[notheguyouthink]

Are you kidding? (..not being sarcastic). Drug lords don't strike me as having quite the wealth that Gates has. Hell, I'd even assume drug lords pale in comparison to some oil Princes, but at least that's a more even comparison perhaps. Gates just has so much money that it's nearly beyond comprehension.

But, I don't know any of this, just speculating. Do you know more?

[MagnumOpus]

> Drug lords don't strike me as having quite the wealth that Gates has

Escobar at his height had an estimated wealth of $30bn - with inflation that is very much in the same ballpark.

And he had a huge share of his wealth in cash - you might know the anecdote that his operation spent $2,500 a month on rubber bands to bundle up cash...

Nobody knows what the wealth of today's global drug kingpins is, but I would be surprised if El Chapo Guzmán weren't worth tens of billions.

[notheguyouthink]

> Escobar at his height had an estimated wealth of $30bn - with inflation that is very much in the same ballpark.

Wow, that is very shocking! I frankly thought there was too much chaos to obtain >$10bn. Hell, I'd even be impressed with >$1bn. Guess I don't give them enough credit, and I also give countries ability to manage the crime lords too much credit.

[ratatouille72]

He's talking about liquidity rich as in cash rich. Bezos and Zuck have a majority of their wealth in stock. Pablo Escobar supposedly made 10+ billion a year, mostly in cash. I'm pretty confident the person holding the most cash in the world is a drug lord or criminal. Anyone who's worth 100m (via legitimate means) would not be holding that much cash