So Hewlett-Packard wants to form a $US87 billion entity by paying $US25 billion for rival Compaq? That's a lot of shekels (103 billion of them to be exact). At Tabloid we struggled to get our heads around just how big a number $US25 billion is, so we did some sums to put some scale on it and see what else it will buy you.
Based on an exchange rate of $US0.54 per Aussie dollar, $US25 billlion is equal to $48.07 billion. The money could have been spelt elsewhere on:
-17,806,267,692 beers at Norths Rugby Club (our favourite drinking hole).
-Paying off the Australian national trading deficit five times.
-31 Russian aircraft carriers.
-440 FA/18 Hornet fighter jets.
-25 jumbo jets.
-over 15 billion Big Macs.
-117,500 new Commodores.
-3,518 Sydney Harbour Bridges (based on 1932 prices).
-Over half the gross domestic product of New Zealand.
And according to one of our Tabloid spies, $US25 billion would provide you with $US913,000 every day for your entire life, if you lived to 75. That's $US38,000 per hour, $US634 per minute or $US10 per second.
