the webb blog • what i’d do with a billion dollars
Document: WM-098 P. Webb<br>Category: Personal 2026-07-08
What I’d do with a BILLION dollars
Abstract
Hey Siri, play "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" by Nas<br>and Lauren Hill.
Body
There’s been much hullabaloo about the world’s favorite frog-built<br>barrel-chested Ewok[1] with hourglass ankles[2] becoming the first<br>TRILLIONAIRE as of late, with his most fervent and financially-poor<br>supporters celebrating this achievement as if its theirs. Personally,<br>I don’t get it but I imagine it matches my elation about Kendrick<br>Lamar at the Super Bowl (same with the Spanish diaspora when Bad<br>Bunny was at the Super Bowl). The difference is, these musical<br>artists speak truth to power and spread messages of unity and love.
Anyhoo.
The scale of wealth in America is staggering. A few months ago I saw<br>a post[3] on Instagram attempting to illustrate just how massive the<br>gap between a million and a billion is. Look at like this:
- a million seconds = 12 days<br>- a billion seconds = 32 years
The median U.S. household made $83,780 in 2024. This average<br>household would need to work eleven THOUSAND (plus 943) years to make<br>a billion. The average person not being able to fathom this (hi) have<br>difficulty understanding wealth policies.
An overwhelming majority of the world’s billionaires live in the U.S.<br>How do they keep it? Unrealized gains are never taxed; these are<br>things like stocks and real estate. Billionaires don’t spend their<br>own money if they can help it. With so many assets, they’re able to<br>take out low interest loans…a loan isn’t income. No income, no tax!
Must be nice!
I believe if Bernie Sanders wasn’t cucked by the Democrats, the U.S.<br>would be in a much better place. A 10% wealth tax would raise nearly<br>$700 BILLION to:
1) end child hunger for a decade<br>2) free pre-K for every child for five years<br>3) expand affordable housing nationwide<br>4) cancel ALL medical debt in the U.S.
And you’ll still have ~$200 billion left over, and the billionaires<br>would still be billionaires!!
I read an article[4] this morning where the author ponders why<br>billionaires put on flowery performances regarding their philanthropy<br>and why they aren’t just honest about it? Instead of "I’m donating<br>my money to charity," it’s "I’m going to use my money to do charity."<br>That nuance is key and reading Ibrahim’s article pushed me to finally<br>write what’s been in my head for the past week.
## The Wibby Billy Plan
I’m a millennial. The future we were promised as kids has yet to<br>materialize. I’m now 38 with a wife and kids. Three wars and a couple<br>recessions has led me to an inconvient truth; we’re gonna have to<br>build what we were promised (while sidestepping edgelords, senile<br>emperors, and angry nerds intent on cosplaying the megacorps in<br>Cyberpunk 2077).
Here’s what I’d spend a billy on:
- dumb appliances, made tough<br>- The brand would simply be WEBB (like SONY, but my surname). TVs,<br>washing machines, dishwashers, tractors, you name it.<br>- the Apple of Linux computing<br>- Linux is having an incredible moment thanks to companies like<br>Framework and Valve. It could have an even greater moment if a<br>company with the resources of an Apple or Microsoft entered the<br>fray, giving Linux equal footing with these behemoths. I have<br>ideas[5] in this realm, gotta finish other projects first. The<br>desktop modding scene of the early 2000s holds a special place in<br>my heart and I want to (help) bring it back.<br>- replace ICANN<br>- ICANN is supposed to steward the internet but they’ve been doing<br>nothing for decades but collecting fees. I do think blockchain is<br>the way to go (with DNS!!) and am slowly working on this[6].<br>- hoverboards<br>- Every billionaire has their pet project. I’ve wanted one since I<br>became aware of hovercrafts as a kid. My dad ordered a blueprint<br>from a magazine so we could build one…we never did but I still<br>have the blueprint! Somewhere! Lexus, for some reason[7], made a<br>hoverboard as a marketing stunt and that’s the last time any<br>company has done something about this.<br>- invest in eco-friendly stuff<br>- There’s this company making bricks from fabric[8] and they look<br>pretty cool. Western countries generate so much waste and it sits<br>in landfills on floating barges. Gross and fucked up. Companies<br>who have already identified opportunities and processing need<br>support to scale. I love space as much as the next billionaire<br>(my rap alias is Spaceman Fresh FFS) but let’s take care of where<br>we’re at, first. When you’re on a plane and the flight attendants<br>are informing us what to do in the event of an emergency, we’re<br>instructued to put our own face mask on before helping others.<br>Makes sense to treat our planet the same way.<br>- overhaul healthcare in America<br>- Okay, I might need a few billion for this. There’s money to be<br>made in keeping people sick so after I pay off everyone gleefully<br>in healthcare for perverse incentives, I’m left with understaffed<br>facilities and Mark Cuban. Or maybe, start a new healthcare...