Jeff Bezos is so rich, casual spending won’t put a dent in his fortune — here’s what spending looks like when you’re a billionaire
‘You’re not going to spend it on a second dinner out,’ Bezos said of his wealth
Tanza Loudenback and Skye Gould
By this point, the richest man in the world is more focused on ways to spend his US$130 billion fortune than acquiring it.
At a recent awards event hosted by Axel Springer and Business Insider US editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell, Jeff Bezos suggested finding ways to “deploy this much financial resource” is harder than it seems.
The Amazon founder and CEO made an average of US$107 million per day in 2017, a figure that’s unfathomable to most people. “You’re not going to spend it on a second dinner out,” Bezos said.
The value of US$1 to the average person is the same as US$1,355 to someone with a US$2 billion net worth, according to Business Insider calculations. Bezos’ net worth is 65 times that amount; the value of US$1 to the average person is about US$88,000 to Bezos.
The only way he’s able to make good use of his wealth is to reinvest it into other businesses and make big bets, he said. Every year, Bezos liquidates a whopping US$1 billion in Amazon stock to fund his space travel company Blue Origin.
“I am very lucky that I feel like I have a mission-driven purpose with Blue Origin that is, I think, incredibly important for civilization long term,” Bezos told Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner.
But it’s not all business in the Bezos household. Part of his billions go toward “lots of pleasures,” including epic vacations with his family. Bezos’ wife MacKenzie planned a recent trip to Norway, he said, where the couple and their four children stayed in an ice hotel for three days and went dogsledding and saw timber wolves.
“It really was an incredible vacation, a pretty incredible holiday,” Bezos said. A once-in-a-lifetime vacation like that would probably require months, or even years, of saving for the average person to afford. For Bezos, it’s literally pocket change.
As for that US$23 million mansion Bezos is renovating in Washington, DC — he’s reportedly spending US$12 million on renovations, which is about US$136 in Bezos dollars.
Below, check out the real cost of 12 purchases, and the relative “cost” for someone with a US$2 billion fortune (the average net worth of the world’s billionaires).
See Also:
