Imagine trying to visualize $100,000,000,000. That’s a figure with plenty of zeros, so much so that it’s almost unfathomable when laid out visually.
While I’m not here to flaunt a personal stash of $100 billion (if only!), I can point you to an intriguing visual simulation that’s been circulating online, depicting just how massive this amount in $100 bills would look.
The video, originally shared on Instagram by the RED SIDE YouTube channel, starts by comparing relatively smaller amounts: $100 and $10,000. The former is a single bill, while the latter is depicted as a neat little stack.
But as the simulation progresses to the billion-dollar range, the visual scale dramatically increases.
As the video unfolds, the money piles grow exponentially, with occasional figures included for scale, emphasizing the colossal size of the stacks. It’s so extreme that $100 billion covers an area as large as a multi-story building, completely overshadowing a truck used for size comparison.
The sheer volume of the stacks left many Reddit users in awe, unable to grasp just how large the amount really is.
“Humans naturally struggle to comprehend the vast differences between a million, a billion, and a trillion,” commented one user.
“This video is quite enlightening. I often tell people that a billion dollars in $100 bills would weigh 22,000 lbs, but this visualization adds a whole new dimension. It’s hard for most to truly understand such large numbers,” another user explained.
“So… Jeff Bezos’ stack of cash is bigger than my apartment… okay…. cool. Cool cool cool,” humorously quipped another viewer.
Interestingly, viewers also noted a shift in the video’s backdrop as the portrayed sums increased, transitioning from a serene grassy field to a grim, dystopian cityscape.
“Was I the only one who noticed it started out in a peaceful grassy field and ended in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?” a viewer pointed out.
“When corporate greed leads to our planet’s destruction, this is what the post-apocalypse will actually look like,” another added grimly.
“My compliments on the choice of the background. Nothing shows better the trail of destruction that is left behind while collecting extreme wealth,” another commented, praising the impactful visual storytelling.