Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race (but not until spending about $40 million of his own fortune). Billionaire Mike Bloomberg might run. Billionaire Ross Perot DID run, as did Nelson Rockefeller, several times.

While hardly new, it appears that running for president is a hobby for insanely rich men. And why not? But why don’t more billionaires do it? Wouldn’t this be what you would do if you had a billion dollars and already owned everything your heart could ever desire? It is the ultimate ego stroke; the ultimate fantasy experience. Your viewpoints will be taken seriously. Alternatively, you can use your platform to shake things up or expose the compromised viewpoints of the other candidates without fearing a loss of financial backing. And if at the end of the day you lose, well, you still have more money than you could ever possibly use; $40 or $50 million of a several billion-dollar fortune is a (albeit huge) drop in the bucket. In fact, Romney’s fortune was only estimated at $250 million, tops. But he’ll still land on his feet and how many people can say they made a convincing run for president of the United States?

In fact, it’s a mystery why more insanely wealthy people don’t do this, just for the hell of it. Would you run if you had a billion?