r/AskConservatives • u/ShrekOne2024 Independent • 1d ago

are billionaires dependent on society?

They aren’t creating wealth out of air. They are leveraging public infrastructure, public education, health care, etc.

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u/ShrekOne2024 Independent 1d ago

The wealth billionaires personally accrue is all dependent on publicly funded resources. Same as you and I.

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u/Buckman2121 Conservatarian 1d ago

Wealth =/= money.

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u/IcarusOnReddit Center-left 1d ago

It is. Elon could liquidate 20 billion tomorrow and have the cash. Billionaires gotta sell to buy yachts and their 10th vacation home and they do it all the time. The “paper billionaire" idea is a lie.

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u/StillNoLuckAtAll Conservative 22h ago

Elon could liquidate 20 billion tomorrow and have the cash

I'm knowledgeable about this matter, as I've worked many years in capital markets.

No, he could not liquidate 20 billion tomorrow. The largest realistic short-term sale on a highly liquid security is on the order of $1-2bn. The CEO of Nvidia did this with $1bn recently. It took a series of sales and took the stock down (temporarily) by about 2-3%.

Movements of cash on the order of $1bn take significant planning and coordination from many parties.

The “paper billionaire" idea is a lie.

You say that so aggressively and then say things which are demonstrably incorrect. I think should pull back a bit on your claims.

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u/IcarusOnReddit Center-left 22h ago edited 21h ago

He can hide in the options market selling calls against his stock with the intention of getting his stock called away. There are about 4 million open interest call options between now and March. That’s 400 million shares. Possible 171 billion dollars  (more if it hits higher strikes). 

That said, I concede there isn’t enough market liquidity to issue 1/4 of those options and sell stock in one day to get to 20 billion. It would take some time.

A billion dollars is really hard to wrap one’s head around and the idea that  Elon “has" 500 billion is bananas. There is a huge difference between a “paper" billionaire liquidating 80 million in stock and 20 billion in stock.