SortStack #3615 — 2036-05-02

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. A pack of instant ramen noodles $0.40

   In a Japanese poll, instant ramen was voted the country's greatest invention of the twentieth century — beating karaoke and the Walkman.

2. A pack of cigarettes in the US, on average $8.00

   Prices vary wildly by state taxes: a pack runs around six dollars in Missouri but can top twelve in New York.

3. The Pink Star diamond, sold at auction in Hong Kong $71.2M

   A previous buyer defaulted after bidding $83 million, forcing a re-auction — the 59.6 carat stone took two years just to cut and polish.

4. Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, when Disney bought them $4.1B

   George Lucas took much of the 2012 payment in Disney stock and has donated billions toward education — Disney recouped the price within a few films.

5. WhatsApp, when Facebook bought it $19B

   At the 2014 acquisition, WhatsApp had about 55 employees serving 450 million users — a price of roughly $350 million per employee.

6. The Amazon stock MacKenzie Scott received in history's biggest divorce settlement $38B

   Scott has since given away billions at a record pace, often with no application process — charities report receiving surprise phone calls.

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