# What would you do if you won 10 billion dollars? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581 "2017-06-22T02:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/41 "2017-06-22T16:55:53Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I’d buy Straight Dope and ban the asking of whacko hypotheticals. ;\>) _I’d_ buy Straight Dope and ban putting “h” in “wacko”! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/42 "2017-06-22T16:59:39Z")
Create a “Go Fund Me” name that’s anonymous (Anon. E. Mouse) and just go through random people and give them, like, a million bucks. Don’t care what it is, who it is or anything…just click and click and click ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/43 "2017-06-22T17:32:42Z")
1. Buy the SF Giants. 2. Fire everybody. 3. Tear down the stadium. 4. Salt the earth where it stood. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/44 "2017-06-22T17:35:35Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Buy this message board and hold weekly “A random poster gets banned” contests 🙂 If it’s really a contest, then the banee wouldn’t be random. [sub]Damn, I just put my name at the top of the list, didn’t I?[/sub] What would I do if I won $10 billion? Smile. A lot. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/45 "2017-06-22T17:49:20Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > If it’s really a contest, then the banee wouldn’t be random. [sub]Damn, I just put my name at the top of the list, didn’t I?[/sub] > > What would I do if I won $10 billion? Smile. A lot. I was thinking just placing usernames in a hat and pulling one. But I now have one week where I already know the “random” user 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/46 "2017-06-22T18:02:31Z")
I would like to use a good-sized hunk of it toward ecological concerns, making sure to fund programs that are results-driven and would alleviate current issues while building the foundations for future sustainability. I don’t want to fund studies or committees, I want to fund a boots on the ground group . I don’t want to run this group, but I do want strong powers of oversight. I would set aside $500 million in a relatively liquid fund that I could use to react swiftly and anonymously to aid various individuals and small-scale groups. I would buy an ocean going sailboat and hire a crew to sail leisurely around the world, stopping as long as I wish at any interesting port of call, taking inland trips as desired. I would bring my two sons, their wives, and my two grandchildren. I would bring along a tutor to help us learn the languages and learn about the history and culture of the countries we would visit. Upon our return, I would sell the boat and purchase a secluded place on the water somewhere and write the book I have always wanted to write. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/47 "2017-06-22T18:07:35Z")
I’d retire. And buy a decent house close to my family. Kind of large, since I like possessions, but not stupidly so, because I live alone. Hire somebody to maintain the yard, and somebody to clean the bathrooms. I’d set up a nice TV room, with enough seats for, like, six people to sit comfortably. I’d dump the rest in a simple interest-earning savings account (of a bank I REALLY like, probably ICCU), and set it up to transfer, say, $2000 a month into my checking account for expenses, frivolous and otherwise. I’d then try to forget that I have the rest of the money, so it doesn’t make me stupid. (I have some practice at this - my savings is currently composted of an account I divert money into without looking at it, so I’m not tempted to spend it frivolously.) I would still use it for emergencies, though, and fix and to replace cars and water heaters and such as necessary. I’d buy the same sort of things I do now on a five-digit salary. With my new free time I would catch up on my many, many frivolous hobbies, I would probably exercise a little more, and also maybe even get into some sort of therapy to help me not suck so much as a human being. (Or not think I do, in the unlikely event my low self esteem is unwarranted. Which is probably unlikely - you don’t see me donating to charities here, do you? I’m clearly a jerk.) Speaking of not giving it away, from the very start I would have told as few people as possible I got this money, just close friends and family - and to them I would have lied about how much I’d gotten. I’d tell them I had a few million or whatever I thought I could say to plausibly explain my new lifestyle. I _would_ break out surprise money in case of any emergencies anyone had, but I wouldn’t want them to start hounding me for large random gifts lest it ruin our relationships. (It’s probably worth noting that nobody I know is in dire straits.) And then, when I was old(er), I would get struck with some malady and lose it all to medical bills because america’s health care is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/48 "2017-06-22T18:15:22Z")
Hang on, I’m doing the math… 20,000 chicks at once. That’s what I’d do if I had 10 billion dollars. Fuckin’ A, man. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/49 "2017-06-22T18:18:59Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Hang on, I’m doing the math… > > 20,000 chicks at once. That’s what I’d do if I had 10 billion dollars. Fuckin’ A, man. Not all chicks dig a man with money. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/50 "2017-06-22T18:29:44Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not all chicks dig a man with money. He only needs 20,000 that do. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/51 "2017-06-22T19:45:40Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not all chicks dig a man with money. 10 billion isn’t money, it’s power. And that is the ultimate aphrodisiac. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/52 "2017-06-22T20:15:34Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not all chicks dig a man with money. Not all, but still far more than dig poor men. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/53 "2017-06-22T22:55:06Z")
Same as always. Bring back Firefly. Put a major league law firm on retainer. Finance a think tank and an angel investment firm. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/54 "2017-06-22T23:41:18Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Hang on, I’m doing the math… > > 20,000 chicks at once. That’s what I’d do if I had 10 billion dollars. Fuckin’ A, man. So if you had $10 billion, you’d start a chicken farm? You must be a very contented person, to have such humble objectives! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/55 "2017-06-23T00:55:35Z")
[QUOTE=manson1972] Not all chicks dig a man with money. [/QUOTE] > [@Procrustus](#): > > He only needs 20,000 that do. > [@silenus](#): > > 10 billion isn’t money, it’s power. And that is the ultimate aphrodisiac. > [@Velocity](#): > > Not all, but still far more than dig poor men. Sorry, but the correct response is "The kind that would double, uhhh, triple, hmmmm, 20,000 up on on guy like **Whiskey Dickens** do. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/56 "2017-06-23T01:06:29Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not all chicks dig a man with money. All the disposable ones do ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/57 "2017-06-23T10:59:59Z")
I’d remake _Condorman_. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/58 "2017-06-23T15:37:44Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > 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. I’m with you. I’d give most of it away. My dream, such as it is, is to open several businesses that act substantially as nonprofits that I can fund until they become self-sustaining, that hire only people who are “down on their luck”. The jobs might not necessarily be jobs that people dream of, but since a profit wouldn’t be required and I would realize none of them anyway I could make those jobs much more lucrative for the people who take them, and hopefully that would be the rising tide that raises other wages, at least locally. I don’t think I would have the heart to spend the annualized simple interest on a billion dollars, so the rest can go to this endeavor. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/59 "2017-06-23T16:58:10Z")
Since I wouldn’t have to work anymore, I’d buy a nice RV and just tour around all the time. And the vast majority would go to support basic needs like kids knowing where their next meal is coming from. ETA: I would need to hire a driver for the RV – those things are BIG! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581/60 "2017-06-23T17:12:29Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Since I wouldn’t have to work anymore, I’d buy a nice RV and just tour around all the time. And the vast majority would go to support basic needs like kids knowing where their next meal is coming from. > > ETA: I would need to hire a driver for the RV – those things are BIG! The vast majority might go towards gas for your RV! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-won-10-billion-dollars/789581.md?page=4)