Net worth, defined.

The formula

net worth = total assets - total liabilities

Assets are things with monetary value: cash, investments, retirement accounts, property, business stakes, vehicles. Liabilities are debts: mortgage balances, loans, credit cards. A negative net worth simply means debts currently exceed assets, which is common early in life and not a moral statement.

Why a billionaire's number is an estimate

For public figures, nobody outside their finance team sees the full ledger. An outside estimate values what public evidence documents: disclosed shareholdings at market prices, private stakes at their latest supportable valuation, documented liabilities subtracted. Everything undocumented is uncertainty, not zero. That is why every figure on this site is labeled an estimate with its evidence coverage and dates: the full rules are in the methodology.

Net worth is not cash

Most large fortunes are concentrated in stock that cannot be sold quickly or entirely without moving the price, triggering taxes, or breaching restrictions. An estimated net worth says what holdings are worth on paper on a date, not what anyone could spend.

Calculate your own

The compare-your-net-worth tool adds what you own, subtracts what you owe, and compares the result with the public estimates here, entirely in your browser. The step-by-step guide covers which values to use for each asset and debt, and the net worth by age table shows where a result sits against the Federal Reserve medians.

Related terms

Wealth on paper is the market value of assets someone still holds, which is what every public estimate here measures. Net worth vs income covers the difference between what you hold and what arrives each year.