Document: WM-098 P. Webb Category: Personal 2026-07-08 What I'd do with a BILLION dollars Abstract Hey Siri, play "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" by Nas and Lauren Hill. Body There's been much hullabaloo about the world's favorite frog-built barrel-chested Ewok[1] with hourglass ankles[2] becoming the first TRILLIONAIRE as of late, with his most fervent and financially-poor supporters celebrating this achievement as if its theirs. Personally, I don't get it but I imagine it matches my elation about Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl (same with the Spanish diaspora when Bad Bunny was at the Super Bowl). The difference is, these musical artists speak truth to power and spread messages of unity and love. Anyhoo. The scale of wealth in America is staggering. A few months ago I saw a post[3] on Instagram attempting to illustrate just how massive the gap between a million and a billion is. Look at like this: - a million seconds = 12 days - a billion seconds = 32 years The median U.S. household made $83,780 in 2024. This average household would need to work eleven THOUSAND (plus 943) years to make a billion. The average person not being able to fathom this (hi) have difficulty understanding wealth policies. An overwhelming majority of the world's billionaires live in the U.S. How do they keep it? Unrealized gains are never taxed; these are things like stocks and real estate. Billionaires don't spend their own money if they can help it. With so many assets, they're able to take out low interest loans…a loan isn't income. No income, no tax! Must be nice! I believe if Bernie Sanders wasn't cucked by the Democrats, the U.S. would be in a much better place. A 10% wealth tax would raise nearly $700 BILLION to: 1) end child hunger for a decade 2) free pre-K for every child for five years 3) expand affordable housing nationwide 4) cancel ALL medical debt in the U.S. And you'll still have ~$200 billion left over, and the billionaires would still be billionaires!! I read an article[4] this morning where the author ponders why billionaires put on flowery performances regarding their philanthropy and why they aren't just _honest_ about it? Instead of "I'm donating my money to charity," it's "I'm going to use my money to do charity." That nuance is key and reading Ibrahim's article pushed me to finally write what's been in my head for the past week. ## The Wibby Billy Plan I'm a millennial. The future we were promised as kids has yet to materialize. I'm now 38 with a wife and kids. Three wars and a couple recessions has led me to an inconvient truth; we're gonna have to build what we were promised (while sidestepping edgelords, senile emperors, and angry nerds intent on cosplaying the megacorps in Cyberpunk 2077). Here's what I'd spend a billy on: - dumb appliances, made tough - The brand would simply be WEBB (like SONY, but my surname). TVs, washing machines, dishwashers, tractors, you name it. - the Apple of Linux computing - Linux is having an incredible moment thanks to companies like Framework and Valve. It could have an even greater moment if a company with the resources of an Apple or Microsoft entered the fray, giving Linux equal footing with these behemoths. I have ideas[5] in this realm, gotta finish other projects first. The desktop modding scene of the early 2000s holds a special place in my heart and I want to (help) bring it back. - replace ICANN - ICANN is supposed to steward the internet but they've been doing nothing for decades but collecting fees. I do think blockchain is the way to go (with DNS!!) and am slowly working on this[6]. - hoverboards - Every billionaire has their pet project. I've wanted one since I became aware of hovercrafts as a kid. My dad ordered a blueprint from a magazine so we could build one…we never did but I still have the blueprint! Somewhere! Lexus, for some reason[7], made a hoverboard as a marketing stunt and that's the last time any company has done something about this. - invest in eco-friendly stuff - There's this company making bricks from fabric[8] and they look pretty cool. Western countries generate so much waste and it sits in landfills on floating barges. Gross and fucked up. Companies who have already identified opportunities and processing need support to scale. I love space as much as the next billionaire (my rap alias is Spaceman Fresh FFS) but let's take care of where we're at, first. When you're on a plane and the flight attendants are informing us what to do in the event of an emergency, we're instructued to put our own face mask on before helping others. Makes sense to treat our planet the same way. - overhaul healthcare in America - Okay, I might need a few billion for this. There's money to be made in keeping people sick so after I pay off everyone gleefully in healthcare for perverse incentives, I'm left with understaffed facilities and Mark Cuban. Or maybe, start a new healthcare plan for non-billionaires/non-millionaries. I'm just excluding a few thousand people, right? - Kimoyo Beads - I mean, come ON![9] Miniaturizing tech for these to exist IRL has gotta be expensive af. Apple could never…unless? - build a city - Today's billionaires are cowards. Y'all have all this money and decide to move to some cramped area code where you can hobnob with celebrities. LAME. You don't like the government so you donate millions to PACs when you could just make your own government. SMDH. My city would have self-repairing roads and piezo-electricity everywhere. My grid would make other cities beg for the same. Every citizen would have next-generation fiber and many crops would be local. Rooftop gardens everywhere. Frutiger Aero music mixes on YouTube would use literal pictures of my city. The hundreds of billions I'd make as a result of these efforts would go towards ending child hunger and improving education. All that good stuff. The sad part about all this? I spent an hour working on this list and not only am I sure I'm missing some things, I bet I'd still have money left over. 🕸️ References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]