What’s a superpower Marvel’s top heroes and villains have in common? Being filthy rich. It seems there are more than a few good and nefarious figures that would find themselves listed as the 200 richest people on Earth – perhaps more so than real-life characters like Mark Zuckerberg (Net Worth – $52 billion)!
At least it answers the question of how they can afford all their weapons, keep their costumes fresh and not worry about how horribly beaten up they get while on a mission. Without further ado, here are the top 15 richest Marvel characters in the comic book universe and their net worth…
The Richest Marvel Characters, Ranked by Net Worth
15. Janet van Dyne — The Wasp
Who is she? The first ‘Wasp’; Founding member of the Avengers.
Net Worth: $1 Billion
Source of Wealth: Family business / Pym tech / Fashion business
Janet van Dyne might have been perfectly happy living out her days as a socialite and fashion designer. She had access to a family fortune, built her own successful fashion business, and more or less had it made. In one way or another, though (depending on the comic book or film), she always ends up getting roped into the superhero game.
In her case that means suiting up as “The Wasp” using Hank Pym’s extraordinary tech. Ironically, once in the ultra-expensive Wasp suit, Van Dyne can’t really benefit from her wealth. But in terms of general walking around money, she’s still among the richest Marvel characters.
14. Charles Xavier — Professor X
Who is he? Founder of the X-Men; Mutant
Net Worth: $3.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Inherited estate / Assorted investments
Charles knew wealth his whole life. He had a top-notch education at Oxford and inherited a family estate in New York that he charitably converted into a boarding school (and rebuilt, several times). Not to mention the high-tech facility and bleeding edge technology underneath it.
If we are to go by an extortion attempt by Famtonex, he and his school are worth a crisp $3.5 billion. None of which was supported by him exploiting his psychic powers; he used the more mundane parts of his brain to acquire smart investments that are still earning him plenty.
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13. Angel — Archangel
Who is he? Mutant; Member of X-Men, Defenders, Champions
Net Worth: $5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Worthington Industries (family business)
The guy’s name is Warren Worthington III – Obviously he’s among the wealthier figures in the wide world of Marvel.
In terms of his actual role in the Marvel stories, Angel is actually pretty straightforward. He’s the son of a wealthy businessman who inherits a place in the family business (Worthington Industries) along with a lot of money. He also happens to be a mutant, however –– one who ultimately uses his resplendent angel wings to fight crime alongside other X-Men. Angel also helps finance assorted groups of heroes.
12. Daniel Rand — Iron Fist
Who is he? Warrior; Member of The Defenders
Net Worth: $5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Inherited wealth / Co-owner of Rand-Meachum, Inc.
Danny Rand, like a few on this richest superhero list, mostly inherited his success. Though technically in charge of Rand-Meachum, Inc. via a 50%+ stake in the company, Dany lives mostly away from a very large apartment in the Upper West Side (which can sell for about $2 million on the cheap end).
Rand itself easily does very well as it operates several real-estate lettings around New York, a petroleum branch and clearly makes a lot of money in pharmaceutical research, development and distribution. While Danny himself uses both Rand’s profits and his personal income to fund the Secret Avengers and Heroes For Hire.
11. Norman Osborn — Green Goblin
Who is he? Villain; Enemy of Spider-Man
Net Worth: $10 Billion
Source of Wealth: Hostile takeover / Oscorp CEO / Scientific invention & contracts
For a guy who has a chronic habit of dropping into periods of bonkers psychosis, Norman’s not exactly on the ropes financially – he’s the CEO of Oscorp after all. Oscorp is ubiquitous within New York, ubiquitous enough that in one session of petty grievances against Spider-Man, Norman made himself majority shareholder of the Daily Bugle.
The wealthy industrialist is probably the more hard to guess on the list as whenever the Green Goblin takes over, he goes on a tirade of petty schemes that hurt Oscorp and his own bank account along with anyone who gets in his way.
10. Hercules
Who is he? King of the Olympian gods
Net Worth: $10 Billion + (Estimated)
Source of Wealth: Investment
Being immortal and over two thousand years old is a wonderful way to maximise your net worth. Hercules, unlike a lot of characters on this list, isn’t a CEO or an inheritor of a family fortune, but he is a shrewd investor, being one of Howard Stark’s initial backers.
