For several decades now, the name Bill Gates has been synonymous with phenomenal wealth. This week the 65-year-old Microsoft founder and his 56-year-old spouse Melinda announced in a statement on <a href="https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1389316412259270657" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> that they will be separating from one another after 27 years of marriage. As a result of this, Gates' gigantic estate has fallen under public scrutiny once again, with financial experts speculating as to how the divorce will affect his net worth. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1389316412259270657]] However, after a certain point, when millions turn to billions, and billions into hundreds of billions, it's hard to wrap your head around exactly what those numbers mean. So to put things into better perspective, we've compiled eight facts about Bill Gates that prove just how rich he really is. Are you ready? Prepare to feel poor. 1. He's only getting richer: According to an analysis of Gates' net worth made by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-is-bill-gates-net-worth-mind-blowing-facts-2019-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Insider</a>, Gates has managed to become $41 billion richer in the past year alone, jumping from $105 billion to $146 billion as of the end of 2020. <img class=" wp-image-1263105920" src="https://img.vt.co/2021/05/Bill-Gates-2-GARY-DOAK-_-Alamy-Stock-Photo-1.jpeg" alt="Bill Gates. " width="728" height="380" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: GARY DOAK/Alamy Stock Photo]] 2. He makes more than $4,000 every second This means that - based on the money he earned over the course of the last year - Gates acquires the princely sum of approximately $4,630 every second, or $277,800 every minute. 3. He's unlikely to spend most of it: As if that wasn't mindboggling enough, Business Insider went on to calculate that even if Gates were to spend a million dollars every day, it would still take him more than 400 years to deplete his humungous fortune. <img class=" wp-image-1263105919" src="https://img.vt.co/2021/05/Bill-Gates-1-GARY-DOAK_Alamy-Stock-Photo-1.jpeg" alt="" width="764" height="398" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: GARY DOAK/Alamy Stock Photo]] 4. He's way richer than the British Royal Family: The British monarchy receives its finances from a large number of sources, but even then, Gates' personal wealth dwarfs that of the entire institution. Indeed, as of 2021, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielshapiro/2021/03/10/inside-the-firm-how-the-royal-familys-28-billion-money-machine-really-works/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes</a> estimated the entire wealth of the Royal Family was a mere $28 billion dollars. <img class=" wp-image-1263105917" src="https://img.vt.co/2021/05/The_Queen-Nathan-King-1.jpeg" alt="The Queen. " width="785" height="409" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Nathan King/Alamy Stock Photo]] 5. He makes more money in a year than some countries: Data provided by the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank</a> shows that Gates' net worth is higher than the combined GDP of a number of nations. Indeed, Gates just so happens to make more money in a year than Luxembourg ($71 billion) Estonia ($31.4 billion) and Bolivia ($40.8 billion) combined. <img class=" wp-image-1263105915" src="https://img.vt.co/2021/05/Talinn-Silvan-Bachmann-1.jpeg" alt="An image of Talinn. " width="808" height="421" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Silvan Bachmann/Alamy Stock Photo]] 6.  He'd still be rich even if he gave us all a share: Business Insider has also calculated that, based on Gates' most recent earnings, he could easily give every single living person on the planet $15, and still have enough change left over to be worth $28 billion. 7. He has an amazingly cool house: Nicknamed "Xanadu 2.0" in a homage to Charles Foster Kane's house in the movie Citizen Kane, Gates' mansion is located in  Medina, Washington. It took him seven years and $63 million to build and boasts a variety of space-age features, such as a 60-foot pool with an underwater music system, a trampoline room, and 24 bathrooms. <img class=" wp-image-1263105914" src="https://img.vt.co/2021/05/Xanadu-Anthony-Bolante-1.jpeg" alt="An image of Xanadu. " width="782" height="407" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: REUTERS/Alamy Stock Photo]] 8. He's given most of it away: Despite his phenomenal personal capital, the most amazing thing about Bill Gates is the fact that he's given most of his money away. According to <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/11/fact-check-bill-gates-has-given-over-50-billion-charitable-causes/3169864001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a>, Gates has given away $45.5 billion to charitable causes since 1994, and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-11565953" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC News</a> reports that in 2019, he and Melinda pledged to eventually part with 95% of Gates' overall wealth. 9. He's richer than other billionaires: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forbes</a> has estimated that Gates is the fourth-richest man in the world as of 2021 - lagging behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. However, he's still easily outpaced other millionaires, with data from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a> showing that he's streets ahead of Indian's richest businessman Mukesh Ambani (worth $74.7 billion) and Zhong Shanshan, the richest person in Asia (worth $66.3 billion). <img class=" wp-image-1263105916" src="https://img.vt.co/2021/05/Mukesh-Amban-Dinodia-Photos-1.jpeg" alt="An image of Mukesh Amban." width="789" height="411" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Dinodia Photos/Alamy Stock Photo]] 10. He doesn't know how much groceries cost: It's hardly a surprise, but it seems as though Bill Gates doesn't buy his own groceries. In a 2018 appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Gates struggled to name the price of a number of common household goods, guessing that a bag of frozen pizza rolls might be worth $22 and that a pack of Tide Pods would only cost $10. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_higXixRA]] So there you have it. Hopefully, you can now appreciate just how much the man himself is really worth, and what an incredible influence he has had upon design, computing, and technology. <h6>Featured Image Credit: Alamy Stock Images</h6>

10 facts that highlight just how rich Bill Gates is compared to you

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