If Jeff Bezos Gave Every American $500, He’d Still Have This Much
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
According to the Forbes real-time list of global billionaires as of Nov. 5, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranks third among the world’s wealthiest people with an estimated net worth of $258.9 billion.
So how rich is that?
Here’s one way of looking at it: If Bezos were to give every American $500, he’d still rank among the world’s wealthiest people.
Here’s How Much He’d Have Left
If Bezos were to take an old-school approach by hand-writing a $500 check to every American, he’d have to write 341.2 million checks. That was the estimated U.S. population in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures cited by Trading Economics.
Presumably, Bezos would take a more efficient approach and have the checks printed out. No matter how he decided to distribute the money, here’s how much he’d have left if he gave every American $500:
- Current net worth: $258,900,000,000
- Amount paid out: $170,600,000,000 (341.2 million Americans x $500)
- Ending balance: $88,300,000,000.
As the above calculation shows, Bezos would have $88.3 billion left over after giving every American $500. That would still place him at No. 20 among the world’s richest people, just below Bill Gates, who comes in at No. 19 with a net worth of $103.3 billion as of Nov. 5.
Meanwhile, the $500 paid out to each American would probably be gone in a flash. That amount is not even enough to cover the average utility bill in the United States, which is about $590 a month per household, according to This Old House.
Where Does Bezos Rank Now?
Currently, the only people with more wealth than Bezos are Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($494.4 billion) and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison ($306.6 billion).
Bezos still serves as executive chairman of Amazon and owns 8% of the company. That might not sound like a huge stake until you consider that Amazon has a market cap of about $2.67 trillion.
The e-commerce giant’s stock price closed at $249.32 per share on Nov. 4. Shares are up about 13% for the year.
In addition to his position at Amazon, Bezos owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company that develops rocket ships.
More From GOBankingRates
