10 Shocking Facts About Pablo Escobar’s Absurd Wealth

Pablo Escobar eclipses just about every drug kingpin in history. He started from the bottom, and in as little as a decade he became one of the most powerful people in the world.

Despite his humble origins, Escobar became history’s most feared drug lord with a lot of cash to burn (literally). Here are ten shocking facts about his absurd wealth.

1. He lived in poverty before becoming a billionaire

Escobar’s father was a poor farmer, but the “King of Cocaine” became one of the world’s wealthiest men at the age of 35.

2. He was the leader of Medellín cartel

The Medellín cartel is a well-organized drug cartel that supplied 80% of the cocaine in the United States. Escobar was making around $430 million a week.

3. They spent a lot on rubber bands

Escobar’s brother, Roberto, once claimed that the cartel was spending an upwards of $2,500 every month just on rubber bands to keep their money together.

4. For seven years in a row, Pablo Escobar was on Forbes’ Rich List

Escobar peaked at number seven in 1989.

5. Losing $2 billion wasn’t a big deal to Pablo Escobar

Roberto Escobar also claimed that the cartel would typically lose around “10% of the money because the rats would eat it in storage or it would be damaged by water or lost.” That 10 percent was around $2.1 billion every year. Pablo was making so much money he couldn’t care less about all that wasted cash.

6. He collects exotic animals

When you are this rich, and you want the entire world to know, buying stuff other people can’t buy seems to be a normal thing. Escobar has hippos, giraffes, antelope, ostriches, and elephants as pets.

7. Pablo Escobar’s pilots were paid $500,000 for just a single trip

It was believed that Pablo used plane tires as a way of smuggling the cocaine into the United States. Pilots could earn up to $500,000 a day to do this for him.

8. Pablo Escobar burned $2 Million to make sure his daughter won’t be cold

In a 2009 interview, Escobar’s only son, Juan Pablo Escobar claimed that when his father was on the run with his family, he burnt $2 million in crisp banknotes just to keep his daughter warm who became sick with pneumonia.

9. Pablo Escobar had a luxury prison

Escobar built himself a luxury prison and incarcerated himself in it. He continued with his criminal activities, and authorities tried to stop this by planning to move him. But he escaped.

10. Until now, nobody knew where he burried his money.

In 1993, Escobar was tracked down by police and shot de ad. The search for his multi-million fortune is still ongoing.