Mark Zuckerberg pays taxes primarily on reported income like stock sales or dividends, not unrealized wealth, leading to low effective rates (around 13.7% on reported income, 1.1% on wealth growth between 2013-2018) by using stock as collateral for loans and delaying sales, though dividends from Meta (like a $700M one in 2024) attract higher rates (around 23.8% federal). His salary is a token $1, so most wealth growth goes untaxed until stock is sold, creating a large gap between wealth change and taxes paid, according to ProPublica/ATF analysis.
Jeff Bezos pays a very low effective federal income tax rate, often under 1%, because most of his wealth comes from untaxed stock appreciation, not taxable income like wages; a 2014-2018 analysis showed he paid roughly $1.4 billion in federal taxes on a $127 billion wealth increase (a ~1.1% rate). He has even paid zero federal income tax in certain years (like 2007 and 2011) by using investment losses and deductions, legally deferring taxes on stock growth until sold, which he often avoids by taking low-interest loans against his shares.
According to ProPublica, Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018. He stated his 2021 tax bill was estimated at $12 billion based on his sale of $14 billion worth of Tesla stock. Musk has repeatedly described himself as "cash poor", and has "professed to have little interest in the material trappings of wealth".
In 2022, ProPublica reported his annual average income from 2013 to 2018 was $2.85 billion, and his annual federal income tax rate was 18.4% — meaning he would have paid about $525 million in federal income tax each year, according to BI calculations.
In some years, billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and George Soros paid no federal income taxes at all. Billionaires avoid these taxes by taking out special ultra-low-interest loans available only to them and using their assets as collateral.
ELON MUSK: "I'm the largest individual taxpayer in history, so I paid $10 billion in tax."
Since 93% of corporate stock is owned by the wealthiest 10%–including billionaires–corporate tax cuts are by definition tax cuts for the rich. The law also reduced the top individual tax rate, the one that applies to the great bulk of the richest Americans' income.
According to ITEP, Tesla was able to avoid paying $500 million in taxes by using accelerated depreciation, a tax avoidance method and incentive for businesses which allows companies to write off the costs of an asset faster than it would normally actually lose value.
Yes, in most cases, Canadians pay higher total taxes than Americans. Canada's top federal income tax rate is 33%, compared to 37% in the U.S. However, when provincial taxes are added, Canada's combined top marginal rates can exceed 50% in some provinces.
Yes, Jeff Bezos famously kept his Amazon base salary at around $80,000 per year for decades, choosing to take most of his compensation through stock options, which grew immensely as the company succeeded, making him one of the world's wealthiest individuals without a high executive paycheck. He felt he had enough incentive as a major owner and preferred building wealth by increasing the value of his existing equity rather than taking more salary or bonuses.
High-Income Taxpayers Paid the Majority of Federal Income Taxes. In 2022, the bottom half of taxpayers earned 11.5 percent of total AGI and paid 3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent earned 22.4 percent of total AGI and paid 40.4 percent of all federal income taxes.
“Tesla: The company has used mechanisms like deferred tax assets, research and development credits, and massive deductions from Elon Musk's stock-based compensation to reduce its U.S. federal income tax to near zero in profitable years.” Mark Anthony Glover If he sells stock he pays capital gains tax.
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on lowering the US corporate income tax rate to 15 percent. He made the same request in 2017 when Republicans passed their tax cuts, but Congress only cut the federal rate to 21 percent—down from the worldwide high of 35 percent.
In some years, billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and George Soros paid no federal income taxes at all. Billionaires avoid these taxes by taking out special ultra-low-interest loans available only to them and using their assets as collateral. Tesla paid $0 in federal income tax last year.
One easy way to pay no income tax is to have little or no taxable income. For tax year 2025, taxpayers receive a standard deduction of $15,750 (singles or married persons filing separately) or $31,500 (marrieds filing jointly). For heads of households, the standard deduction is $23,625 for tax year 2025.
The "first richest kid" isn't a single historical figure, but Princess Charlotte of Wales is often cited as the current richest child due to massive inherited wealth from the British Crown, while early child actor Jackie Coogan holds the Guinness World Record for the youngest non-inherited millionaire, becoming a millionaire by age 13 in the 1920s from movie earnings. Different lists focus on inherited fortunes (royalty, heirs) or self-made wealth (entrepreneurs, social media stars).
As of late 2025, Shayne Coplan, the 27-year-old founder of the prediction market platform Polymarket, became the world's youngest self-made billionaire after a major investment from the NYSE's parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), valuing his stake at over $1 billion. Another prominent young figure is YouTuber MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), also 27, who is considered the only self-made billionaire under 30 (not inheriting wealth) through his content empire, though his personal cash flow differs from his company's valuation.
Many of the world's billionaires are far older than the tech-founder stereotype. At 103 years old, George Joseph is still actively involved in his company, Mercury General.