No supercars please, we’re rich: Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma and 7 more billionaires who choose to drive cheap, modest cars
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Ma might have made billions in the tech revolution – but they all choose to drive the most modest motors (some of the time, at least)
Maybe there’s a lesson here about the wisdom of the miserly and making sure every penny is thoughtfully spent. It seems these mega-billionaires have made it their modus operandi to steer toward the modest in their choice of cars, perhaps because that very same frugal thinking has helped get them where they are today – the wealthiest people ever in the world.
Most mere mortals base the decision of which car to drive on a set of practical factors such as fuel economy, safety, price, how it handles, its reviews, reputation and reliability, even its impact on the environment. So, it stands to reason that even these entrepreneurial titans consider the same when making their choice of what they drive every day.
So what can we learn?
1. Jeff Bezos – worth US$108.2 billion, as of October 2019
Richest man in the world, American Jeffrey Preston Bezos is the founder, CEO and president of Amazon.com. Bezos got his degrees in electrical engineering and computer science and worked on Wall Street up until about 1994 when he founded Amazon, coincidentally on a road trip from New York City to Seattle in probably a very modest car.
Despite the fact that he owns a solid 12 per cent stake in Amazon, Bezos has always driven Hondas, more specifically, an Accord as recently as 2013. On 60 Minutes, Bezos was asked why he loves this car company. His response is as no-nonsense as it gets. Simply put: “This is a perfectly good car.”
The manufacturer's suggested retail price for a 2013 Honda Accord is US$22,000.
2. Bill Gates – worth US$105.5 billion, as of October 2019
The principal founder of Microsoft and present second-richest person in the world, American Bill Gates is one of the founding fathers of the microcomputer revolution. Forbes has, since 1987, included him in their list of the world’s wealthiest people. In 1975, Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen launched Microsoft, which would then go on to become the largest PC software company in the world. He transitioned away from directly managing the company and, alongside his wife Melinda, now devotes his time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.