The calculation
Your net worth × $474m ÷ $878.5bn
At $100,000, that’s $53.96. We use the full ratio, 0.0539556061%, before rounding. All amounts are USD.
The latest verified Forbes estimate is $878.5bn as of Nov. 2, 2026, confirmed on its real-time list. This site is a dated snapshot, not a live wealth feed.
Does the article’s math check out?
Zeteo used $880bn, giving 0.0538636364% and $53.86 per $100,000. Updating the wealth estimate changes that by only nine cents. Its “roughly 0.05%” is reasonable rounding.
At the article’s ratio, $116 corresponds to about $215,359 in wealth. It does not follow from $100,000, and a “median American” comparison depends on whether the measure covers individuals or households and which survey year it uses. We use your own number.
What the $474m includes
The New York Times analysis, republished by The Philadelphia Inquirer, covers disclosed giving from Jan. 1, 2025: federal and state races, including Wisconsin’s 2025 judicial election, and some giving through United States of America Inc. Federal filings run through Oct. 14, 2026. It is not just calendar-year 2026 or just congressional midterms.
Reported breakdown, rounded| America PAC | $216m |
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| Senate Leadership Fund | $168m |
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| Congressional Leadership Fund | $30m |
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| Other federal / IRS groups | ~$44m |
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| State giving | ~$16m |
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| Total | $474m |
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Our check of the three major recipients’ FEC filings totals $413,957,888.96, about 87.3% of the reported total. The other approximately $60m was not independently re-summed. The full $474m remains attributed to the Times; undisclosed funding may be missing.
Primary records: America PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, Congressional Leadership Fund.
The record claim
The Times describes a record for disclosed political giving by a non-candidate in one U.S. election cycle. Self-funded campaigns are excluded: Bloomberg’s 2020 committee reported over $1bn in candidate contributions. “More than anybody has ever spent” would be too broad.
Personal federal contributions
Elon Musk May ’25–Oct. 14, ’26$427.5m
George Soros 47 years through Sept. 9, ’26$243.2m
Fortune, Nov. 2, 2026. This narrower comparison excludes family and nonprofit giving; it is not all political spending associated with either person. We have not independently re-summed this historical dataset.
Grouping rules matter. The Brennan Center reports $483,255,336 under its method. Both analyses include associated-entity giving. The roughly $9m difference remains unreconciled, so we keep the Times’ attributed $474m total.
A couple of weeks earlier?
Holding $474m fixed and changing only the wealth estimate gives these results per $100,000. These are sensitivity examples, not claims that $474m had already been given on those dates.
What this can—and can’t—say
Net worth means assets minus debt. Much of Musk’s estimate is company ownership, not a cash balance; Tesla’s SEC proxy distinguishes stock compensation from cash. Equal wealth percentages do not mean equal financial sacrifice, liquidity, or influence.
Salary mode applies the same ratio to annual gross income; income is not wealth. Zero yields zero, while negative net worth has no meaningful spending equivalent. The calculator does not transmit or store your entry. Loading a video connects to X.
The everyday things
Illustrative prices, not market quotes: coffee $5; matcha $7; dinner for two $55; movie night $30; rubber duck $6; used MP3 player $80; 100 toilet-paper rolls $80; four tires $600; game $70; plant $25. Illustrations by Thiings, reused from the Wabi library. Personal, noncommercial project.