YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    What $1 Billion Gets You These Days

    By Alexander Abad-Santos | The Atlantic Wire – Mon, Apr 9, 2012

    For the amount that Facebook just spent on Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg could've paid for the cure to Lou Gehrig's disease, ramped up New York City's 911 system, or ... purchased the Solo Cup company. We know because we checked.

    RELATED: Instagram Was Mark Zuckerberg's Last Hurrah as Facebook's Hacker King

    Here's a quick rundown of what $1 billion can buy you (or Zuckerberg):

    RELATED: What's Facebook Really Worth?

    • Instagram 
    • The entire New York Times, says Reuters' Jack Shafer
    •  The ability to buy out New York Times CEO Janet Robinson 42 times
    • 800 of  AOL's Microsoft's patents
    •  1,250 scandal-inducing, team-building government conferences akin to the General Service Administration's $800,000 Las Vegas shindig
    • Shell's Debt on Iranian Oil
    • The cure for Lou Gehrig's disease
    • Solo Cups (the company) 
    • The amount BP has pledged toward Gulf Restoration
    • A better 911 program in New York City
    • Soccer team Real Madrid's Island in the UAE
    • The winnings of every Powerball jackpot in 2007
    • 45 percent of a B-2 Bomber
    • 68 Lebron Jameses , 40 Kobe Bryants, and 83 Albert Pujolses
    • All of J.Lo's love (it's gratis!)

    That said, there are some things $1 billion can't buy you... like  a chain of 99-cent stores.  So take that, Zuckerberg. 

    Loading...

    News for You »

    • Fired for word: 'Negro' in Spanish class

      One of the first lessons one learns in English class is that context is everything. The same holds true in Spanish.

    • Damage reported from magnitude-5.7 quake in Calif.

      GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Residents in rural northeastern California assessed damage to their homes and businesses Friday from a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, one of the strongest temblors to hit the densely forested region in decades.

    • No Wonder Republican Criticism of Obama Isn’t Working

      Henny Youngman, the late borscht belt comedian, told hundreds of politically incorrect jokes. One of them was his response when asked, “How’s your wife?” “Compared to what?” he’d say.

    • 5 climbers missing on world's 3rd highest mountain

      KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Nepalese official says five climbers are missing and feared dead on the world's third highest mountain.

    • Cycling-Road-Giro d'Italia classification after stage 20

      May 25 (Infostrada Sports) - Classification from Giro d'Italia after Stage 20 on Saturday 1. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Astana) 79:23:19" 2. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / Team Sky) +4:43" 3. Cadel Evans (Australia / BMC Racing) +5:52" 4. Michele Scarponi (Italy / Lampre) +6:48" 5. Carlos Betancur (Colombia / AG2R) +7:28" 6. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland / Lampre) +7:43" 7. Rafal Majka (Poland / Saxo - Tinkoff) +8:09" 8. Benat Intxausti (Spain / Movistar) +10:26" 9. Mauro Santambrogio (Italy / Vini Fantini) +10:32" 10. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) +10:59" 11. ...

    • Protesters in over 400 cities march vs Monsanto

      LOS ANGELES (AP) — Organizers say two million people marched in protest against seed giant Monsanto in hundreds of rallies across the U.S. and in over 50 other countries on Saturday.

    • Fox News Is a Terrible Advocate for Freedom of the Press

      Roger Ailes is full of self-righteous outrage that the Department of Justice subpoenaed Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails as it investigated the leak of classified information about North Korea. It's a recent conversion after leading a news network that has been calling for criminalizing journalism for years.

    • Terror in London Sparks Tensions, Upsurge in Islamophobic Attacks

      Violence and fear travel swiftly, and faster still in the era of tweets and status updates and 24-hour rolling news. Just after 2 pm on May 22, police answered a call to an incident in Woolwich, southeast London. A 25-year-old soldier, Drummer Lee Rigby, leaving the local barracks, had been hit by a car and then hacked to death in front of horrified onlookers. One of his alleged killers, later identified as Michael Adebolajo, linked the attack to the British military presence in Muslim countries. ...

    Show More
    Loading...

    Follow Yahoo! News