Adelson's Mad Money

by digby

Everyone seems to be having a case of vapors over Sheldon Adelson donating 10 Million dollars (!) to the Romney effort today. But does everyone understand that Sheldon Adelson is worth 25 billion dollars? He's the 7th richest man in the United States.


The following illustration compares an human being against a stack of $100 currency note bundles. A bundle of $100 notes is equivalent to $10,000 and that can easily fit in your pocket. 1 million dollars will probably fit inside a standard shopping bag while a billion dollars would occupy a small room of your house:



Adelson has 25 of those rooms full of money. Even if he does spend a full hundred million, as he's been reported to be planning, it is the equivalent of a modest week-end getaway for you and me. He really is that rich.

We have never before had so much money concentrated at the top. These are vast fortunes beyond our imaginations. It makes perfect sense that some of these oligarchs would spend tens of millions to buy elections. It's not that much money to them. There is no shaming them about it.