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A holiday on the George Lucas coast

posted by Ainsley Drew   Oct 06, 2009

An article in Forbes postulates which countries billionaires could purchase, factoring in their estimated worth and the countries’ GDPs. On the list: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, George Lucas, Zambia, Haiti, and Belize.

Update: A valid point to make here is that a billionaire’s income isn’t an accurate measure of their ability to “purchase” a country based on their GDP, especially if you think of the GDP as the equivalent of rental income. For instance, if a person’s net worth is $9 billion, which is equivalent to the Bahamas’ GDP, that doesn’t mean the billionaire could buy the islands. He or she could only rent it for a year, theoretically. Then again, the idea of countries being up for sale, and individuals purchasing (or renting) them, is a somewhat silly premise. (thx, ian)

Update: Perhaps purchasing countries isn’t such a silly premise after all. In 2003, the entire principality of Liechtenstein was up for rent. The tiny country, which borders Switzerland and Austria, attempted a “rent-a-state” program sponsored by Xnet. The idea was to draw attention to the tourist-friendly charms of Liechtenstein by essentially “renting” the country’s hotels, restaurants, and sports stadiums en masse. (thx, colin)