The son of Zeus however has such a head for finance that when he died in Hercules: Fall of an Avenger, it took almost two weeks to gather all the documents on his investment and venture portfolios. Oh and that Stark investment? If Hercules invested $100,000 in 1950, the figure would be worth over a billion dollars today by inflation alone. Never mind compound interest. Marvel Wikia reports that “when the size of the investment was calculated, a second line of zeroes was required”.
9. Emma Frost
Who is she? Powerful Mutant telepath; Teacher
Net Worth: $11 Billion
Source of Wealth: Inherited wealth / Frost International CEO
You don’t get to be a member of the Hellfire Club unless you are in the global 1%. Not only does Emma Frost easily manage this through Frost International, she (unlike Charles Xavier) used her formidable psychic powers to get even richer.
As CEO of Frost International, which is a multibillion-dollar company specializing in technology, electronics, and transportation, Frost eventually became wealthy enough to privately fund the island-based mutant sanctuary, Utopia for a long time.
8. Reed Richards — Mister Fantastic
Who is he? Fantastic Four leader
Net Worth: $12 Billion
Source of Wealth: Scientific invention & patents
While probably not up there with CEOs like Danny Rand or Tony Stark, Reed Richards has made enough on his patents that he can finance the Fantastic Four, own a 35-story tower right next to Grand Central and operate trips to space.
Dubbed the smartest man in the Marvel Universe, he’s also rich enough to fund the closest thing among Marvel heroes to unbridled mad science all without fretting over how much he is spending. Or maybe it’s just Reed being Reed and thinking of nothing but what science experiment to perform next.
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7. Wilson Fisk — Kingpin
Who is he? Powerful businessman; Enemy of Daredevil
Net Worth: $40 Billion
Source of Wealth: Stock selling / Damage Control ownership
Wilson Fisk might not be the richest man in the country, but he must be loaded enough to not only sit on top of all the crime that happens in New York, but also channel funds into rebuilding an entire district.
Owning construction company Damage Control alongside Tony Stark, Fisk made a huge income by selling his stock. After regaining the company, the Marvel villain made bigger bucks when Damage Control was hired to repair the damages of the Acts of Vengeance. Whatever Fisk is valued at easily involves at least nine zeroes, maybe ten.
6. Victor Von Doom — Doctor Doom
Who is he? Villain & Master of Science and Sorcery
Net Worth: $100 Billion
Source of Wealth: Von Doom Industries developments / Latveria production
Victor has two things that keep him near the top of the list: Latveria, the country he rules, is as populous as a large city and most of his wealth comes from developments at Von Doom Industries.
People might not be living in luxury there, but Doom must have some serious finances to allow this tiny European country to eclipse all others in military and technological power. This edge, and what little Latveria does produce on its own, is also why we reckon he’s on his way to doing better than Tony Stark.
5. Justin Hammer
Who is he? Criminal mastermind; Villain of Iron Man
Net Worth: Somewhere near $100 Billion
Source of Wealth: HammerTech developments / (Likely) shady, off-book arms deals
You don’t get to be the biggest rival of Stark Industries unless you are seriously big news yourself, as is the case with Justin Hammer, CEO of HammerTech – fifth of the richest Marvel characters.
Iron Man 2 presented him as a rather second-rate rival but don’t be fooled, in the comics, he’s bankrolled at least half of Iron Man’s adversaries who are not Russian knock-offs. This is all under the table, of course, but you don’t get to do that and compete with Stark unless your bank account is similarly enormous. In fact, Iron Man Armory reports that this rich supervillain’s “own holdings in the business world are second only to Stark’s”.
4. Tony Stark — Iron Man
Who is he? Founding Member of Avengers
Net Worth: $100 Billion
Source of Wealth: Inherited wealth / Stark Industries owner
The “genius billionaire philanthropist” himself, at an estimated net worth of $100 billion, Anthony Edward Stark is quite possibly one of the richest men in America, perhaps easily ranking in the top five. And why wouldn’t he be?
