How Much Does Jeff Bezos Make a Year? Net Worth Explained

We all love to hate the ultra-wealthy—we roll our eyes at their disconnection from reality, protest about their exploitative ways, and complain about their spending habits. We’ve all been there (and bought their products)—but that doesn’t stop us from being drawn to them.

We either want to get rich ourselves, or live vicariously through those rolling in it—imagining a life where we can afford exotic Caribbean vacations every weekend. So let’s take a sneak peek into the wealth of one of the world’s top fat cats. 

How Much Does Jeff Bezos Make a Year?

Based on his net worth growth, Jeff Bezos earns $9.6 billion a year—or $798,333,333 a month. To break this down even further, that’s $26,611,111 a day, $1,108,796 an hour, $18,480 a minute—and $308 a second.

You read that right—and yes, that’s pretty unimaginable. And to put it into perspective—in 2022, the average income in the US was $63,214. So—as well as being superhuman—the average American would need to work about 151,865 years without spending a cent to have the same amount as Bezos earns in a single year.

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How did we calculate Bezos’ earnings? 

Forbes says that Bezos currently has a net worth of $117.5 billion (compared with $21.7 billion ten years ago)—meaning he made $95.8 billion during that time. That’s an average earning of $9.6 billion a year (or $798,333,333 a month).

We can further break it down into years, months, and even seconds. But in the land of the extremely wealthy, net worth can go up and down like a yo-yo. Bezos saw this first-hand in April 2022, when he lost a huge $13 billion in a matter of hours.

We need to also count in Bezos’ yearly Amazon salary—which has remained unchanged since 1988 at $81,840 (Amazon also pays Bezos $1.6 million to cover his security). Based on these figures, Jeff Bezos earns $1,681,840 per year through Amazon.

Keep in mind, his net worth growth is generally more accurate—it covers all the money Bezos makes from his many investments, shares, and other ventures. See related questions and answers:

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What Is the Net Worth of Jeff Bezos?

Check out Forbes’ real-time tracker, and you’ll see that Jeff Bezos has a current net worth of $117.5 billion. That’s a crazy amount of money—but it’s a pretty big drop from his net worth of $195 billion at the end of 2021.

What’s behind it?

Bezos’ year got off to a rocky start in April, when Amazon shares dropped by 14% (the biggest daily drop since 2006)—he lost billions from his overall net worth as a result.

His net worth took another hit in October when he lost $7.2 billion after Amazon shares dropped by 6.8%. This was down to the less-than-impressive holiday sales forecast, way below analysts’ expectations.

But it was his divorce—one of the most expensive ones in history—that made the biggest dent in his vault. In 2019, he gave his ex-wife—Mackenzie Scott—a 4% stake in Amazon worth $38 billion. Surprisingly, this didn’t knock him off the top spot (though it certainly made his position shakier).

What Is Jeff Bezos’ Salary From Amazon?

He might be one of the richest in the world, but Bezos only gets $81,840 a year from Amazon. The company also pays him $1.6 million for security services and business travel—bringing the total salary to $1,681,840 per year.

Before you start admiring his modest earnings, remember that Bezos doesn’t really need a large salary. (In fact, other billionaire CEOs get even less—Steve Jobs and Larry Page only took a $1 paycheck from their companies.)

Bezos makes most of his money through investments, stocks, and shares—all of which are behind his multi-billionaire status. 

How Much of Amazon Does Jeff Bezos Own?

Bezos owns 9.73% of Amazon, which might not seem a lot—imagine the horror of only getting 10% of a full-sized pizza.

What if we told you that pizza was worth $960.28 billion? Yup, Bezos’ 9.73% slice has a value of $93.44 billion—suddenly, the thin-crust pepperoni you had last night doesn’t quite compare. 

How Much Does Amazon Make a Day?

Amazon had a yearly revenue of $469.822 billion in 2021— so the company makes roughly $1.29 billion a day.

Think that’s a lot of money? Wait for the pandemic figures.

While COVID-19 was taking down businesses left, right, and center, Amazon was riding on the boom in online shopping brought by lockdowns. The company reported a 70% rise in earnings in the first nine months of 2020—and saw a 200% increase in profits overall.

But—what goes up must come down, as the saying goes. It was recently announced that Amazon became the first public company to lose $1 trillion in market value. 

How Much Stock Does Jeff Bezos Own?

Jeff Bezos’ 9.73% hold on Amazon is fueling his enormous wealth—but he has many investments under his belt to avoid putting all his eggs in one basket. Here are some investments Bezos (and his company Bezos Expeditions) have made over the years—

• Rivian: $1.7 billion 
• Everfi: $190 million 
• Unity Biotech: $116 million
• Airbnb: $112 million
• Uber: $37 million 
• Google: $250,000 

In many cases, Bezos showed impressive foresight—he even saw Google’s potential back in 1998—but his investment in Rivian has backfired, with Amazon suffering a $3.9 billion loss on Rivian holdings this year because of the company’s production issues. This isn’t likely to have a major impact on Bezos’ wealth, though. 

Key Takeaway

By now you know that Jeff Bezos is filthy rich, but if you still can’t wrap your head around earning $9.6 billion a year, get this—

In 2020, the average Amazon employee made around $37,380. To accumulate as much wealth as Bezos, they’d need to start working in the Pliocene Epoch—4.5 million years ago. Planning on becoming a billionaire? It’s probably time to start saving up, investing wisely, and thinking outside the box.

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