John Kennedy was the richest President ever, worth about $1 billion in today's dollars. Abraham Lincoln, however, was worth less than $1 million. The average net worth of America's presidents is $62 million, adjusted for inflation.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is worth $40 billion -- more than every US President combined.
Of course, while money is power, there is no more powerful position than President of the United States of America. Right? For now.
Everyday, a billion or so people across the world access Facebook. This is unprecedented. Consider the scope of Facebook:
- 1.5 billion people access Facebook at least once a month
- Users spend an average of 20 minutes per day on the site
- About 800 million people access Facebook from their smartphone -- everyday
Now imagine how much time billions of us will spend inside Facebook if Zuckerberg's team actually does revolutionize virtual reality.
Or consider the fact that an entirely new way of communicating, for both people and brands, already takes place inside Facebook's Instagram business, which has 400 million users and is growing.
Also consider how more Americans are increasingly getting most of their news via Facebook. Even the Washington Post has said that going forward all their stories will be posted on Facebook.
There were countless tweets and literally dozens of media stories decrying the fact that Facebook went down this week -- for a few minutes. This goes directly to the scope and importance of the massive, global Facebook platform.
Mark Zuckerberg is clearly aware of the power he wields.
In the past week, Zuckerberg...
- Met with Xi Jinping, China's President
- Hosted Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister
- Spoke before the United Nations, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Zuckerberg may also be the leading voice on America's immigration policy.
In 2015, the President remains the most powerful person in the world. Perhaps this won't ever change, or won't change in our lifetime. Nonetheless, it's time to understand there are new sources of power and new ways to leverage it. For now, nobody understands this as well as Mark Zuckerberg.
