Jeff Bezos Earns $80,000 Annually but Grows Wealth Through Amazon Stocks
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world’s third-richest person, has an annual salary of just $80,000. However, his vast fortune stems from his ownership of Amazon stock, which allowed him to earn an estimated $8 million per hour between 2023 and 2024.
As reported by News18, Bezos explained his modest salary by emphasizing his belief in the value of ownership over additional earnings. He stated, “As a founder, I already owned a significant portion of the company and didn’t feel the need to take more. My incentives were aligned with increasing the company’s value.”
Initially holding over 20% of Amazon’s equity, Bezos highlighted that founders generally focus on building the company’s overall worth rather than drawing large salaries. During an interview with The New York Times, Bezos elaborated on his perspective, saying, “The key is to grow the value of the company’s equity, which benefits all shareholders.”
Bezos also proposed a new measure of wealth: contributions to others. With Amazon’s market valuation reaching $2.3 trillion, Bezos remarked that his personal net worth of $200 billion is a small portion of the wealth Amazon has generated for others, amounting to $2.1 trillion.
Between 2023 and 2024, Bezos’ net worth grew from $107 billion to $177 billion, a staggering $70 billion increase, underscoring his focus on wealth creation through equity growth rather than direct compensation.
