Woman Briefly Becomes 'Richest Person In The World' With Net Worth 100,000 Times Bigger Than Elon Musk's

A woman appeared to become the richest person in the world overnight, leapfrogging names like Elon Musk and Bill Gates thanks to a jaw-dropping bank balance. However, there is one small detail that changes everything.

Sophie Downing, a business owner from Nottingham, was recently given a gift voucher that she believed held around $10 for her local coffee chain, 200 Degrees.

When she went to use the card to buy a matcha latte, which she had received as a Christmas gift, she was stunned when the payment screen revealed what looked like the card’s real balance.

Instead of showing a $10 balance, the card displayed more than $63 quadrillion. Yes, quadrillion.

Written out in full, that would be $63,000,000,000,000,000.

To put that into perspective, Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at $843.4 billion. That figure is more than 100,000 times smaller than what appeared on Sophie’s gift card.

If the number had been real, she would have been worth 22,500 times more than the UK economy, which sits at around $3.5 trillion, and 2,700 times more than the United States’ GDP, which is about $31 trillion. It would also make her more than 670 times wealthier than the entire global economy combined.

The only thing that would still overshadow her would be the asteroid Psyche, which scientists estimate could be worth around $8 quintillion.

Recalling the moment she first tried to pay with the card, Sophie said: "The guy at the till was really confused. His face was just like 'what?'"

Change due? £63,011,900,191 BPM Media

"This massive number came up on the till. He said 'I've never seen it before but it's fine for you to keep it.'"

"I didn't clock it until he gave me the receipt. I thought 'surely not, that's actually crazy.'"

Sadly, the 29-year-old cannot use the apparent fortune to buy a house, a new car, or solve world hunger. The balance sits on a coffee shop gift card, which means it can only be used on drinks and pastries. It does make you wonder how many lattes and croissants that total could cover.

Sophie, who runs the Secret Sugar Club, a hair removal business, decided to test the card again and found the enormous balance was still showing. Even so, she said she would not take advantage of the glitch.

"Maybe they have scanned the wrong thing. It looks as though they have scanned the barcode which has turned into the balance," she explained.

"I could go in and clear everything off the shelf but I don't want to take the mick. It would be better if it was a different gift card."

200 Degrees Coffee in Nottingham made one lucky 29-year-old the richest person on Earth Google Maps

Interestingly, the coffee shop has not publicly addressed the apparent error with the gift card. In theory, Sophie could attempt to spend it, but she has chosen not to push her luck. It is a reminder that even when faced with a once-in-a-lifetime glitch, some people prefer to stick with their principles.