A few decades ago, a billion dollars was an unfathomable amount of money. Today, however, billion dollar companies are, dare I say it, common. Even individual billionaires aren't hard to find, and that list even includes females like J.K. Rowling and Oprah Winfrey.
The Super Gallery below shows billion dollar projects, businesses, charitable giving and architectural wonders. As a bonus, we've added a few trillion dollar trends, including the world's first trillion dollar business.
"The first Forbes ranking of billionaires in 1986 found 140 billionaires around the world,' Wikipedia says. "However, by 2008 Forbes ranking counted a total of 1,125, whose total accumulated wealth measured US$4.4 trillion. John D. Rockefeller became the first billionaire on September 29, 1916. The youngest billionaire in the world is Albert von Thurn und Taxis, a 24-year-old from Regensburg, Germany.
"The average billionaire is a 62-year-old male who gained his wealth through investments, inheritance or business practices."