Here’s How Long It Takes the Average American To Earn What a Billionaire Makes in One Day

Trying to compare the average American with a wealthy billionaire is a bit like comparing apples and oranges, but it’s still an interesting thought experiment.

The median household income in 2024 was $83,630, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Now compare this to Herbert Wertheim, an optometrist and inventor who, according to Forbes, has a $3.8 billion estimated net worth. He’s also ranked lowest on Forbes’ list of the 400 richest people in America.

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That’s all well and good, but how much money do billionaires — ranging from Wertheim to Elon Musk ($428 billion estimated net worth) — earn in a day? And how long would it take someone earning the median household income to do the same? Let’s find out below.

Also here’s how billionaire wealth effects the economy.

Calculating How Much Billionaires Earn Daily

There’s no direct formula for calculating what billionaires earn in a day. But to get a rough idea, assume your typical billionaire works eight hours a day, 40 hours a week and 2,080 hours a year. This might not be accurate, but it can give you a general sense of their earnings breakdown.

From there, you’ll need to see how much that billionaire’s net worth has increased over the past year. Divide that amount by 2,080 and multiply it by eight hours to get a general estimate of their daily earnings.

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Here’s how that looks for someone earning the median household income of $83,630:

$83,630 ÷ 2,080 hours = $40.21 per hour$40.21 x 8 hours = $322 per day

Figures are all pre-tax.

How Much Billionaires Earn in a Day

As noted above, to get an estimate of a billionaire’s daily earnings, you must first start with the changes to their annual net worth. You can then run the numbers to get their estimated daily earnings.

Using Bloomberg data, here’s a quick look at some billionaires, how their net worth has changed in the past 12 months and how that translates in terms of daily earnings.

Larry Ellison

Current net worth: $351 billionOne-year increase: $159 billionEstimated daily earnings: $611.5 million ($611,538,461)

Jeff Bezos

Current net worth: $240 billionOne-year increase: $1.22 billionEstimated daily earnings: $4.7 million ($4,692,308)

Mark Zuckerberg

Current net worth: $248 billionOne-year increase: $41.2 billionEstimated daily earnings: $158.4 million ($158,461,538)

Charles Schwab

Current net worth: $16.1 billionOne-year increase: $2.85 billionEstimated daily earnings: $10.9 million ($10,961,538)

Warren Buffett

Current net worth: $147 billionOne-year increase: $5.34 billionEstimated daily earnings: $20.5 million ($20,538,462)

How Long It’d Take an Average American To Earn the Same Amount

Say you earn $322 a day, as is the case with anyone earning the median household income of $83,630. Here’s the formula for calculating how long it’d take you to earn what these billionaires do in a single day:

Billionaire’s estimated daily earnings divided by your daily earnings

And here’s an example of how long it’d take to earn what these specific billionaires do in a day:

Larry Ellison: $611.5 million ÷ $322 = 1,899,068 days (5,203 years)Jeff Bezos: $4.7 million ÷ $322 = 14,596 days (40 years)Mark Zuckerberg: $158.4 million ÷ $322 = 491,925 days (1,348 years)Charles Schwab: $10.9 million ÷ $322 = 33,851 days (93 years)Warren Buffett: $20.5 million ÷ $322 = 63,665 days (174 years)

Again, these are all rough estimates and are in no way indicative of a billionaire’s actual daily earnings. You also aren’t necessarily limited to your baseline earnings from your regular income.

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