I’m sure this type of thread has been done before but probably not with this high a figure mentioned. I thought it might be fun to discuss what you would do if you won 10 billion dollars. Let’s say that Warren Buffett decides to offer 10 billion for picking a perfect bracket in next year’s NCAA basketball tournament and somehow you beat the odds. Furthermore the prize is an after tax prize, so all federal, state, and local taxes are already paid and you now have 10 billion dollars. At this level you could make a difference to a whole community, not just your own or even just your own or your family’s lives. What would you do with all that money? I’ll hold off on posting my own plan for now so that it won’t turn into discussion of the plausibly of being able to successfully carry out my particular plan.
Become a reclusive introverted hermit living in an unknown location.
And probably making a lot of strange anonymous donations because id run out of things i would actually buy pretty fast, and i dont want to die and donate it to the government.
Yea, my shopping list is boring
All the hookers and all the blow.
After my large house I have built in Southern California and my Audi R8 GTR V10 and enough wheelchairs that I’d never have to perform maintenance on any of them? Hmm, probably various donations to causes that I support, made anonymously.
Spend it.
Probably start some company to transform some element of the world. Like figuring out affordable high speed internet for non-urban areas. Or taking some medical technologies and making them more affordable to improve outcomes everywhere.
Vague ideas I know, but I haven’t thought a lot about it. But I would definitely use the money to make some improvement on the way things are.
Honestly, I’d give most of it away. I’d keep enough to live in style, but I’m sure I could do that with just a few percent of the total. Wait, do I have to pay taxes? If so, then maybe I’m up to 10% for me and 90% for giving away.
You may have misunderstood me and thought I meant, “A very large number of hookers and a great deal of cocaine.”
But what I said was, “ALL the hookers and ALL the blow.”
All joking aside, it is not that easy to spend 10 billion all at once.
Whatever it was spent on it would take some time for results
Thanks
Is lack of money the only thing standing in the way of such improvements now? Or is it also a lack of ideas? What improvements to the world do you think you could make using large amounts of cash alone? Or do you think the lack of money is what causes the lack of ideas?
Wow, I could only wish. So what 6 Billion after taxes lol?
The main priority would be to do nothing, after I set a few things up.
I would get security detail for myself (if you have that much money, of course someone is going to want it or think of getting it by less than legal means) and a good attorney. I would buy properties and make some decent investments, set up a fund for my close family and one for good friends.
Next I would buy myself a moderate home, a couple of cars (one for work because I still will, though not as much, or i’ll be bored, and one for play) and a nice tool collection.
Give to some worthy charities, mainly for children and veterans.
The rest would be stored away and left to my children and their children and so on, along with the investments in properties and such, as long as they give a decent amount to charities each year.
Biggest thing I would do, start a company for space exploration.
Lastly, I would just live in peace.
I’d put aside enough money to buy the absolute best, top of the line care in an old folks home. I have no kids so I’d have to pay for the oversight of my health.
I’d give away my house, as I don’t want to mess with it, and go on a long vacation.
When back I’d settle down and start figuring out how to make a lot of anonymous donations. I’d have a law firm or accountant on retainer, so my name would not appear in conjunction with donations. Things I’d donate to would be any or all of the following.
Animal rescue
Child rescue.
Medical care and expenses for friends and relatives
Library donations
Church donations
Medical mercy missions in underserved countries.
As a Heinlein character said “The beauty of money is that if money is all it takes to solve a problem, then it’s solved.”
I’d always be listening for big and little things. A musical instrument here, a school program there.
One thing I’d do is inspired by a Spider Robinson story. I’d find people who fall through the cracks when it comes to education, and pay their way through school. The only requirement would that they’d use the skills learned(law, medicine, teaching, accountancy) to give me free service after they graduate.
The selfish things I’d do would be taking first class trips. I’d also build myself a new house. It wouldn’t be large but would have a professional kitchen, a huge library roon, and a bedroom suite wing so I could have lots of friends over if I wanted. And this may sound terrible, but I’d like to have one really beautiful piece of jewelry, probably a diamond necklace. Whatever that cost I’d donate an equal amount to charity.
Medicine and education I guess are my two main themes.
Put it in the bank with the rest of my money, I already have more than I will need in my lifetime in order to sustain my accustomed living style. Gradually, Id probably give it all away, before probate courts decided who ought to get it.
I’d buy a pair of Birkerstock’s …
I agree with everyone that says 10 billion is too much to spend on your own. Sure, I would get a few nice cars (in case one breaks down) and have some nice steak dinners. My grand plan, however, would be to buy some land and hire people to try to build a new university. My main focus would be on hiring biology and physics professors that would do research in areas I am personally interested in. I think that having a complete univsersity would be more conducive to that than just a couple of departments, so I would bring together a group of great minds and try to start an entire university. Of course with that much money to spare there would be plenty of full scholarships to go around as well.
Finance movies and direct them.
Start a Super-Super-PAC.
Start a political 3rd party.
Donations.
Start, or buy, a professional sports franchise.
Pay off my $8,000 in loans. 
You meant to say ten billion? Because that is a hell of a lot of money. Heck, just one billion would be wayyyyyy too much to ever spend in one’s lifetime. So I’d make a billionaire out of 9 other people, keep a billion, and pretty much buy anything I want for the rest of my life.
Go to space.
A few times, probably.
I’d have so much fun with it while I let some smart people figure out the best way to divvy it up between good causes and people in need. I would really enjoy being active in the process I think.
I’d be like a god!
I think my current job makes a contribution to our society. But if I had an enormous amount of money, I would seek to make a much, much bigger impact, and not just in the little corner of the world I work in right now. Given my current job, the idea of scaling it up to make a bigger impact makes zero sense, so I would have to come up with a totally new line of work.