-
The latest Ebola outbreak is an international disaster and it’s still unclear to what extent individuals in the United States are susceptible to catching the deadly disease. Now that 4,400 people have died in West Africa and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, private donors are beginning to chip in to help the cause.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and co-founder, has donated $25 million to the CDC for just this reason. Very generous, no doubt. But what is that to you, average American?
It’s fortunately pretty easy to figure out. Zuckerberg is worth $32 billion. So $25 million amounts to 1/1,280th of his fortune. So, how does that compare to you or I? This is where it gets a little trickier.
The average American has a net worth of $301,000, but that average may be swayed by the overwhelming wealth of the top one percent. I think it’s more accurate to go with America’s median net worth, $45,000, which comes a lot closer to the sum total of everything I own in the world than 300 G’s.
So, now all we need to do is divide 45,000 by 1,280, and we get: $35.16. That’s what you have to donate if you want to be as generous of Zuckerberg. Of course, most of his wealth is probably tied up in CDs, whereas my net worth is tied up in actual compact discs.
The proportional estimation also puts into perspective Zuckerberg’s new $100 million Hawaiian vacation home, which would set us back over 140 smackers at the same ratio.
