6 Things Billionaires Spend Money On and Millionaires Don’t
Written by
Brooke Barley
Edited by
Levi Leidy
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In the United States, there are millions of millionaires — 22 million to be exact. However, when it comes to billionaires, there are far fewer, only about 759 billionaires in the country. Some names on that richest people in the world list include:
- Elon Musk: Net worth $334.2 billion
- Jeff Bezos: Net worth $214.8 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg: Net worth $214.1 billion
- Larry Ellison: Net worth $186.5 billion
- Note that billionaire net worths can change from day to day
When you’re one of the billionaire elites, you have a whole different tier of items and experiences that are available to you. Even millionaires have certain financial limitations on things that are just not affordable to them, but are no big deal to billionaires. Here’s a look at what the ultra-wealthy can choose to spend their fortune on that the rest of us can admire (or scoff at) from a distance.
Sports Teams
Rob Walton is the oldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton and took over for his dad after his death. He’s worth $106.5 billion. One of the ways he’s spent his money is by leading a group that bought the Denver Broncos in 2022 for $4.7 billion. Another example is Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, who’s worth $115.1 billion. He bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion in 2014.
Sports teams sell for billions of dollars, so if you want majority ownership you’ll likely have to be a billionaire, which is another financial ballpark altogether.
Private Jets
You’ve heard about all the richest celebrities gallivanting around in their private jets. That private-flight life sounds easy and glamorous, but how much does one of those planes cost? They start at $2 million and can get as expensive as $110 million.
Of course, the costs don’t stop there. Once you own a private jet, you can expect to spend $500,000 to $1 million yearly on maintenance costs. Plus, if you don’t have a pilot’s license, you’ll have to factor in hiring a pilot every time you fly.
While millionaires can own private jets — plenty do — they have to be pretty rich even by millionaire standards, and it’s a much easier cost to take on for a billionaire.
Islands
Why go to a vacation destination when you can own one? That’s what some billionaires are thinking when they buy their own private island. Not all private islands cost the same, but you can assume they’re not cheap.
Larry Ellison, the CTO and founder of Oracle, is worth over $186 billion in 2025. In 2012, he bought most of the island of Lanai in Hawaii for $300 million. Though the island is home to 3,200 residents, the land itself is all in Ellison’s possession. Of course, he can drop in anytime and enjoy the island life.
Superyachts
If you’re not part of the 1%, you might be asking: What exactly is a superyacht? The standard definition seems to be a vessel that’s more than 80 feet long, has a full-time captain and crew and is used solely for recreation. But how much does one of these luxurious yachts cost?
Often, superyachts start at $10 million and go up from there depending on size and features. Some of these extra features can include swimming pools, hot tubs, helipads and small submarines. Plus, the owner of these yachts will have to pay to employ the staff.
It’s estimated that about 10% of the purchase price of a superyacht goes to operation and maintenance. Going on a yacht is something most people might only do once in their lifetime, yet the upper crust has access to this opulence all year long.
A purchase a millionaire wouldn’t consider, for example, would be something like the “History Supreme,” which is a superyacht reportedly owned by Robert Kuok, a Malaysian businessman worth an estimated $12 billion. It is the most expensive yacht ever created, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion.
Space Travel
Space tourism can really only be afforded by those with billions to spare. People like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have spent tons of money on trips to space. Bezos founded the rocket firm Blue Origin, which cost $5.5 billion to create for an initial flight that was just four minutes long.
Branson, well-known founder of the Virgin Group, launched Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic also took to space in 2021, and cost Branson $841 million. For reference, Bezos is worth about $214 billion and Branson is worth $2.9 billion.
Celebrity Appearances
When you’re a billionaire, a celebrity is only a phone call away. Because of celebrities’ high appearance fees, not many people can afford them, but billionaires sure can.
For example, say you want to have Christina Aguilera sing at your birthday party. If you’re a billionaire, you won’t even blink at her booking fee that starts at $750,000. Mega-stars like Taylor Swift can cost you as much as $3 million and go all the way up to almost $8 million. For a millionaire, this might hurt, but for a billionaire’s special occasion, it really doesn’t hit their bottom line the same way.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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