The greatest bargains in human history

Or how two deals created one superpower.
1) The Louisiana Purchase
> 1803: Napoleon loses Haiti
> France <<< The British Royal Navy
> Napoleon's American empire is a liability
> Desperate to check British power
> And fund his European wars
> Napoleon sells 828,000 sq mi for $15 million
> Adjusted for inflation ≈ $350 million today
> Louisiana for the price of one Boeing 747
> He sold the entire middle of the NA continent
> The U.S. constitution didn’t allow to buy territory
> Jefferson chose pragmatism over his principles
> Today, the land is valued at ≈ $76 trillion
> ROI: 21,714,185%
Napoleon famously stated: "I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride"
2) The Alaska hedge
> 1867: Russia realizes Alaska is un-defendable
> Czar Alexander II sells it to the U.S.
> 665,384 sq mi for $7.2 million
> Adjusted for inflation ≈ $165 million
> Russia sold it for the same reason
> They feared the British would seize it
> Another massive strategic U.S. win
> Born entirely out of European paranoia
> Today, the land is valued at ≈ $5 trillion
> ROI: 3,333,233%
3) Combined cost for both
> Adjusted for inflation ≈ $500m
> Current estimated value: over $80 trillion
> ROI: 14,862,284%
Paranoia of London became America's greatest asset. France and Britain spent a millennium trying to destroy each other, and in the process, they accidentally funded and fuelled the rise of a superpower.
Napoleon was right.