How To Become The World's First Trillionaire

Everyone is looking to make a quick buck. Whether it be a group of kids running a lemonade stand or a multi-billion dollar company making new cutting-edge technology, everyone wants to be rich. To be among the ranks of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, and many, many others is something that many can only dream of. In a world with over 7 billion people, it is getting harder and harder to come up with creative ways to earn money.

However, as crazy as it may sound, the world's first trillionaire is alive today. It could be Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or it could even be any random person walking down the street, and you would have no clue whatsoever. Within the next 20 years, it is highly likely that we will be in the presence of the world's first trillionaire. But how would one amass such enormous wealth, you may ask? Simple: asteroid mining.

In an interview in late 2016, Neil deGrasse Tyson revealed the secrets to amassing enormous wealth. "Are you ready? Ready? You listening?" It is likely that the first trillionaire will be the person who exploits the mineral resources on asteroids, and the man is entirely correct. Asteroid mining may make the switch from science fiction to reality in the years to come. NASA tracks the location of thousands of asteroids and near-Earth objects, or NEOS, each and every single day, some of which are worth trillions of dollars.

According to NASA, there are approximately 14,000 near-Earth objects that come relatively close to Earth sometime during their orbit. Many of these nearby asteroids contain the minerals and materials that hold value on Earth, and there are seemingly infinite amounts of them out there. For reference, the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is estimated to contain upwards of 2 million asteroids larger than one kilometer in diameter, on top of millions of smaller ones.

Now for a quick disclaimer: we're going to ignore the fact that mining an absurd amount of resources from asteroids and hauling them back to Earth is not only extremely expensive but would most likely devalue the very precious materials we hold close. However, it's not completely unreasonable that you could pocket a huge profit from this. The first individuals who explore space for these resources by exploiting asteroids will be the first trillionaires of our time.

In July of 2015, an asteroid codenamed 2011 UW 158 whizzed past our planet at a distance of 2.4 million kilometers, or about six times the distance between Earth and the Moon. It carried upwards of 90 million tons of platinum in its core, amongst many other rare and precious materials. Scientists estimate that this 1-kilometer-wide platinum-rich asteroid was worth upwards of $5.4 trillion in today's currency. For scale, the value of this single asteroid is worth more than the top 10 companies in the entire world.

The value of the company that made the device that you're watching this video on right now is minuscule when compared to the $5.4 trillion price tag on 2011 UW 158. But an even larger opportunity presented itself in 2013. On February 15th, 2013, a 30-meter-wide asteroid named 2012 DA14 made a flyby of Earth that was a little too close for comfort. The asteroid came so close to Earth that it flew within the ring of geostationary orbiting satellites at an altitude of only about 35,000 kilometers, or 22,000 miles.

For reference, the distance to the Moon is only 384,000 kilometers, meaning that 2012 DA14 passed by our planet at a distance 1/11th of that to our closest cosmic neighbor. It shot past Earth at a whopping speed of 7.8 kilometers per second, or about 177,000 miles an hour, which if it had hit Earth would have caused massive damage. Speaking of massive damage, about 16 hours before 2012 DA14's closest approach to Earth, the Chelyabinsk meteor entered Earth's atmosphere and crashed into the Russian city, creating the spectacular sky show that many of you may recall.

Even though it was later confirmed that the asteroids hadn't influenced each other in any way whatsoever, it is still crazy to think that two massive asteroids could have potentially hit Earth on the same day. Although 2012 DA14's size may not seem too spectacular at first, this 30-meter-wide asteroid could be worth upwards of $20 trillion. This single asteroid could single-handedly pay off the entire United States' running national debt or it could send every single high school graduate in the United States to college for free for 114 years.

However, this is nowhere near the price tag of the most valuable asteroid ever found. Asteroid 1903 LU is the seventh largest asteroid found to date, discovered in 1903 by the American astronomer Raymond Smith Dugan. It orbits the sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and is composed of nickel, iron, cobalt, water, nitrogen, and hydrogen, all of which are extremely resourceful to companies around the globe. It is worth so much that I'm not even completely able to comprehend it.

At 323 kilometers in diameter, asteroid 1903 is worth a mind-boggling $15.38 quintillion. Let that sink in for a second. Do you realize how much you could do with $15 quintillion? To put this massive amount of money in perspective, consider this thought experiment: a U.S. $1 bill is 16 centimeters long. If you were to take $15.38 quintillion, that line could stretch to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own sun, and back to Earth 30 times.

Yeah, although 1903 LU is worth this inconceivable amount of money, it isn't exactly the most cost-effective asteroid to mine. Asteroid 1999 JU3 is perhaps one of our best chances at mining an asteroid in the near future and one that is fairly easy to capitalize on. Its unique orbit causes it to come within a few million kilometers of Earth every four or five years or so. This could be used to perhaps take multiple trips to the asteroid over the course of 10, 20, or maybe even 30 years if needed to fully mine the asteroid for the maximum amount of materials to be returned to Earth.

Although 1999 JU3 is estimated to be only $83 billion, it is one of the most cost-effective asteroids to mine with its location and its convenient orbit. This could perhaps be our first baby steps into the industry of asteroid mining. This could pave the way for future explorers and entrepreneurs, pushing humanity back into space and maybe even jump-starting a second Space Race, which, let's be honest, would be awesome.

In 2010, U.S. President at the time Barack Obama announced that the project of a human mission to an asteroid became a new goal to achieve before 2025. To quote him during a press conference in 2010: "Early in the next decade, a set of crude flights will test and prove the systems required for exploration beyond low Earth orbit, and by 2025 we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crude missions beyond the Moon into deep space. We'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history. By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth, and a landing on Mars will follow, and I expect to be around to see it."

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