets to stay on the premises too.

[Jim Ohara]

I'd adopt a thousand kids from all over the world and raise them to be superheroes.

[craggy]

if I had 36billion? i'd go out and play

[Mark Millar]

A retired teacher from my old school won the lottery and gave about half to the school.

How nice is that?

MM

[Ricardo_C]

Ellison owning Lanai is a laugh. With Oracle's recent loss to Google in court, I guess he needed to swing his penis-by-proxy around and remind us he's just a bad day or two away from being a full-on James Bond villain.

If I were cash-rich (as opposed to owning stocks I may or may not liquidate on short notice) to the point where the concept of a budget for daily living becomes meaningless (billionaire territory), I would put 75% of it in as diversified a portfolio of medium-yield, low-risk investments as possible. I would do the usual stuff everyone says they'll do if they win the lottery (pay off family mortgages, giving to charity, new cars for friends, etc.), I would buy an old Victorian house here in Pittsburgh (Shadyside or Squirrel Hill, probably), redo it to the nines, and then I would be free to spend my working years completely dedicated to making videogames, without ever having to worry about turning a profit, and thus being 100% free to create whatever I please without market concerns.

Maybe a paid vacation to Lanai for all the MW regulars, say hi to Larry?

A retired teacher from my old school won the lottery and gave about half to the school.

How nice is that?

MM

That's awesome!

[brucegray666]

I could apply that old adage of "Booze, drugs, hookers and waste the rest" but I don't think I'd have anything left after the booze, drugs and hookers to waste.

[Russell H]

I'd do what the Koch brothers are doing and buy a President. You can have a lot of fun with your own bought and paid for President.

Buy a candidate from each party and have the best (or worst) election cycle ever!

[al-x]

Hello:

Is it REALLY MM in the pub?

How nice...

As for having $36B, I'd go back to business school and learn
about investments, not exactly to be like Warren Buffett but
to know how not to lose it all.

I'd also have a LOT of fun with it too, but I won't go into that
as this is a family forum...


Al...

[Todd Gross]

Build a death ray

[Lucian Von Dooom]

I would invest some, give some to family/friends/charity and then use some to search near the Atlantic fracture for Atlantis. Yay adventure!