this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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Microblog Memes

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[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 59 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (7 children)

I don't believe Elon is the richest man in the world. Whoever the richest person in the world is, common men and women wouldn't be allowed to know who that is

Also, citizens united just legalized the bribery, the bribery will still happen with or without it

[–] bulwark@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Richest man that the IRS knows about

[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 7 points 2 months ago

the twist there is the IRS knows, but they're never going to speak a word of who it could be, because they'll all be ki...I mean go to prison and kill themselves!...Just like everyone who has something damning to testify about

[–] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Honestly, it’s probably a Saudi.

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

Or royalty in UAE, Bahrain, or somewhere.

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[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It depends on how you define wealth. Vladimir Putin has de-facto control over all the natural resources of the world's biggest country. He doesn't have much money in bank accounts under his own name, and even if he did, his ability to spend that money would be limited because of sanctions. I would bet that if he wanted anything in the world, he could get it.

Then there's the English royal family. Technically, they actually own all the land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. When you buy land in those places, you're actually leasing it from the crown. They can't technically sell that land either though, so their ownership of it is moot. They have more direct control of some of the most prime real estate in England, and get direct rent from those leases. There are some legal above-board descriptions of what they acknowledge owning. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there are holdings across the world that are more secret. The British crown controlled almost half the world less than a century ago. I would be shocked if when the British empire shrunk, they didn't sneak some holdings into secret shell companies. But, the amount they can actually spend is pretty limited. The fully legit holdings are very carefully monitored, as is all their spending. If they spent money they're not supposed to have, someone would investigate.

The people who are actually on the Forbes rich list are people who hold stock in public corporations. That information is fully public, so there's no way for them to hide their wealth. People who have wealth through private companies and real-estate holdings generally don't want to appear on those rich lists. They know it just makes them a target.

Having said that, hundreds of billions is a lot of money. Musk has roughly $1000 per American, and it's exclusively his. Many empires in history had control of more "treasure", but it was the empire's wealth, and not separated out for the emperor to use as he pleased. Musk is in the unique position that his riches are entirely his, and he doesn't need to share anything with the country's treasury. So, I'd be surprised if there are many people with more wealth that's truly their own wealth.

Also, I don't think anybody knows who the richest person is. It's not like it's a secret being kept from the common folk. The rich people know more or less the same as we do. It's not like they are open and honest with each-other. There are probably a lot of billionaires who manage to keep their name out of the news, but probably very few of them are centi-billionaires. That's just an absurd amount of money, and it's hard to control that much wealth and not leave a trace.

[–] pHr34kY@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

they actually own all the land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. When you buy land in those places, you're actually leasing it from the crown.

I live in Australia and I technically live on crown land.

[–] parody 3 points 2 months ago

Ahahaha one downvote - the contrast between the factual, informative, and insightful… vs. the embarrassment of giving education a thumbs down and walking away without a word.

Tremendous comment. Handily beat mine from a moment ago. (You’d’ve made my Sidebar point much better if it’d been your own)

[–] SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 2 months ago (4 children)

It's probably Putin or Mohammed bin Salman, if we're talking about how much money they can personally move around. Or maybe even Trump, since there seems to be no one in the US to stop him from doing whatever the fuck he wants.

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[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 8 points 2 months ago (5 children)

The bribery should be "illegal". It makes it more negative when we hear about it.

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[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

That dude that invented bitcoin probably

[–] Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

It’s probably PooTin anyway

[–] AcidicBasicGlitch@lemm.ee 51 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yup citizens United was the beginning of the fucking end.

[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 30 points 2 months ago (2 children)

That and the Patriot Act. W's media image softening in the past few years has been particularly gross.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Reminds me of the suspension of habeas corpus. That alone was bone-chilling.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

The bar got set way low. Even Madison is looking good these days.

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago

What's even more crazy is I bet it flashed through his head that it was "unfair" that even 25 million wasn't enough to buy such a small election.

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 25 points 2 months ago

And yes, the CEO of Dropout, Sam Reich, is Robert's son.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 19 points 2 months ago

As long as we have billionaires, we'll have rulings like "citizens united".

[–] Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The only things about Elon I can think of that would please me more would be dead broke Elon. Or just plain dead Elon.

[–] voldage@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Well, imagine him being broke, homeless, despised by everyone and treated like interacting with him could lead you to the exclusion from the society. Warms your heart, doesn't it? I don't want him dead, I wish him worse. I want him thanking bums for pissing on him so he doesn't lose more fingers to the frostbite and cursing himself for pushing for cutting social safety net.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I imagine him broke and doing Cameos and everyone makimg him say "Hello my daughter! Sorry your father is such a nazi piece of shit. You deserved a better father."

[–] Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

You have changed my mind. Thank you.

[–] Belkor@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago
[–] MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 10 points 2 months ago

Elon Musk obtained $213billion last year. Given a 40 hour work week, that means the $25million is about 15min of work. I kind of doubt he actually works that long, but I do not want to be too mean.

[–] don@lemm.ee 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

A little less conversation, a lotta more action. Direct action.

[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

come on, man! they had SIGNS! they CHANTED! what more could you possibly ask of a country of fat idiots?

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

On the up side, nobody's stock portfolio is hurting right now more than Musky's is.

[–] PDFuego@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

His stock portfolio is still worth more than any of us will see in a hundred thousand lifetimes. Doesn't feel like an up side.

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Tesla stock still up 5% from 1 month ago 🤷

[–] rhacer@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

How does one overturn citizens united without overturning the Constitution?

[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 10 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Interpretation of the constitution changes with the times.

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[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 4 points 2 months ago
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[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago
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