Microsoft just acquired the embattled Activision-Blizzard-King for just short of $70 billion dollars in a historic deal. As a result, Microsoft now controls some of the most popular IPs in gaming history, including Diablo 4, Overwatch, Call of Duty, Hearthstone, and more.

It can be hard to wrap your head around just how much money $70 billion USD is, so to help put it in perspective we are here to provide some comparisons. Here are some of the things you can do with 70 Billion dollars, other than buying ABK of course.

Nine things you can do with 70 Billion dollars

Have more money than the entire annual GDP of Oman

With an economy driven by commodities like oil, gas, agriculture, and fishing, along with a significant tourism trade, Oman has a booming economy. Their total annual GDP is just short of 70 billion dollars, which means Microsoft spent the entire economy of Oman in 2020 to acquire ABK.

Hire the Rolling Stones ($8.1 million per night) to perform every day for 23 years straight

Had Satya Nadella been a fan of classic rock, Microsoft may have been in a position to receive nightly performances from one of the most legendary bands of all time. Though it’s hard to imagine Mick Jagger performing at 101, the tech giant was still in a position to have front row seats to one of the most expensive acts in history. 

Build 53 Willis Tower skyscrapers in Chicago at $1.3 billion dollars each

The Willis Tower was purchased for $1.3 billion dollars by Blackstone in 2015. That comes out to 53 towers for 70 Billion dollars, at 2015 Real Estate prices. Now it’s been a few years, so the tower is likely worth more now, but the point still stands, that you could have dozens of iconic towers in Chicago for the price Microsoft paid for ABK.

Buy all 30 NBA franchises

Although the value of NBA teams has reached the stratosphere in recent years, Microsoft still had enough to purchase all 30 teams in the league. With an average cost of $2.48 billion per team, Microsoft would be a few billion short of buying out the league. However, if buying at wholesale (or just skip on buying the Charlotte Hornets), they just might be able to do it.

Maintain the International Space Station for 17 years

The International Space Station is one of the crowning achievements of space travel and costs NASA around 4 billion dollars to maintain and operate every year. So with the money Microsoft used to purchase ABK, assuming costs remain steady, you could operate the ISS for 17.5 years.

Buy Rolexes for the entire populations of New York, Los Angeles, and San Jose

With the purchase of Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft is forced to clean up one of the most notable company scandals in modern history. An alternative approach? They could’ve bought the love of millions of people. In fact, they could’ve bought designer Rolexes (starting prices averaging around $5,000) for the two largest cities in America. Plus San Jose, since Silicon Valley’s a sweet spot to cover.

Hire the Russian military for 1 year

Although the idea of Microsoft possessing the fourth largest military in the world is a scary idea, they could do it, technically, assuming the military was open for hire. They would even have several billion over to play with, maybe buy a couple football stadiums, or develop a COVID vaccine with the extra.

Cover all of Taiwan with French’s Yellow Mustard

This one Microsoft could do because…not really sure. However, they could do it. At $1.35 for an 8-ounce bottle of French’s Yellow Mustard, Microsoft could own 400 billion fluid ounces of mustard. Assuming conservatively that mustard covers one square foot per ounce (paint covers 1.5), that’s 37,812 square kilometers — enough to cover all of Taiwan. 

Buy 127 Million of the rarest Kirby plush (If there were 127 million of them) 

With $70 billion, you can buy 127,272,727of the rarest Kirby plush in the world: the 25th-anniversary Kirby, which is an average $550 each. Now, are there that many in the world? Of course not, they wouldn't be rare if there were.