By Chris Daly
How long can Newt Gingrich last in the Republican primary? I don’t know (the future is not my field), but here is one way to look at it.
So far, he has received $10 million from the Adelsons. According to Fortune, they are worth about $25 billion.
Let’s do the math on that one:
1/10th of $25 billion = $2.5 billion
1/10th of $2.5 billion = $250 million.
So, a figure of $250 million equals 1% of the Adelson fortune. Let’s keep going.
1/10th of $250 million = $25 million.
Half of that = $12.5 million.
So Adelson has given less than half of one-tenth of 1 percent of his fortune to Gingrich. At this rate, he could give Gingrich $5 million a week for 50 weeks and just end up giving away 1% of his fortune. Meanwhile, of course, if Adelson is invested broadly in the stock market, and if the “Obama rally” continues, Adelson will “earn” more than that amount by not doing anything at all.
In other words, the super-rich can bankroll an entire presidential campaign and hardly even notice — certainly nothing that would change his tax bracket.
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