MORE MONEY THAN US TREASURY

NEW YORK. — It’s a world where you now find a raft of individuals with more money than the United States Treasury.

With cash levels at the US Treasury tumbling toward a dangerously low level, as Washington waits until the last minute to raise the debt ceiling, things have become quite interesting.

As of the close of business on May 25, Treasury had just US$38.8 billion in cash, according to the latest federal data.

That’s down from more than US$200 billion earlier this month and nearing the bare minimum level of US$30 billion.

For context, 31 billionaires are each worth more than the federal government’s US$38,8 billion in cash, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Some of them, like fashion mogul Bernard Arnault – are worth a lot more.

Arnault, the chairman of luxury goods maker LVMH, has a net worth estimated at US$193 billion.

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk is worth US$185 billion and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a net worth of US$144 billion.

The list of 31 billionaires worth more than Uncle Sam’s cash total includes household names like Michael Dell, legendary investor Warren Buffett and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, as well as billionaires with lower profiles such as French billionaire Francois Pinault and Chanel chairman Alain Wertheimer.

The Bloomberg Billionaire Index provides a daily ranking of the world’s wealthiest people based on net worth.

The New York Times noted how the outlet’s founder, Michael Bloomberg, is left off the list under its editorial policy, but Forbes estimates his net worth as around US$94.5 billion.

Here are the billionaires with higher net worths than the U.S. cash reserves, according to Tuesday’s ranking:

◆ Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury group LVMH: US$193 billion

◆ Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter: US$185 billion

◆ Jeff Bezos, founder and chief chairman of Amazon: US$144 billion

◆ Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft: US$126 billion

◆ Larry Ellison, co-founder and executive chairman of Oracle: US$116 billion

◆ Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and investor: US$115 billion

◆ Larry Page, co-founder of Google: US$112 billion

◆ Warren Buffett, investor and chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway: US$111 billion

◆ Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google: US$107 billion

◆ Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and CEO of parent company Meta: US$95.5 billion

◆ Carlos Slim, investor: US$92.2 billion

◆ Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal: US$88.1 billion

◆ Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of the conglomerate Reliance Industries: US$86.1 billion

◆ Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex fashion group: US$67.8 billion

◆ Jim Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune: US$66.8 billion

◆ Rob Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune: US$65 billion

◆ Alice Walton, heiress to the Walmart fortune: US$64 billion

◆ Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group: US$62.9 billion

◆ Zhong Shanshan, founder and chairman of the beverage company Nongfu Spring: US$61.5 billion

◆ Jacqueline Badger Mars, heiress and co-owner of Mars, world’s largest candy maker: US$61.4 billion

◆ John Mars, heir and chairman of Mars, world’s largest candy maker: US$61.4 billion

◆ Julia Flesher Koch & family, heirs of the businessman David Koch: US$60.7 billion

◆ Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of conglomerate Koch Industries: US$60.5 billion

◆ Michael Dell, founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies: US$54.5 billion

◆ Alain Wertheimer, co-owner and chairman of Chanel: US$46.4 billion

◆ Gerard Wertheimer, co-owner of Chanel and head of company’s watch division: US$46.4 billion

◆ Giovanni Ferrero, executive chairman of confectionery company Ferrero Group, & family: US$43.5 billion

◆ Zhang Yiming, founder and chairman of technology company ByteDance, parent company of TikTok: US$42.3 billion

◆ Klaus-Michael Kuhne, honorary chairman and majority owner of Kuehne + Nagel, world’s largest sea-freight forwarder: US$41.6 billion

◆ Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, and family: US$41.5 billion

◆ Francois Pinault, founder of the luxury group Kering: US$40.1 billion – CNN/Fox