If you ever wonder how ultrawealthy people like Elon Musk spend their money, here’s something to chew on: Based on his net worth alone, Musk could spend $1 billion a year for 817 years and still have $200 million left over.
Musk, age 55, obviously won’t live another 817 years. But if he holds on for another 30 years, he’d have to spend about $27 billion annually just to use up his estimated net worth of $817.2 billion (per Forbes).
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That’s how hard it is for ultrawealthy people like Musk and Jeff Bezos (net worth $257.3 billion, per Forbes) to spend the kind of money that would make even a minor dent in their massive fortunes.
But no matter how much they typically spend in a year, you can bet it’s a lot more than the average American. Read on to find out how much billionaires might spend in a typical year.
Spending Patterns by Income Group
Because personal spending is a private matter, you won’t find much data on how much Musk, Bezos and other billionaires spend in a typical year. However, you can find out how much rich people spend in general compared with everyone else.
In a Consumer Expenditures report released late last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that yearly expenditures for all households (or “consumer units”) averaged $78,535 in 2024.
However, the richest households — referred to as the “fifth quintile” — spent nearly twice that much. Here’s a look at average spending by all five quintiles, along with average yearly income for each quintile based on data from the Tax Policy Center.
Quintile
Average Household Income
Average Annual Spending
Lowest
$18,460
$35,046
Second
$49,380
$50,054
Third
$84,390
$66,900
Fourth
$136,800
$89,972
Fifth
$316,100
$150,342
As the above figures show, the richest households spend more than $150,000 a year on average, which is still less than half of what they earn.
By contrast, the poorest households spend nearly twice their annual income, which means many must go into debt and/or rely on government help to make ends meet.
How Much Do Billionaires Like Musk and Bezos Spend?
One thing to keep in mind about the ultrawealthy is that “net worth” is not the same thing as spending money.
In most cases their wealth is tied up in stocks and other assets rather than cash, according to Chad Cummings, attorney and certified public accountant (CPA) at Cummings & Cummings Law, who previously worked in finance and tax.
Selling those assets “can trigger tax, disclosure, market and governance consequences,” Cummings told MoneyLion. “What this means is that a person can be very wealthy ‘on paper,’ but have little-to-no liquidity.”
Musk is a case in point. According to Livemint, only a tiny fraction of his wealth is in cash and cash equivalents — about 0.1% of his overall net worth, according to one estimate. Of course, that still adds up to more than $8 billion in liquid assets.
The world’s richest person reportedly has adopted an austere lifestyle in recent years, which is why he might not spend as much as people think. As the BBC reported, Musk once spent $100 million on seven houses in about seven years. But he later “had a change of heart” and announced that he would sell “almost all physical possessions.” If that’s the case, he’s more the exception than the rule when it comes to how the rich spend money.
Bezos famously spent an estimated $10.3 million on his 2025 wedding to Lauren Sánchez, as reported by Vanity Fair. He also owns numerous high-ticket items, including a $500 million yacht, per GOBankingRates.
According to Cummings, most ultrawealthy people spend tens of millions of dollars a year on everything from private aircraft and staffed residences to security, insurance and travel.
“To use some numbers, a typical ultrawealthy household may spend $20 million to $100 million in an ordinary year without buying a major trophy asset,” Cummings said. “It’s not just the initial expenditure but the ongoing costs of maintenance.”
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
