Marcos Fact Checks

FALSE: Marcos family owns ‘$2 quadrillion’ worth of gold

Rappler.com

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FALSE: Marcos family owns ‘$2 quadrillion’ worth of gold
All the gold mined throughout history combined is only $11.9 trillion
At a glance
  • Claim: The family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos owns “$2 quadrillion” worth of gold.
  • Rating: FALSE
  • The facts: World Gold Council estimates that around 197,500 tons of gold has been mined throughout history, which is only worth around $11.9 trillion. 
  • Why we fact-checked this: The video has over 93,000 views and 12,000 reactions on Facebook, as of writing.
Complete details

A video uploaded on June 12 by Facebook user “Beven Jariol” claims that the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos owns $2 quadrillion.

The caption of the Facebook video reads, “2 Quadrillion dollars Marcos gold.” The same line is superimposed on the video. 

The video has over 93,000 views and 12,000 reactions on Facebook, as of writing.

This claim is false.

As of 2019, the World Gold Council (WGC) estimates that there were only around 197,500 metric tons of gold mined throughout history. The WGC US dollar-to-gold exchange rate records in June 2021, when the post was uploaded, showed that a metric ton of gold was worth around $60,342,600.

As such, all the gold mined throughout history was only worth around $11.9 trillion during the time the video was posted. 

Even after the Marcos administration ended, the price of all the gold mined throughout the world was not equal to $2 quadrillion.

Data from the International Monetary Fund show that cumulative above-ground gold stocks in 1989, just three years after the fall of the Marcos regime, was estimated to be around 100,000 US tons (90,718 metric tons). The WGC gold price records show that, during that time, one metric ton of gold was worth around $12 million.

This means that, in 1989, all the gold mined throughout the world was worth around $1.09 trillion.

The World Bank also released a statement in 2014 that said: “Karen Hudes has not been employed by the World Bank since 2007 and is in no capacity authorized to represent any arm of the World Bank Group. Any claims otherwise by Ms. Hudes or her proxies are false and should not be viewed as credible.”

The Tiktok account shown in the video, @parkjanztv, is no longer on the social media app. 

Rappler has previously fact-checked similar claims about the Marcos gold claim. Here’s a list of other claims debunked by Rappler on the same topic:

– Lorenz Dantes Pasion/Rappler.com

Lorenz Dantes Pasion is a Rappler intern. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s internship program here.

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.

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