16

I'm particularly interested in these two writers because Carl Barks was the original, while Don Rosa innovated heavily while intentionally staying very true to the original.

Scrooge frequently makes remarks on his wealth: it is Five multiplujillion, nine impossibidillion, seven fantasticatrillion dollars and sixteen cents according to The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. Unfortunately, we have no idea what that means in real life.

There have been several attempts at estimating his wealth. Forbes claims that McDuck compares his wealth to 21.4% the value of Fort Knox, arriving at an estimate of $44.1 billion. Unfortunately I'm unable to find the source for this quote.

On the other hand, this article estimates the volume of silver in the money bin and arrives at an estimate of $27 Trillion. However, it is limited by the way in which it doesn't account for Scrooge's treasures, businesses and external investments.

EDIT: Many thanks to user14111 for pointing out errors in calculation in the second link

| improve this question | |
  • 1
    I'm sorry I wasn't clear. It's not a calculation error, it's how Wolf Gnards interprets Carl Barks's wonderfully silly "cubic acre". What I tried to point out was that Mr. Gnard's interpretation was quite arbitrary. Using the same logic but expressing an acre in square miles instead of square feet, you get a cube about the size of a pea; using square millimeters, you get something the size of a small planet. – user14111 Mar 30 '14 at 10:15
  • There is also a problem about the value of his coins. Sometimes the coins are made of silver, sometimes gold (I think that this is a coloring problem with the printed books). Don Rosa always states that the correct coins are made of silver, even if in all Cark Barks paintings they are printed gold. This could create a gap in the real value of his fortune. – user47404 Jun 25 '15 at 3:54
24

As of Uncle Scrooge Issue 341, his net worth is approximately $315,569,400,000,000,000.

A magic hourglass causes him to lose a billion dollars a minute. He opines that he'll be bankrupt "in 600 years" at that rate. The math from that point is quite simple.

This of course doesn't take into account any interest charges, ongoing investments (he's known to own a railway, goldmines, silver mines, shipping lines, etc etc) or guaranteed income from bonds and certificates, nor does it take into account that this is more than the combined net worth of all worldwide currency, assets and infrastructure.

Magic Hourglass

| improve this answer | |
  • 1
    So Essentially he's 315 quadrillion dollars. – DoctorWho22 Mar 30 '14 at 14:15
  • 1
    @DoctorWho22 - Well, since that's more than the whole amount of money in the world you might just as well say Gazillionaire – Valorum Mar 30 '14 at 14:20
  • True but that's the actual word used for 17 0's in a number. – DoctorWho22 Mar 31 '14 at 13:23
  • 1
    @DoctorWho22 - Actually a one with seventeen zeros would be "a hundred quadrillion". A gazillion is a fictitious number meaning very large; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indefinite_and_fictitious_numbers – Valorum Mar 31 '14 at 15:06
  • 1
    Gah! He's wasting away, he's already becoming skin and bones... – Möoz Sep 24 '15 at 1:17
-3

Personally, I don't only believe Barks and Rosa (I think ALL the Disney Comics are in the same continuity), so I could answer you that in the first places the calculs of what quantity of money the Money Bin may content is wrong, because some comics by Marco Rota and Romano Scarpa (and maybe others) show that Scrooge owns many different Money Bins, the one on the Killmotor hill being only his oldest one, and the one where he lives.

But if you want to be only based on Barks and Rosa, then the answer is: impossible to know because Rosa says in Crœsus's treasure that Scrooge gets richer every seconds. So, the answer will be that : it depends from which minute of Scrooge's life you count ! And the silly numbers like "Five multiplujillion, nine impossibidillion, seven fantasticatrillion dollars and sixteen cents" are only that because Scrooge is so wealthy that he has to invent new numbers (actually, there is no word beyond Quadrillion. Oh, maybe "Zillion" in french, but it's only half-official.

| improve this answer | |
  • 1
    No words beyong 'Quadrillion'? Maybe not those specific words, but there are absolutely recognized words for larger quantities – Jason Baker Mar 7 '15 at 17:58
  • They are absolutely different continuities with many differences, e.g. Don Rosa's Uncle Scrooge is a penitent sinner who wishes to redeem himself for the greedy and ruthless life he has lived by taking care of his nephews. This is not the case with Romano Scarpa's Scrooge. In Don Rosa's canon, Scrooge and Glittering Goldie are star-crossed lovers still deeply in love with each other, and who never married. Scarpa's Goldie has a granddaughter. Scarpa's character, Bridgitta, is madly in love with Scrooge and inserts herself into his life frequently. She doesn't exist in Don Rosa's world. – Twilight Sparkle Mar 7 '15 at 23:00
  • I don't agree with you, Twillight Sparkle, because there are current author that take in count both sources in their stories. And, we ''don't see'' Brigitta in Rosa's stories. And then ? That's not an evidence that she doesn't exist, only that Rosa doesn't like her. And for Scrooge's personality… That's only a ''problem of consistency'', but not an ''evidence that it's not the same world''. Comics publishers always thought all that is in the same universe, and said it in their articles ! – Achille Talon Mar 8 '15 at 18:43
  • Also, Scarpa never said that Goldie got married. He only says she had a child, and then a granddaughter (Chris). A granddaughter who may also be Scrooge's granddaughter… the daughter of a son/daughter Goldie and Scrooge had back in 1898 ! – Achille Talon Mar 8 '15 at 18:51
  • The money bin only has his "cash on hand" and doesn't include the money he has invested – Valorum Nov 17 '17 at 8:36

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.