billionaire

American  

[bil-yuh-nair, bil-yuh-nair] / ˌbɪl jəˈnɛər, ˈbɪl jəˌnɛər /

noun

billionaires plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• billionaires
  plural

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

See Examples For:

billionaire billionaires

An acerbic open letter, a lengthy podcast and a new X account mark a shift for the typically discreet billionaire.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The hedge fund reportedly sold the bulk of its public-equity portfolio, possibly to Citadel, the hedge fund founded by billionaire Ken Griffin.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "This is a principled decision that we strongly support. Football belongs to the fans, not billionaire investors. Enough is enough. It's time to take a stand to protect our game."

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

It was because of money from tech billionaire investor Peter Thiel and other Silicon Valley types who seem to equate being rich with being learned.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026

Just because Laura Friendly was an adult and a billionaire and the mastermind of their spending game, he didn’t have to do what she said.

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

No counterculture event is more shrouded in hype than this annual gathering of thrill-seekers, Instagram influencers, billionaires and whichever artists can still afford to attend.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

Rosenfield’s thoughts on California’s business climate tracks with the departure of some businesses and billionaires from California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

From coconut sellers to billionaires, more than 90% of Brazilian adults—more than 140 million people—regularly use PIX, a government-run program that allows users to transfer money in seconds on cellphones at no cost.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Like other billionaires I met, I sensed that Sun rarely got to hang around people that didn't work for him or desire his money.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

As you can see, it includes queens and kings and pharaohs from centuries past, as well as contemporary billionaires, such as Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell