During the first year of the pandemic, the world’s billionaires increased their fortunes by around 54%. While the rest of us were dealing with the struggles of lockdown, the mega-wealthy were happily watching their wealth grow from the comfort of their luxury serviced offices. Let’s take a look at six more staggering extravagances the world’s richest citizens enjoy.
1. Tickets to space
Wealthy celebrities have been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for tickets to space on vessels that don’t even exist yet. If you think this sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is. However, if we put the purchase into perspective, it kind of makes sense.
Richard Branson is reportedly selling tickets to space for around $200,000. One of the early purchasers, Katy Perry, makes $25 million per season for being a judge on American Idol, and that’s not even factoring in her other earnings. Based on this, she’s spending less than 1% of her salary. For someone earning $50,000 a year, this would be the equivalent of spending around $400 on a concert ticket.
2. Dubious artifacts
In 2007, Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cage got into a bidding war for a Mongolian dinosaur skull because of course they did. Surprising no one at all, Nic Cage refused to back down and eventually subdued DiCaprio with a $276,000 bid. Though he won the ridiculously overpriced skull, he had to surrender it to US authorities because it turns out it was stolen. The thrill of the bidding war and those few precious moments of skull ownership made the whole thing worth it for Cage.
3. Private islands
If an island was ever on your shopping list, the 60s and 70s were the decades to make it happen. In 1963, Aristotle Onassis (who later married Jackie Kennedy) purchased the Greek island of Skorpios for 3.5 million drachmas (about $14,000). In 1979, Richard Branson picked up Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for around $320,000.
In the 21st century, the price of islands skyrocketed. Still, the mega-wealthy are happy to invest. Leonardo DiCaprio may have missed out on a stolen dino skull, but he did manage to pick up an island off the coast of Belize for $1.75 million.
4. Pet clones
If you’ve ever gone through the heartache of losing a pet, you’ll understand the reasoning behind this wildly expensive practice. Mega-rich people who are attached to their pets can have clones made to ensure that death never really feels like death. Prices reportedly range from around $35,000 to $100,000. Barbara Streisand is one of many wealthy people who have had their pets cloned.
5. Insane hotels
Some people are so wealthy they’ll blow the price of a house on a two-night hotel stay. Famed artist Damien Hirst designed a suite at the Palms Casino Resort that comes with a price tag of $100,000 per night… and a minimum two-night stay. To be fair, the 9,000 square-foot suite is stunning, featuring an abundance of art, including real sharks encased in formaldehyde-filled glass panels.
6. A clock that ticks once a year
In 2018, Jeff Bezos announced that he’d invested $42 million to create a clock that counts years not seconds. This 10,000-year clock, as Bezos dubbed it, will be 500-feet tall and will take its power from the planet’s thermal cycles. Apparently, it’s still under construction inside a mountain in Texas.
Some of these extravagances are just plain crazy, but others are kind of understandable. Either way, it’s wild to imagine what it would be like to see $42 million as pocket change.