Jeff Bezos explains why he settled for an $80,000 salary despite a net worth of $177 billion

Last update:December 16, 2024, 4:06 p.m. IST

Despite a base salary of $80,000, between 2023 and 2024, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would have earned $8 million per hour.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the third richest person in the world, is said to earn a little over $80,000 (around Rs 67 Lakh). Despite a low base salary, he earned much more from his actions. Between 2023 and 2024, Bezos would have earned $8 million per hour. The former CEO explained that as a founder, he felt his 10% stake was enough and he didn’t think he needed a higher salary. He says founders are “owner-operators,” who grow their wealth not by taking on more equity but by increasing the value of what they already own. Since leaving Amazon, Bezos has occasionally sold some of his shares.

The New York Times host pointed out that throughout his tenure at Amazon, Jeff only paid himself around $80,000 (Rs 67 lakh) a year and never took on any additional property in the company. ‘business. To this, the billionaire responded: “My view was that I was a founder, I had already owned a significant part of the company and I just didn’t feel comfortable in it. idea of ​​taking more. I felt like I had a lot of motivation. I owned over 10 percent of the company before, before it was diluted by various things, over 20 percent of the company. It was, I just felt like I could use more incentive. »

Jeff Bezos further explained that “most founders own large parts of the business that they don’t need, they’re more like owner-operators. The way they increase their wealth isn’t about getting compensation, they just want to make the equity they have more valuable. So I never felt disgusted and I’m very proud of this decision. »

The Amazon founder further suggested that there should be a list ranking people based on the wealth they have created for others, rather than just how rich they are. He added that Amazon’s market value is $2.3 trillion (Rs 195 lakh crore). Since he owns around $200 billion (Rs 16 lakh crore), he has helped generate around $2.1 trillion (Rs 179 lakh crore) of wealth for others. He believes this achievement should earn him a high position on such a list.

According to INC reports, Jeff Bezos was worth around $107 billion (Rs 9 lakh crore) in 2023, but the following year his wealth increased to $177 billion (Rs 15 lakh crore). This $70 billion (Rs 5.9 lakh crore) growth means it has earned almost $8 million (Rs 67 crore) per hour over the past year.