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.
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.