Editor’s pick of the day - Forbes India Rich List: How much money is too much money?

Billions. That’s too much money. Or is it?

What can a billion dollars get you? Well, not a confirmed spot on the list of 100 richest Indians by Forbes, we can assure you of that. Thirty candidates worth over a billion dollars did not make it to this year’s list, a list consumed by the billion plus of the country with equal parts admiration and envy.

From the great philosophers – Sophocles to Socrates to Plato – to some of the wealthiest men history has seen – Andrew Carnegie to Henry Ford to John D. Rockefeller... we have heard them all emphasize the uselessness of wealth if it didn’t also contribute to the betterment of mankind.

We have heard them all, at various points, speak of happiness and contentment as the greatest wealth, far superior to material wealth. We read those quotes; we nod in agreement; say Om; and while participating in the morally superior act of denouncing the worth of wealth, we still entertain that small voice in our heads which asks, “What would I do with a billion dollars?”

On our Pick of the Day, we will entertain a slightly different question – what did these billionaires do to get to be billionaires?