Stark Industries is the premier technology developer in everything from high-efficiency reactors to nanotechnology, prototype rockets and medical equipment. He’s got enough patents to be set for life. Iron Man has enough dollar bills that funding all the equipment the Avengers use (Quinjets and the headquarters) doesn’t even affect his bank account.
3. Namor the Sub-Mariner
Who is he? Antihero ruler of Atlantis
Net Worth: $260 billion
Source of Wealth: Ocean resources / Shipwreck plunder / Atlantean tech
This half-mutant Atlantean ruler is one of the stranger characters in the Marvel universe. Often devious yet occasionally arm-in-arm with our heroes, he is a full-fledged antihero with unclear allegiances and varied priorities. When it comes to his stash of wealth, though, the Sub-Mariner is anything but ambiguous.
Namor may draw wealth from more sources than any other character in the Marvel films or comics –– which is why he’s near the top of this list. For starters, as the ruler of Atlantis, he can basically lay claim to the entire ocean’s resources. There’s also Atlantean tech, and it rivals that of Wakanda. Namor also has vast stores of treasure collected from a history’s worth of shipwrecks. Some estimates of the character’s wealth go as high as trillions, but we’ll go with the more conservative number given that most of those ocean resources aren’t practically useful.
2. T’Challa — Black Panther
Who is he? King of Wakanda; Intellect; Martial Artist
Net Worth: $90 Trillion
Source of Wealth: Vibranium / Wakanda fiscal reserves
In terms of actual net worth, it’s not exactly a contest without the Black Panther near the top. As absolute monarch of his country, his net worth is kind of tied to said country’s GDP and fiscal reserves. No surprise then that estimates of T’Challa’s net worth, thanks to Wakanda’s 10,000-tonne reserve of Vibranium, range from $500 billion to $100 trillion.
You know that statistic that says half the world’s wealth is owned by about eight people? Well in theory, T’Challa possesses the equivalent of all the world’s wealth and then some – all $78 trillion dollars of the gross world product. Even if you discount the Vibranium Reserve, Wakanda’s financial situation and list of innovations Stark can barely dream of means T’Challa would still top the list of richest Marvel characters. Oh wait… almost.
1. Thor
Who is he? God of Thunder; Warrior; Founder of The Avengers
Net Worth: If gold is used as coins, we’d say he was pretty, actually, filthy rich (virtually limitless).
Source of Wealth: Asgardian plunder
Someone wealthier than T’Challa? We reckon it’s possible. Thor is officially the richest Marvel superhero!
The thing about Asgard is that it gathered a lot of plunder fighting to build the Nine Realms. As Hela asked, where did all the gold come from? Well not only is the royal family of Asgard owning some killer real-estate, but they possess multiple enormous vaults full of treasure that contain gold, gems, jewelry, statues and so on that were either generated by the realm itself or collected from various worlds.
We’re not given a solid value, but since they’re a realm of Gods, they may have enough gold, precious things and artifacts to surpass the value of Wakanda’s Vibranium Reserves. Since the MCU’s Asgardians are highly advanced aliens instead, they might possibly be wealthy enough to consider gold cheap, but pretty nonetheless.
Did you see it coming? Does our ranking of the richest Marvel characters surprise you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published in December 2018.
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Jesus Christ is richer than all of them. Done phone drop
Black Panther is dead so who has his money now ?
He’s wrong about most of what he’s saying anyway. He just doesn’t want a black guy to be rich. News flash, I can name three real black billionaires off the top of my head.
Wakanda pib is 97 trillion but T’challa’s worth is 500 billions
the assumption is that as absolute ruler of wakanda, that means that tchalla has control and ownership of the GDP of his nation. this isn’t even remotely true and even in dictatorships the wealth of the nation isn’t owned by the dictator but the nation.
even if he had absolute control over the nations wealth it still wouldn’t matter as assets not in circulation retain zero value, the vibranium only has its value if its actually being sold. since wakanda isn’t in the mood to share that much the vibranium in storage and in the ground has no actual value and if they sold alot of it its value would drop before any of it was sold.
to compare that to real life. the queen of the uk doesn’t have much power but everything is done in her name. yet even in this case the money the uk makes isn’t hers. her net value is alot because of accumulated wealth over years but she has her own personal wealth the nation is has a separate wealth