Even long-serving business journalists rub their eyes at the gigantic numbers of US tech giants. The stock market value of Google parent Alphabet of $4,000 billion is beyond imagination. That is four times the record trade surplus of world export power China.
Data from Austria quickly sounds harmlessly small to insignificant. Large US corporations could pay a budget deficit of 18.3 billion euros from petty cash, Netflix is offering the equivalent of 70 billion euros for Warner Bros – in cash.
Even Austria’s total economic output in one year – the gross domestic product – comes as no surprise to anyone internationally at just under 500 billion euros. The four richest people in the world now have assets three times as high.
The unequal distribution of wealth in particular makes the world of large numbers absurd for many people. An Oxfam report for the World Economic Forum in Davos recently provided clear examples. Accordingly, the wealth of global billionaires grew by $2.5 trillion last year to a total of $18.3 trillion. This means that the twelve richest people in the world are now richer than the poorer half of the world’s population.
Anyone who has money can invest heavily and increase their wealth if the business takes off. In 2025, the US tech giants will have invested a total of $300 billion in infrastructure and computing power for AI. Given the budget gap, the Austrian government can only release 2.6 billion euros for its industrial strategy.
© REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
4000 billion dollars (Google’s market value)
Just two weeks ago, Google parent company Alphabet celebrated a historic success. The tech giant’s stock market value rose to a staggering $4 trillion. The share price was driven by Apple’s announcement that it would use Google’s Gemini AI model to support Siri in the future.
1470 billion dollars (The four richest people)
Elon Musk, ruler of Tesla, X and SpaceX, is the richest of the richest with $726 billion. Behind them are Google co-founder Larry Page (257 billion), Oracle boss Larry Ellison (245 billion) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (242 billion). Together, the multi-billionaires have a net worth of $1,470 billion.
© Getty Images/iStockphoto/thitivong/iStockphoto
1000 billion dollars (China’s export surplus)
Europe is under pressure from cheap Chinese goods. Although China itself suffers from relatively weak domestic consumption, exports of consumer and industrial goods around the world are running smoothly. Only recently did China break the magical trade surplus mark of one trillion US dollars.
630 billion euros (German budget spending)
The German budget for 2026 includes spending of almost 630 billion euros. 524 billion in the core budget and another 100 billion from extra funds (“special funds”) for infrastructure, the Bundeswehr and climate protection. The new debt amounts to 174 billion. 30 billion are earmarked for interest expenses alone.
© EPA/LARRY W. SMITH
$382 billion (Berkshire’s cash reserves)
Investor guru Warren Buffett (95) handed over leadership of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025. The group’s cash reserves, with investments ranging from Apple to Coca-Cola, amount to around $382 billion – for large takeovers, for example. The record liquidity corresponds to approximately 30 percent of Berkshire’s assets.
$300 billion (investment in computing power)
The advance of artificial intelligence (AI) seems unstoppable. US tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta increased their investments last year from around $100 billion (2023) to more than $300 billion. The total could exceed half a trillion in the coming years.
$116 billion (hedge fund profits)
The world’s 20 largest hedge funds made $116 billion in profits in global financial markets in 2025. The frontrunner was the British hedge fund TCI, which broke the industry record with a net profit of around $19 billion. TCI manages assets of around $77 billion.
© REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
$83 billion (Netflix cash offer for Warner)
The world’s leading streaming provider Netflix, which currently has around 300 million subscribers, is offering Discovery for Warner Bros and wants to pay this sum entirely in cash – i.e. not with its own shares. Paramount’s counteroffer is around 25 billion higher, but was rejected several times by Warner.
© APA
Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer
18.3 billion euros (Austria’s budget deficit)
For this year, Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer has planned a deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP in the 2025/26 double budget. Revenues of 107.6 billion euros are offset by expenses of 125.9 billion euros. According to Maastricht, the deficit should not exceed three percent; the EU has initiated a deficit procedure.
2.6 billion euros (Austrian industrial strategy)
The federal government has presented its industrial strategy. The core of the project is an investment of 2.6 billion euros. The downer: The funds are intended for nine key technologies and for the years 2026 to 2029. On average, each individual strength field only accounts for around 72 million euros per year.
