Callum Jones
A man who briefly became the richest person in the world has shared how he would have spent the $92 quadrillion that he found in his PayPal account.
I think we've all imagined it, but Chris Reynolds from Pennsylvania, had the true reality of waking up mega rich.
Back in 2013, he opened up PayPal expecting to see the $140 he had stored there, only to be met with a whole lot more - $92 quadrillion more, actually.
Advert
Chris' first reaction was panic, assuming that the banking app was suggesting that he owed someone $92,233,720,368,547,800.
It wasn't until he posted about the shocking bank statement on Facebook that someone pointed out that the astronomical figure was under 'credit', rather than 'debt'.
Before this, the most money Chris had ever seen in his PayPal account was 'a little over $1,000' for selling a set of vintage BMW tires on eBay.
Unfortunately, though, Chris' good fortune was short-lived and the reading was obviously - though devastatingly - a glitch.
When he logged back in to his account, the account balance had gone down to $0.
"This was obviously an error and we appreciate that Mr Reynolds understands this was the case," PayPal said in a statement to the BBC at the time.
The company also offered to make a donation to a cause of Chris' choice as an apology.
Luckily, Chris wasn't too hurt by the incident, and was able to see the funny side.
"It's a curious thing. I don't know, maybe someone was having fun," he told Eyerys.
Since the error, Chris has had plenty of time to daydream about what he would have spent that unimaginable sum of money on if it really had landed in his account - and it wasn't the typical dream car, luxury estate or exotic vacation that you usually hear lottery winners go for.
He said: “I’d want to pay down the US’ national debt. That’s been really bugging me."
A man of the people.
At the time of writing, the US national debt stands at over $30 trillion, so rest assured Chris would definitely have had some cash left over to spend on himself after solving the financial crisis.
And what would the rest of his money go towards, you ask?
"I’m just a modest man. I would want to buy something for myself," he said.
"Maybe the Philadelphia Phillies, if I found a good deal. The rest of it, I’d invest, because that’s what my father-in-law would want me to do."