unilad homepage
  • News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Man became richest person in the world for two minutes with $92 quadrillion

Home> News> US News

Updated 10:04 28 Aug 2023 GMT+1Published 10:00 28 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Man became richest person in the world for two minutes with $92 quadrillion

Chris Reynolds was the richest person on the planet for a very brief period

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

What would you do if you woke up and you were the richest person on the planet?

Well, while you and I will have to dream long and hard about that hypothetical scenario, it actually happened to one person.

Yep, a decade ago, Chris Reynolds opened his PayPal account to find that he was a whole lot richer, to the tune of $92 quadrillion. So many zeros.

Advert

In July 2013, the 56-year-old had for some unknown reason been credited with an eye-watering amount, which looks like this $92,233,720,368,547,800.

This meant that for a very brief moment in time, he was the only person on the face of the Earth who could claim to be a quadrillionaire.

Understandably, when the news got out, the country's media wanted to know all about it.

“It’s a curious thing,” Reynolds, from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, told CNN.

The credit made him the only quadrillionaire at the time.
PayPal/Chris Reynolds

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

Prior to the bizarre turn of fortune, Reynolds said the most money he had ever had in his PayPal account was 'a little over $1,000', which he'd made from selling tires on eBay.

However, as we said, his time as the richest man in the world only lasted for a very brief moment.

When staff at PayPal realised what had happened, they fixed the issue and apologised to Reynolds for the whole mishap.

In a statement, the company said: “This is obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr. Reynolds understood this was the case.”

Reynolds actually had a pretty selfless way of spending the money if he'd been allowed to keep it.

Chris Reynolds wasn't mega rich for long, sadly.
NBC

He said he'd have used it to ‘pay the national debt down’.

Reynolds added: “Then I would buy the Phillies, if I could get a great price."

After the issue was resolved, PayPal offered to donate an undisclosed amount of money to a charity of Reynolds’ choice.

It probably wasn't $92 quadrillion.

"We think it's inspiring that he decided to use this occurrence to donate to a cause he believes in," the firm said in a follow-up statement.

"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!"

Reynolds told the Philadelphia Daily News, which originally broke the story, that the huge sum made him feel ‘like a million bucks’.

"At first I thought that I owed quadrillions,” he said.

“It was quite a big surprise."

Featured Image Credit: NBC/PayPal/Chris Reynolds

Topics: US News, Money

Dominic Smithers
Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is the News/Agenda Desk Lead, covering the latest trends and breaking stories. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

X

@SmithersDom

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

12 mins ago
18 mins ago
an hour ago
  • Ethan Miller/Getty Images for ABC
    12 mins ago

    Beyoncé's nephew clarifies ‘misconceptions’ about his life and slams adults who 'called him gay' at 13

    Daniel 'Julez' Smith Jr. has opened up about 'misconceptions' about him in a livestream

    Celebrity
  • Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
    18 mins ago

    JD Vance makes bold claim to Americans as gas prices soar due to Iran war

    The vice president spoke out as the conflict continues and gas prices keep soaring

    News
  • Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic
    an hour ago

    Nicholas Hoult's wife hits back at body-shamers after Oscars party dress sparks outrage

    People made some unwarranted remarks about Bryana Holly's outfit

    Celebrity
  • Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
    an hour ago

    Val Kilmer set to be 'brought back to life’ in film he's starring in a year after his death

    Val Kilmer died aged 65 last year

    Celebrity
  • Man became richest person in the world for two minutes with $92 quadrillion
  • Man who became richest person in world for two minutes explained what he would've done with $92 quadrillion
  • Woman becomes richest person in the world with a net worth 100,000 times bigger than Elon Musk’s
  • Iran negotiating with FIFA to move World Cup games out of the US