billionaire

American  

[bil-yuh-nair, bil-yuh-nair] / ˌbɪl yəˈnɛər, ˈbɪl yəˌnɛər /

noun

1. a person who has assets worth a billion or more dollars, euros, etc.

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billionaire British  

/ ˌbɪljəˈnɛə /

noun

1. a person whose assets are worth over a billion of the monetary units of his country

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Etymology

Origin of billionaire

First recorded in 1855–60, billion + -aire, on the model of millionaire

Explanation

Someone who lives in the U.S. and has money, property, and investments worth at least a billion dollars is a billionaire. Being a billionaire is dependent on a country's currency; in Europe, a net worth of a billion Euros makes someone a billionaire. There are around 2,500 Americans in this category, each possessing at least $1 billion — or a thousand million dollars. During the pandemic, U.S. billionaires increased their wealth by than $1.7 trillion dollars. The French billion was originally defined as "a million million," from bi-, "two," and million, but that was altered to "a thousand million."

Example Sentences

And he acknowledged that may be part of the reason some voters were skeptical of voting for a billionaire.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

A billionaire businessman, Kretinsky's companies own a gas pipeline that has transported Russian gas to Europe.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

The older, ecumenical Fortune 500 billionaire donated more than $30,000 in 2012 to committees supporting Mitt Romney.

From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026

His ruling Civil Contract party got 49.8 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the 23.3 percent of the Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia alliance, the Central Election Commission said.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

At the very last second, just as Charles was nearing victory, the batty billionaire disqualified him on a trumped-up technicality.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein