Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the richest man in modern history as his net worth topped USD 150 billion on Monday, July 16, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. The Amazon CEO is richer than anyone else on earth since at least 1982, when Forbes started publishing its billionaires’ ranking.

His fortune is the equivalent of three quarters of Romania’s entire output for one year. Romania’s GDP amounted to some USD 215 billion in 2017. Moreover, the 7.47 million households in Romania spent in total close to USD 65 billion last year.

The Romanians' total wealth amounted to some USD 250 billion, or about USD 13,000 per capita, according to the Romanian National Bank's data. This makes Bezos 11.5 million times richer than the average Romanian.

If he decided to sell his 17% stake in Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, and invest in Romania, here’s a list of what Jeff Bezos could buy with his money:

• All the modern shopping centers in Romania – USD 10.5 billion: Romania has about 3.5 million sqm of modern retail area, evaluated at an average USD 3,000 per sqm based on disclosed deals and valuations. Prices range widely from over USD 5,500 per sqm for AFI Cotroceni mall in Bucharest to under USD 1,500 per sqm for malls outside Bucharest (Shopping City Sibiu).
  
• All the modern office buildings in Romania – USD 9.8 billion: The total modern office area in Romania amounts to almost 3.5 million sqm, 2.6 mln sqm of which is in Bucharest. Recent transactions (Immofinanz takeover of Campus 6.1 in Bucharest) indicate valuations of around USD 2,800 per sqm.
  
• All the logistics and industrial parks in Romania – USD 1.35 billion: The total area of the modern logistics and industrial parks in Romania amounts to over 3 million sqm. Valuations range around USD 450 per sqm.
  
• The Parliament’s Palace – USD 2.5 billion: The landmark building in central Bucharest, built at the order of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, is the second-biggest administrative building in the world. It currently hosts the Romanian Parliament but much of its 300,000 sqm area is unused. The valuation is a conservative one, based on the building’s taxable value, which was set at some RON 9.3 billion (USD 2.3 billion) in 2016, according to a Government document.
  
• All of Romania’s arable land – USD 21.6 billion: Romania has close to 9.4 million hectares of arable land with an average price of some USD 2,300 per hectare, the lowest in the European Union, according to Eurostat data.
  
• All of Romania’s forests – USD 22.4 billion: The total area covered with forests in Romania is 6.4 million hectares, with prices ranging between USD 2,000 and USD 6,000, depending on the tree mix, age and location. An average price tag can be estimated at around USD 3,500 per hectare.
  
• All of Romania’s car production for one year – USD 8.8 billion: Romanian carmaker Dacia produces cars worth some USD 6 billion every year while Ford’s factory in Romania is expected to reach a production of over 140,000 EcoSport units this year, valued at some USD 2.8 billion.
  
• All the companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange – USD 24 billion: This includes OMV Petrom (USD 4.6 bln), Romgaz (USD 3.15 bln), Banca Transilvania (USD 2.7 bln).

All of the above would cost just over USD 100 billion, which still leaves the world’s rickets with USD 50 billion to spend in Romania. What would you suggest he buys with this money?

editor@romania-insider.com

(Opening photo source: Amazon website)