The printing press is considered to be one of the greatest inventions of all time. It kickstarted a revolution and transformed the way ideas are communicated across the globe.
Here’s a fun statistic about the printing press as it relates to Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk.
What Happened: The Gutenberg printing press was invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany.
Ten years later, the printing machine was ready for commercial use. Among the first items printed by Gutenberg were calendars and pamphlets. In 1452, Gutenberg began printing a Bible, with an estimated 180 copies printing. An estimated 21 complete copies have survived over the years.
The printing press would also become integral in printing money years later.
Printing money with the Gutenberg printing press is now illegal. However, even if you were able to do it, it still might not make you the richest person in the world.
Related Link: 51 Facts And Figures About Tesla And SpaceX CEO Elon Musk
Catching Elon Musk: Musk is worth $137 billion to end the 2022 year. The CEO ranks as the second-richest person in the world, losing the title of the world's richest person to LVMH LVMUY CEO Bernard Arnault.
Musk saw his wealth decline by $133 billion in 2022 and fall over $200 billion from his peak in November 2021. The loss was primarily due to the drop in the price of his Tesla shares, which were down 65% last year. At his peak, Musk was worth more than the value of every MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL team combined.
If you bought a Gutenberg printing press in 1440 and started printing $1 million every day, you would now be worth more than Musk, thanks to his drop in wealth in 2022.
The dollar wasn’t around until the Mint Act established the official U.S. coinage system in 1792. For the purposes of this hypothetical wealth building, let’s say you could print U.S. dollars in 1440. Here’s the math:
The printing press was invented 582 years ago.
Depending on the date it was invented, it could have been 212,795 days ago (base on Jan. 1 1440 and Jan. 1 2023).
212,795 x $1 million daily gets a total of $212.80 billion.
This total would now rank ahead of Musk and the first-place wealth of $162 billion for Arnault.
It’s crazy to think that someone printing $1 million every day since 1440 would not be that far ahead of the current richest person in the world.
Read Next: Here's How Much Tesla Stock Elon Musk Owns After Latest Sale
Photo: Courtesy of Dunk on flickr.
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