See full version: Why these 5 billionaires still drive these cheap cars
Heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, Alice Walton is now the wealthiest woman in the world after Liliane Bettencourt passed away this week. Her vehicle of choice is a 2006 Ford F-150 King Ranch, with a modest price of around $40,000 here
The business mogul justified the delay, as you might expect, pragmatically, telling Forbes: "I only drive about 3,500 miles a year so I will buy a new car very infrequently."
Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook
In 2014, when he returned to Sweden after 40 years of tax exile, The Telegraph reported that he said on television, "If you look at me now, I don't think I'm wearing anything that wasn't bought at a flea market." here
In 2014, he reportedly bought a Cadillac XTS, a car with a retail price of around $45,000. It was an upgrade from his previous car: a 2006 Cadillac DTS, which he decided to get rid of when his his daughter Susie told him it was embarrassing.
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has a net worth of $103.8 billion, allowing him to own several cars such as the 1988 Porsche 959. He supported the passage of the "Show and Display" law that allowed him to take possession of the 959 after it was imported to the United States.
If you had all the money in the world, what type of car would you buy? Would it be a $3 million Rolls-Royce, a $574,000 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, or a more subtle Honda Accord? While some multibillionaires have chosen to spend some of their wealth on expensive cars, others have taken a more modest route.
When asked about his vehicle of choice in a 1999 episode of "60 Minutes," Bezos said, "This is a perfectly good car."
Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos owns a 12% stake in Amazon worth about $114.8 billion following his divorce from his ex-wife, MacKenzie. But despite his wealth, a younger Bezos in 1999 still drove a 1996 Honda Accord, two years after the retailer went public.
Buffet drives a 2014 Cadillac XTS. The MSRP for a new one was $23,500. Before his 2014 Caddy, he owned a 2006 Cadillac DTS. here
CEO of Alphabet and cofounder of Google Larry Page earned his spot as the 8th richest person in the world. Although he has an annual salary of just one dollar, his net worth is about $53.5 billion as of October 2018. more
GoCompare used British pounds in its report but provided CNBC Make It with the cost of the cars in U.S. dollars.
Despite their wealth, many billionaires famously drive cheap cars that are priced well below their means.
Take former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has driven Fords for years because his father was a manager at Ford Motor Company. Or Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is often seen driving a black Acura TSX, a car valued around $30,000, which he says is "safe, comfortable and not ostentatious."
GoCompare, a British financial services comparison site, rounded up some of the least expensive cars owned by the world's richest billionaires. Sure, some of them own several vehicles, or have customized these rides, but here are nine business moguls who drive Hondas, Toyotas and Chevys.
Net worth: $52.1 billion
Car model: Chevrolet Suburban
Cost of base model: $39,200 here
Pressed by Sorkin on how easy it would be for other carmakers to catch up with Tesla, Gates gave no timeframe but indicated that he didn't think it would be a one-company show indefinitely. "I don't think there'll only be one electric car company," he said. "I was very impressed that GM said that by 2035 they're going to stop making gasoline cars. The amount of creativity by all the car companies going into this — partly because Tesla has shown that the market is there — is phenomenal." [links]
In an interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin on Clubhouse, Bill Gates explained why he was a fan of Tesla but drove another brand's EV. more
Tesla may be the poster child of electric vehicles, but Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently revealed in an interview on the audio chat app Clubhouse that he doesn't drive one, instead putting his green credentials behind the wheel of something else. Much of the interview was given over to discussing Gates' new book How To Avoid A Climate Disaster and he talked at length about various technologies that could contribute to tackling climate change. It's this that brought up the topic of Tesla. here
As Gates has pared back his involvement with Microsoft over the course of 15 years, he has focused increasingly on a variety of causes, of which climate change is one. His book on the topic, which was released last month, outlines a "plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe." It was within this context that the Clubhouse interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin took place.
Having characterized the Taycan as "fun," Gates explained that the reason he went for it was a personal like for Porsche because his first car had been one and because they "make a certain noise," something many car fans will empathize with. Gates went on to explain that he was by no means against Tesla. "Tesla's a fantastic car," he said. "I've bought Teslas for relatives … The company that has done the most for electric cars and has done a brilliant job is Tesla."
While explaining that a far greater effort was needed to reduce emissions in industrial areas like cement and steel use, Gates noted that a far greater but less impactful focus had been placed on near-term reductions like wind power, solar power, and electric cars, although he said these would ultimately be needed too. Picking up on Gates' reference of electric cars and that he drove one, Sorkin asked what it was, to which he replied: "It's not an everyman's car - it's called a Porsche Taycan Turbo." here