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We thought this would be an easy one. Just add up everyone's bank account, subtract the credit card debt and car payments, count the number of people in the world, and divide. Alas, it's a little more complicated than that. The big question is: "What is wealth?" According to Merrill Lynch's Capgemini 2006 World Wealth Report, world wealth grew to $33.3 trillion in 2006. That's a bunch of money, but it takes into account only high net worth individuals (HNWI). These are people with over $1 million in net financial wealth, not counting their residences. There are about 8.7 million members of the HNWI club as of 2005 and growing. There are a good number of us outside this club, but we have some
assets (like our Dodge Stratus) not included in the $33.3 trillion figure. Let's assume the HNWIs control 75% and we have the rest. That would mean there's another $11 trillion or so to throw in the pot. So how are we going to divide up the $44 trillion? The world's population at the end of 2005 was estimated to be 6,580,990,897. Using our sixth-grade long-division skills, we divide the $44 trillion by 6,580,990,897 for an individual share value of $6,685.92. Of course, this is a vastly simplified estimate to a very complex question. Don't take it too seriously, and definitely don't wait for your check to arrive in the mail.
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