Having money can be its own sort of superpower. You can afford all sorts of things that the average Joe can’t afford, like three-minute jet plane rides to pick up more gold plated toilets or whatever it is that rich people like to buy.
A good percentage of superheroes are fairly wealthy. Some of them run countries, others run corporations and others inherited massive amounts of money from their parents or family estate. If we’re talking about the fictional world of comic books, then being poor isn’t really going to do them any favors. Except for maybe Spider-Man, but he’s been busy getting through high school.
Here’s a list, which is by no means exhaustive and definitely up for discussion, of the richest superheroes of all time.
Aquaman
Estimated wealth: $100 trillion plus
The ocean covers more than 30 percent of the surface of this planet, and the Pacific Ocean alone has a surface area of over 60 million square miles. That’s larger than all of the land on the continents combined. It’s full of earth’s resources and one person rules it all: Aquaman.
This particular superhero has all of the resources of the ocean at his beck and call, and just the tuna alone is worth billions (I’m sure he only sacrifices the tuna when he needs some extra spending money). A simple arrangement with the governments of the world would probably be enough to keep his gold armor in great shape for centuries to come.
He’s also a founding member of the Justice League, and they don’t really let any schlubs in that organization. You have to have some capital or at least a see-through jet to impress the others. He’s the King of Atlantis and that country existed way before any other country before it sank, so there’s all that built-in wealth there.
Black Panther
Estimated wealth: $90 trillion plus
While Aquaman is the king of the underwater realm, T’Challa is the king of Wakanda, one of the richest countries in the fictional Marvel world. It’s basically a high tech paradise/utopia with unimaginable wealth and prosperity.
On top of that, it’s the only place to get the ultra-valuable element vibranium. That type of monopoly over something so valuable means that T’Challa is the richest person over land, and thank god he uses it for good. He also has the weight of his family’s fortune behind him and he’s a world leader as well.
Charles Xavier
Estimated wealth: $125 billion plus
It’s easy to forget about Professor X. As the de facto leader of the X-Men, he’s the one who supplies the team with not only their state-of-the-art training facilities, plane, weapons and capital. Xavier actually inherited his fortune, after his father Brian was killed in a terrible nuclear catastrophe.
After he was given the mansion and his family’s fortune, he went on to form the X-Men. In the comics, we learn that Xavier actually works to make his fortune even bigger by investing in technologies like pharmaceuticals and waste management companies.
He’s also the inventor of a number of cutting edge devices, like Cerebro, the apparatus that helps him locate other mutants. Considering the incalculable power bill it must take to run the mansion – from the training room alone, could probably power a small city —it’s a good thing he has the money he does.
Nightwing
Estimated wealth: $100 billion plus
This is a weird one. Turns out that Batman’s former Robin Dick Grayson is actually more wealthy than Batman himself. How, you ask? Turns out that when Alfred died he happened to secretly be one of the richest men on the planet, and he left that monet to Grayson.
Nightwing already had the weight of Wayne’s fortune behind him, but thanks to Alfred he’s now surpassed his mentor. Also it’s worth mentioning that fortune fluctuations are fairly common in the comic book world and Wayne’s fortune has grown and shrank over the years, so this doesn’t mean it won’t again.
Nightwing is very set on improving his home city of Bludhaven, so it’s very possible that they could switch places on the list again.
Batman
Estimated wealth: $100 billion
Batman is the OG when it comes to rich superheroes. He was born into the egregiously wealthy Wayne family and then inherited it all when his parents were killed after walking through Crime Alley (that’s really what it’s called).
He’s the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and has a small army of super customized and cutting-edge vehicles, as well as the most advanced computer in the world in his batcave. As a member of high-society, alter ego Bruce Wayne rubs shoulders with the most powerful people in Gotham and has the ability to make deals that bring in oodles of cash.
Because he’s both the CEO and a member of the family that shares the company’s name, he makes money even when he’s just sitting around watching stuff on his bat TV (he has one of those, right?) Wayne’s fortune definitely fluctuates, but it’s big enough that he can always make some sort of multi-continent deal to keep him swimming in his billions.
Iron Man
Estimated wealth: $80 billion
Another superhero who’s not afraid to potentially bankrupt himself for the sake of keeping the world safe, Iron Man is another CEO of a highly profitable company, and he also comes from money.
As one of the founding members of The Avengers, Stark has used his money to help finance the group and he’s built up an impressive collection of his multi-million dollar battle suits.
He’s also lost his fortune a few times due to not necessarily being a great businessman, and also, his alcoholism probably doesn’t help. However, he’s one of the smartest men on the planet and also an amazing engineer, so he always finds a way to crawl back to the top, whether using his brain, sheer hard work or the fact that he’s got incredible name recognition.
Reed Richards
Estimated wealth: $12 billion
Part of Mr. Fantastic’s identity is the fact that he’s a wealthy man. Ever since he debuted in Fantastic Four #1 way back in the early ’60s, Richards has been known as intelligent and wealthy, Where does his fortune come from? Well, he owns a plethora of patents in things like space travel, biochemistry and even synthetic polymers.
There’s also his use of unstable molecules, which can pretty much do anything and also helped to line his coffers. As if that’s not all, he also has more than 15 doctorate degrees, which probably cost a little at first but then help him to get all those government contracts and the occasional lucrative speaking engagement.
There’s also the matter of the Fantastic Four headquarters and the jet that flies them around.
Emma Frost
Estimated wealth: $10 billion plus
While maybe not the best known mutant out there, Emma Frost has been either helping or hurting the X-Men since her debut as a villain in the ’80s. She joined the X-Men properly eventually and used her family fortune to help the X-Men with their pursuits.
She’s also bought a whole island called Utopia to help her fellow mutants have a place to live away from the prying and judgemental eyes of human society. She’s not only the CEO of her own company Frost International, she’s a high ranking member of the Hellfire Trading Company.
She also lives in a palace – The White Palace, to be exact, on Krakoa. She’s also only the second female superhero on this list, which definitely means we could use some more.
Archangel
Estimated wealth: $5 billion
One of the more complicated superheroes out there, Archangel has been through quite the ordeal over the years. First of all, he got his money the old fashioned way: by inheriting it. His name even sounds rich – Warren Worthington III. He’s the chairman and principal stockholder Worthington Industries.
He was originally Angel, but his wings were amputated and he would’ve died without Apocalypse helping him out. The famous villain gave Angel a makeover, grafting techno razor sharp wings with “feathers” that can be used as weapons with a neurotoxin. The wings can also be pulled in to hide.
He uses his money to finance other superhero teams like the Champions, and he aided Wolverine in creating the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning. Despite his permutations and having lost his fortune a few times before gaining it back, he’s still incredibly wealthy.
The Wasp
Estimated wealth: $1 billion
When you think of wealth, you don’t neccesarily think of Ant-Man, much less The Wasp. However, Wasp, who first appeared in the ’60s in issue #44 of Tales to Astonish, is one of the richest superheroes around.
Janet Van Dyne has always been one of the most wealthy Avengers, but her family had a fortune that helped her get off her feet. In addition to that, she’s a fashion designer and runs a very successful fashion brand. She’s never lost her fortune over the years, so she continues to accrue wealth and it wouldn’t be surprising if she moves a couple of spots higher on the list in the future.