According to the October 2013 "Esquire" article, "Between 1982 and 1989, federal prosecutors estimated, Ross bought and resold several metric tons of cocaine. In 1980 dollars, his gross earnings were said to be in excess of $900 million – with a profit of nearly $300 million. Converted roughly to present-day dollars: $2.5 billion gross and $850 million in profit. As his distribution empire grew to include forty-two cities, the price he paid per kg of powder cocaine dropped from as much as $60,000 to as low as $10,000."