For a moment this week, a US man became the world’s richest person – with a wealth one thousand times greater than the GDP of the whole planet, after PayPal mistakenly credited him with $92 quadrillion (£60 quadrillion). The online money-transfer firm admitted that they credited Chris Reynolds, 56, of Pennsylvania, with $92,233,720,368,547,800 briefly before […]
For a moment this week, a US man became the world’s richest person – with a wealth one thousand times greater than the GDP of the whole planet, after PayPal mistakenly credited him with $92 quadrillion (£60 quadrillion).
The online money-transfer firm admitted that they credited Chris Reynolds, 56, of Pennsylvania, with $92,233,720,368,547,800 briefly before correcting their error.
The mistake briefly made Mr Reynolds the world’s richest man on paper and also the world’s only quadrillionaire.
Reynolds’ wealth easily eclipsed that of the current world’s richest man Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim – who is worth a mere $67bn.
Paypal withdrew the money after realising their error but offered to make a donation to a charity of Reynolds’ choice.
Speaking to the Philadelphia Daily News, Reynolds said the statement made him feel “like a million bucks”, adding, “At first I thought that I owed quadrillions. It was quite a big surprise.”
He also told the paper that being a “very responsible guy”, the first thing he would do with the money would be “pay the national debt down first.”
