ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Richest man of all-time gained and lost his entire wealth in two minutes

Home> News

Updated 10:30 6 Mar 2023 GMTPublished 14:39 5 Mar 2023 GMT

Richest man of all-time gained and lost his entire wealth in two minutes

Talk about a range of emotions...

Harley Young

Harley Young

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

Ever wondered what you'd do if you were a millionaire? What about a billionaire? One man bypassed all of that and suddenly became a multi-quadrillionaire in minutes.

The American man became the richest person of all-time for a very brief moment before he lost it all again.

56-year-old Chris Reynolds opened his Paypal account one day in July 2013 to find his account had been credited with a whopping $92 quadrillion - $92,233,720,368,547,800 to be exact - briefly making him the richest man and the only quadrillionaire to walk the Earth.

Advert

Various news outlets that had caught wind of the event were quick to point out that, at the time, the Delaware County man was a million times richer than telecom mogul Carlos Slim, who's net worth was a gigantic $67 billion.

Recounting the moment, Reynolds told CNN: "It’s a curious thing,"

“I don’t know, maybe someone was having fun.”

The richest man in the world...for 2 minutes in 2013.
NBC

It must have been quite a shock to the system for Reynolds as he recalled that the most he'd ever made through PayPal was ‘a little over $1,000’ from selling some vintage BMW tyres on eBay.

Unfortunately, as all good things do come to an end, with PayPal quickly realising their error and correcting the issue, apologising to Reynolds for the 'inconvenience' caused.

Paypal released a statement saying: “This is obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr. Reynolds understood this was the case.”

The online payment service offered to donate a sum of money to a charity of Reynold's choice as payment for the mishap.

Chris Reynolds' whopping PayPal balance.
PayPal/Chris Reynolds

A later statement then said: "We think it's inspiring that he decided to use this occurrence to donate to a cause he believes in.

"And we hope to honor this spirit by donating to a cause of his choice – we've reached out to him to make this offer and to let him know we are grateful that he's a customer!"

In an interview with Philadelphia Daily News, who originally broke the wild story, Reynolds told the reporter that seeing those figures on his account made him feel ‘like a million bucks’.

“It was quite a big surprise." said Reynolds, admitting he originally thought it meant he owed the money and not that it was in his possession at the time.

The news outlet asked Reynolds what he would have done with the money if he could have kept it, to which he said he'd 'pay the national debt down', adding that he would buy 'the Phillies' (the baseball franchise, if you were wondering) if he could get a good price.

Featured Image Credit: NBC/Realimage / Alamy Stock Photo
Harley Young
Harley Young

Freelance Journalist for LADbible Group

X

@Harley__Young

Recommended reads

Tesla fining customers up to $50,000 for selling their cars(Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)Everything that changes when you use Omega-3 Fish Oil taken by millions for 30 daysGetty Stock ImagesScientists reveal what happens to tattoo ink inside your body and there's a worrying cancer risk(Getty Stock Images)Top Gun 3 officially announced with Tom Cruise returningParamount Pictures

Advert

Choose your content:

4 hours ago
5 hours ago
8 hours ago
  • (Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
    4 hours ago

    Tesla fining customers up to $50,000 for selling their cars

    Tesla is fining certain customers for selling off their vehicles – why is this happening?

    News
  • Getty Stock Images
    5 hours ago

    Everything that changes when you use Omega-3 Fish Oil taken by millions for 30 days

    Research shows that three-quarters of the world are not getting enough Omega-3

    News
  • (Getty Stock Images)
    5 hours ago

    Scientists reveal what happens to tattoo ink inside your body and there's a worrying cancer risk

    There is a growing field of research into tattoos and the possible link to skin cancer

    News
  • Survival International
    8 hours ago

    Update on tourist arrested after illegally sailing to ‘world’s most isolated tribe’ to leave them can of coke

    Content creator Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 25, was arrested last year after illegally visiting North Sentinel Island

    News
  • Richest man of all-time gained and lost his entire wealth in two minutes
  • Richest man of all time gained and lost his entire wealth in two minutes
  • Two I’m A Celeb All Stars campmates ‘had huge bust-up’ and refused to continue filming
  • Man stopped sweating and lost all his hair months after getting tattoo with experts thinking colour of ink to blame