# You're mega wealthy - what's your mega purchase? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795 "2015-12-31T03:46:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/1 "2015-12-31T03:46:11Z")
Ten years ago, you were the sole winner of the largest Powerball jackpot in history - that means it was at least 600 million dollars. Let’s round it up to 750. For our purposes, it doesn’t matter whether you elected to take the lump sum or the payments. Either way, your veritable army of accountants, hedge fund managers, and financial planners have successfully turned your enormous fortune into a truly obscene one. In the last ten years, you’ve been spending money left, right and center. You’ve set up dozens of endowments and charities to champion your pet causes. You have lobbyists in every corner of the world buying votes to make the world the better place you know it can be. Nevertheless, your money continues to make money. Barring a concerted effort on your part to divest it entirely, it’s an effectively unlimited font. Your spendable assets number in the billions. So, all that said, what would your **mega purchase** be? I’m talking about Michael Jackson dropping a hundred million (in 2015 dollars) on the ATV catalogue, or the various billionaires who spend hundreds of millions on superyachts. To be clear, in this hypothetical you are already firing on all cylinders in terms of philanthropy. Once that’s done… now what? Don’t need answer fast. I’ve got ten more years to become a billionaire. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/2 "2015-12-31T03:49:43Z")
In order to see the Steelers in the playoffs every year, I’d buy the Bengals and the Ravens, and manage them like the Browns. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/3 "2015-12-31T04:01:03Z")
A harem. I want a couple of girls of every race. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/4 "2015-12-31T04:03:01Z")
I think I’d build a roller-coaster-style transit line from the subway in Vaughan, Ontario (just north of the Toronto city limits) to the Wonderland theme park. It would have mild hills and curves, but would have larger enclosed cars designed for regular passenger operation. The track would be cantilevered dramatically over roads, pass through buildings (constructed for the purpose if necessary), and swing wide in curves. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/5 "2015-12-31T04:08:06Z")
Either my own plane or an interest in a plane. No more waiting around! I go where I want, when I want! ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/6 "2015-12-31T04:10:44Z")
A billion dollars to the Native Hawaiians to f\*\*\* off forever and go worship their ancestors somewhere else. If this seems a little harsh, I really just want them to vacate claims to Mauna Kea, which is a unique site ideally suited to building awesome telescopes. In the 21st century I think cultural sensitivity to superstitious nonsense should not outweigh awesome telescopes. Especially since their more recent ancestors showed _their_ respect for the sacred site by basically stripmining the place. Did I mention the awesome telescopes? > **[Thirty Meter Telescope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Meter_Telescope)** > > The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become controversial due to its location on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaiʻi. The TMT would become the largest visible-light telescope on Mauna Kea. > Scientists have been considering ELTs since the mid 1980s. In 2000, astronomers considered the possibility of a telescope with a light-gathering mirror larger than 20 meters (65') in diameter, using either small segments that create one large mirror, or a gro... ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/7 "2015-12-31T04:11:30Z")
Underwater research centre complete with next generation of deep-dive submersible. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/8 "2015-12-31T04:11:34Z")
I’d buy the film rights to The Fantastic Four and make a good FF movie. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/9 "2015-12-31T04:11:51Z")
You said unlimited, right? So I’d fund an intensive research program that would enable me to live in a transparent dome on a moon of Saturn. I imagine the grocery runs alone would cost a hundred billion a year. ETA: oh yeah, and stock it with that harem of two girls of each race. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/10 "2015-12-31T04:11:56Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Either my own plane or an interest in a plane. > > No more waiting around! I go where I want, when I want! Just a plane? That’s chump change. Unless we’re talking about one of those ultra-wealthy 747 refits, I’m going to have to revoke your hypothetical billionaire license. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/11 "2015-12-31T04:18:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Just a plane? That’s chump change. Unless we’re talking about one of those ultra-wealthy 747 refits, I’m going to have to revoke your hypothetical billionaire license. I am a humble person. A plane that seats about 20, with a crew and a couple of pilots, is enough for me. The rest of the money I will save in case I get sick or injured and need to go to the ER. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/12 "2015-12-31T04:22:21Z")
Ten thousand hectares of tame woodland, tax-free on the condition I maintain it in pristine state, or a supply agreement for either water, or timber, or what have you. It must have a big enough lake and a navigable river. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/13 "2015-12-31T04:33:30Z")
I’d buy a big big nuke and set it off in a giant fake city I had built somewhere just for the spectacle. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/14 "2015-12-31T04:34:33Z")
I’d buy just over 10,000 acres north of lake Coeur D’alene and build myself a sustainable town so that after global warming his my friends and I can live a flashed life and ignore the rest of the work. I figure we could sustain about 250 people there which should be enough to fight of the murading hordes. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/15 "2015-12-31T04:39:31Z")
A Bond villain lair. Big castle, lots of land, and an underground secret lair big enough that you have to use golf carts to travel from the vehicle bay to the shooting range. Kind of like Disneyland, only without the sticky popcorn smell. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/16 "2015-12-31T04:39:48Z")
I would purchase the construction of my own private great pyramid. But mine would have all sorts of secret passageways. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/17 "2015-12-31T04:40:31Z")
[Northrop T-38 Talon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_T-38_Talon). Of course I’d need to work up to it. Better get a [Beechcraft T-34B Mentor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_T-34_Mentor). But I’d like to bring friends along. I should probably have an [Eclipse 500](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_500). And I’d like to buy and restore dad’s 1970 Cessna 172K Skyhawk. So there’s $5 million anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/18 "2015-12-31T04:50:32Z")
Buy an amusement park/art museum/skyscraper/Times Square/heck, all of NYC, just so I can run through it all alone. I’ve always had an appreciation for original manuscripts of creative works I admire, too - the Beatles’/Bob Dylan’s original lyric sheets, the Wodehouse papers posted here in the Marketplace not too long ago, etc. Also, a bright red Cessna. Because . . . duh. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/19 "2015-12-31T05:00:26Z")
I’d build an exact copy of the old [Singer Building](http://www.thecityreview.com/singer.gif) and have an apartment in that crazy cupola. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795/20 "2015-12-31T05:06:02Z")
I’d build and stock a museum about dogs on the Isle of Dogs. It’s not just that I like dogs, it’s that there don’t seem to be many museums about them, and also I like puns. Plus tons of university scholarships. Hell, my own university! And some rainforest. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-mega-wealthy-whats-your-mega-purchase/741795.md?page=2)