Top 10 Billionaires Discussing Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a hot topic today in every investment circle. What with the debt-laden global financial system and the fear of an imminent meltdown, top investors are already looking for alternatives to secure their wealth. A look into the top 10 billionaires discussing Bitcoin will give us an idea as to what direction the world’s money might be leaning toward in the near future.
Nobody wants to be caught up in the crossfire of poor economic management by the government. It is an experience that a lot of people have had before and won’t want to have again in the same lifetime.
The emergence of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has generated a lot of interest, and seems to introduce a different method of preserving wealth. For this class of people, things may not be very clear yet, in terms of understanding what the industry has to offer. Nevertheless, the fact that they are showing interest in crypto is enough to make you and I consider the options available within the system.
Among the top 10 billionaires discussing Bitcoin are the following:
10. Eric Schmidt
Eric Schmidt is the Executive Chairman and former CEO of Google. As at 2019, Schmidt’s net worth was calculated to be $13.3 billion. By profession, he is a software engineer and a renowned American businessman.
In May 2018, Schmidt described Bitcoin as a remarkable achievement and something that has enormous value. Here is what he said.
“Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement and the ability to create something that is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value”
Abigail Johnson is an American businesswoman whose net worth is rated at $15.7 billion. She is the CEO of Fidelity Investments, and the Chairman of Fidelity International. The firm has nearly $2.7 trillion in managed assets, and Johnson owns 24.7% stake there.
Johnson has embraced cryptocurrencies and, in 2018, Fidelity launched a platform that allows institutional investors to trade Bitcoin and Ether.
8. Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio is popularly described as a self-made billionaire. He is currently worth a whopping $19.4 billion. Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, which he founded, manages $160 billion in investments, making them the world’s biggest hedge fund firm.
Dalio Bridgewater entered into a partnership in 2018 and gave employees more stake in the firm. This is a move that he carried out in order to plan the life of Bridgewater after his departure.
Dalio is seen as one of the controversial figures when it comes to Bitcoin, however he’s still talking about it. He is known for calling Bitcoin a bubble while speaking on CNBC. Here’s what he said:
“It’s not an effective storehold of wealth because it has volatility to it, unlike gold, Bitcoin is a highly speculative market. Bitcoin is a bubble.”
7. Elon Musk
Elon Musk is the CEO and Chairman of Telsa which is popular for revolutionizing the transportation industry with the introduction of electric cars. Musk’s revolution in transportation transcends cars and earth. His SpaceX project also focuses on doing something unique in the area of space travels.
On the topic of Bitcoin, Musk calls the pioneer cryptocurrency a brilliant innovation. He made his belief that cryptocurrency is a better alternative to paper currencies public by describing the Bitcoin structure as “quite brilliant”.
Musk said:
“It (Bitcoin) bypasses currency controls … Paper money is going away. And crypto is a far better way to transfer values than a piece of paper, that’s for sure.”
6. Michael Dell
Michael Dell’s net worth is $33.2 billion, and he is the Chairman of Dell Technologies. This company was formed in 2016, after a merger between Dell and EMC, a computer storage giant.
Even before the merger, Dell has been a supporter of Bitcoin with his original company, Dell. In July 2014, he tweeted that his [then] company started accepting Bitcoin for payments. Nothing more describes a classic adoption of the cryptocurrency. In the tweet he said:
“Dell now accepts Bitcoin. More information about today’s announcement
(link: http://www.dell.com/bitcoin)”
5. Jack Ma
Jack Ma is the cofounder and Chairman of Alibaba Group, one of the world’s largest e-commerce businesses. The company raised $25 billion dollars in an IPO in New York back in 2014, setting the record as the world’s biggest public stock offering.
Ma has publicly stated that he is not necessarily a fan of Bitcoin, but is fully interested in the technology that powers it. Here are his words:
“When it comes to Bitcoin, I’m not so interested in it myself. What I want to know is, what can Bitcoin bring to society? After some thought, I myself think that the technology behind Bitcoin is tremendous, so at Alibaba and Alipay we are using it to help build our roadmap to a truly cashless society.”
4. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg has gone beyond just discussing, but even creating a whole cryptocurrency on its own, which has become a huge subject of controversy lately.
Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated at $72 billion which is linked to his primary company, Facebook and every other subsidiaries that are attached to it.
Facebook was taken public in 2012, however, Zuckerberg still owns 15% stake in the company. Zuckerberg has never hidden his affection for cryptocurrency. However, the proposed launch of Libra coin is the loudest statement anyone can ever make on the subject matter.
Here is the cofounder of renowned global database management company, Oracle. Ellison’s net worth is estimated at $68.2 billion. Today at Oracle he serves as the Chairman of the board and the company’s Chief Technology Officer.
Ellison is optimistic about Bitcoin and the technology behind it. His only concerns were about blockchain being used only in the context of Bitcoin and digital currencies. However, he is optimistic that companies outside of finance will implement the technology on a wider scale.
When it comes to investments, the name Warren Buffett is one of the loudest across the globe. He is a serial investor whose present net worth is estimated at $81.2 billion. Buffett, who is nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha” runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.
Buffett is not one of those who are optimistic about Bitcoin. In the past, he even described the cryptocurrency as “rat poison squared”. However, the technology upon which Bitcoin is built is something that he is excited about. Buffett believes that blockchain holds some promise. We’ll have to wait and see if he may change his mind following his infamous lunch with TRON CEO Justin Sun, and other crypto heavyweights.
Bill Gates has a net worth of $103.9 billion. He is the co-founder of Microsoft and till date owns a little over 1% of the company’s stake. Bill and his wife Melinda chair the world’s largest charitable foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
Gates is another critic of Bitcoin who does not expect the pioneer cryptocurrency to succeed. Here is what he had to say when asked of his opinion in 2018:
“As an asset class, you’re not producing anything and so you shouldn’t expect it to go up. It’s kind of a pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment”.
Conclusion
One way or the other, the top names in business and investments have had a look at the emerging technology of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Whether in support or against, the fact that there is a show of concern is a matter of interest.
Many people across the globe today are exploring liquidity providing platforms like Vertex.Market to gather hands-on information about the industry. Besides, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies on their own, are constantly breaking new grounds and proving naysayers wrong in several ways.
Therefore, it is only ideal that even as we consider such information like top 10 billionaires discussing Bitcoin, we take our time and engage in hands-on processes. This is the only way not to be left behind after the train has left the station in this era of emerging technologies.
