Natural entrepreneurs are the sort of people who look at the Bond films and realise that the sums do not add up.

Even as little children, we calculated that Bond would have to be about ninety to fit everything he did into his life, and that no private individual would have access to enough surplus cash to fund a Bond villain’s lifestyle.

For example, how could Hugo Drax build his own secret space station and run his own shuttle programme in Moonraker at a time when even NASA’s budget was under pressure?

Yet it is strange how things have changed. Now there are a number of individuals with real wealth in excess of ten billion dollars – who are in fact worth more than most countries. More importantly, several of them also have the liquidity to spend a substantial proportion of that wealth relatively discreetly.

At the same time, new technology and globalisation have reduced prices – and the recession looks to reduce them even more – to make world domination an affordable option for the successful entrepreneur for the first time since Cecil Rhodes.

So here are some of the bargains you can get for under a billion.

1   White Cat: probably easier to obtain than ever since the Cats Protection League lost all their money in the Icelandic bank crash. True. Honestly.

2   Private Island: there have always been islands for sale. Of course, their number was limited, but the Emir of Dubai has shown how even this is no longer a problem – now we can build our own.

3   Secret Escape Tunnel: Silvio Berlusconi has had one for years – probably for when the tax inspector called – but in the end found it more convenient to simply buy the Italian government wholesale.

4   Largo’s Yacht: Roman Abramovich’s latest makes it look like a pedalo. Indeed, Roman’s is said to have its own missile defence system, so there is no danger of chaps in orange swimsuits parachuting down on it. Moreover, there are great bargains to be had in the second-hand market, especially at the moment.

5   Weapon of Mass Destruction: nasty virus, Cold-War Surplus atomic device, unpleasant chemicals, or just a very big industrial laser – take your pick. There are more potential suppliers than ever.

6   Ice Palace: there is already an ice hotel in Norway – or at least there is for the next few months; it does tend to melt a bit come spring.

7   Supertanker: second-hand quarter-million tonners have been sold for scrap at remarkably low prices – especially since some are too big for some of the world’s major seaways – but you will need to pay extra to install the bow doors capable of swallowing nuclear submarines.  

8   Private Army: after the embarrassing lows of Angola, the Seychelles, and “Soldier of Fortune” conventions in the 1970s, the mercenary has made a big comeback in the form of the Private Military Contractor (PMC). Just give Blackwater a call and tell them Dick Cheney sent you.

9   Secret Base in Extinct Volcano: pricey, but the trick, suggested with great prescience by the Bond films themselves, is to get the Chinese in. Look at how the new Shanghai appeared from nowhere. 

10  Space Vehicle: poor Hugo Drax was before his time. Another bearded megalomaniac looks set to make private space travel a reality – but has Branson the proper sense of style required in a Bond villain?