A man in America unexpectedly received $92 quadrillion, making him the richest person in the planet for a very brief period of time.
What just happened?
Many of us dream of hitting the lottery and retiring to a life of luxury, but one American man recently experienced fortune that beyond even the most extravagant of our fantasies when quadrillions appeared in his Paypal account.
When Chris Reynolds, 56, opened his account in July 2013, he discovered that PayPal had incorrectly credited him with $92,233,720,368,547,800.
He was momentarily the richest man in the world as a result, as well as the only quadrillionaire on the planet.
At the time, some news organizations noted that this increased his wealth by more than a million times compared to Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim, who had a net worth of $67 billion.
Reynolds, a resident of Delaware County, told CNN, “It’s a curious thing.
“I dunno, maybe they were having fun,” someone said.
Reynolds said the most he had ever made on PayPal was “a little over $1,000” selling a set of vintage BMW tyres on eBay before the surprise credit suddenly showed up in his account.
Unfortunately for him, the alarmed employees at PayPal quickly realized what had happened, fixed the issue, and apologized to him for the “inconvenience.”
“This is obviously an error,” the corporation stated in a statement. “We appreciate that Mr Reynolds understood this to be the case.”
When PayPal realized its error and withdrew the money, it offered to contribute an undisclosed sum to a charity of Reynolds’ choosing.
Later, it was stated: “We find it admirable that he chose to use this opportunity to contribute to a cause he cares about.
“And we’ve reached out to him to make this offer and to express our gratitude in order to celebrate this spirit by making a donation to a charity of his choice.”
Reynolds claimed that the enormous sum made him feel “like a million bucks” in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News, which broke the story.
He admitted, “At first I felt I owed quadrillions.
“It came as such a shock,”
When asked what he would have done with the money if he had been able to retain it, he responded that he would have “paid the national debt down” with it.
Then, if I could find the Phillies for a fantastic bargain, Reynolds continued, “I would purchase them.”
What a lucky man!