$93,000 per hour is an astronomical amount of money that very few people will ever earn. To put into perspective just how much money that is, let’s break it down:
Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly Earnings
| Time Period | Earnings at $93,000/hour |
| 1 hour | $93,000 |
| 8 hour work day | $744,000 |
| 40 hour work week | $3,720,000 |
| 4 week month | $14,880,000 |
| 52 week year | $193,440,000 |
As you can see, $93,000 an hour adds up quickly:
– In one 8 hour work day, you would earn $744,000
– In one 40 hour work week, you would earn $3,720,000
– In one month (assuming 4 weeks), you would earn $14,880,000
– In one year (52 weeks), you would earn $193,440,000
To earn $93,000 in just one hour, you would need to make over 3 times the median annual household income in the United States, which was $67,521 in 2020 according to the United States Census Bureau.
Clearly, $93,000 per hour puts you in rarefied air among the highest income earners in the world.
Who Earns This Type of Salary?
Very few people or professions earn $93,000 per hour. Here are a few examples of jobs and individuals that could command this level of compensation:
C-Suite Corporate Executives
Top executives at major public companies and large private firms can earn salaries and bonuses in the tens of millions of dollars. While much of their compensation comes in the form of stock grants and options, their cash earnings often work out to over $93,000 per hour. For example:
– Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, had total compensation of $98.7 million in 2020. This works out to around $47,500 per hour.
– Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, had compensation of $43.2 million in 2020. This equates to approximately $20,750 per hour.
While not all CEOs and executives earn as much as the examples above, compensation packages over $20 million per year are not uncommon among top corporations. At these levels, executives are easily earning $93,000+ per hour.
Hedge Fund Managers
Successful hedge fund managers can earn income and performance fees that result in annual earnings well over $100 million. The very best managers, such as Ray Dalio, Jim Simons, and Ken Griffin regularly earn over $1 billion per year. Their hourly earnings equate to well over $93,000 per hour.
Movie Stars & Athletes
The very top actors, musicians, and athletes earn incomes putting them over the $93,000 per hour threshold:
– Dwayne Johnson earned around $270 million last year according to Forbes, equaling $130,000 per hour.
– Soccer star Lionel Messi earned $130 million in 2021, which works out to $62,500 per hour.
– Pop star Taylor Swift had estimated earnings of $80 million, equaling $38,500 per hour.
However, it’s important to note that while the annual incomes of these stars is incredibly high, much of it comes in irregular bursts that don’t equate to a constant “hourly wage”. But during peak earning years at the height of their careers, their incomes are so massive that they clear $93,000 per hour.
Bill Gates & Other Billionaires
Billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have so much wealth that, even accounting for markets fluctuating day-to-day, their net worth reliably earns well over $93,000 per hour from investment returns and rising asset values.
While billionaires do not “earn” money in wages like traditional employees, their vast wealth is increasing at extreme rates. As just one example, it is estimated that Bill Gates’ net worth grows by around $2,500 per second – which equates to $9 million per hour!
So in summary, there are very few professions and people that can truly claim $93,000 per hour incomes on a sustained basis. The select group includes top tier business executives, money managers, entertainers at the peak of their earnings power, and billionaires with assets that generate extreme investment returns. It is a level of income very few ever experience.
What You Can Buy with $93,000 Per Hour
To further demonstrate just how much spending power $93,000 per hour provides, let’s look at some of the extravagant things you could buy:
Homes
– The median home price in the United States as of June 2022 was around $428,700 according to Redfin. At $93,000 per hour, you could buy a home outright every 4.6 hours.
– A luxury beachfront 8,000 square foot home in Malibu, CA can easily cost over $20 million. You could buy 5 of these beach houses in a single 40 hour work week.
Cars
– At $93,000 per hour, you could buy a brand new BMW luxury sedan outright every 2.7 hours.
– The latest Rolls-Royce Phantom flagship sedan has a starting price of around $460,000. You could buy one of these ultimate luxury cars every 5 hours.
– Ferrari’s new SF90 Stradale hybrid supercar costs over $500,000. You could purchase one every 5.4 hours.
Private Jets
– Used private jets start at around $2 million. At your hourly salary, you could buy a pre-owned private jet every 21 hours.
– For $93 million you can purchase a brand new, top-of-the-line private jet like the Gulfstream G650ER. You could buy one of these jets outright after just 4 days of work.
– The hourly operating cost of a private jet can range from $1,300 to $4,000. This means you could operate your private jet non-stop and still have over $90,000 remaining per hour.
Luxury Goods
– A 52 inch high definition television costs around $1,500. You could buy 62 brand new top-of-the-line TVs each hour.
– An Hermes Birkin bag has a starting price of $10,000. You could buy 9 of these exclusive hand bags every hour.
– Fine art sells for millions and tens of millions of dollars per piece. You could comfortably afford original works by Picasso, Basquiat, or Warhol and still have change left over after a day’s “work”.
Clearly at $93,000 per hour, one’s purchasing power is essentially unlimited within the confines of what can be bought and sold. You could afford to buy almost anything you wanted without concern for cost. This level of financial power is reserved for only the absolute wealthiest individuals in the world.
How Does $93,000 an Hour Compare Globally?
$93,000 per hour far exceeds the earnings of a typical worker anywhere in the world. Let’s compare it against the average income globally:
Average Incomes Around the World
| Country | Average Annual Income |
| India | $2,200 |
| China | $10,500 |
| South Africa | $13,200 |
| Russia | $24,000 |
| Mexico | $19,900 |
| Brazil | $15,500 |
| Turkey | $28,900 |
| Poland | $33,500 |
| Greece | $35,000 |
– At $93,000 per hour, you would earn the average annual salary of someone in India in just 2.5 minutes.
– It would take you just over 1 hour of work to earn the average yearly income of someone in China.
– In South Africa, Russia, Mexico, Brazil and Turkey it would take between 1 and 3 hours of work at your salary to match the average citizen’s annual income.
– In middle income countries like Poland and Greece, it would take under 4 hours to earn an average salary.
So while $93,000 per hour seems an impossible income to the vast majority of global citizens, for you it enables surpassing their annual earnings in mere hours or minutes of effort. This really puts into perspective the vast earning power this salary wields.
Is a $93,000 Hourly Wage Ethical?
Given how astronomically large $93,000 per hour is compared to most people’s incomes around the world, an important question arises – is it ethical for someone to earn this much? There are good arguments on both sides:
Arguments That This Salary is Ethical
– The executives, investors, and innovators earning these sums create tremendous value for society through the products and services their companies provide. Their contributions impact millions of lives.
– These incomes are often the result of decades of hard work, risk taking, and delayed gratification required to rise to such elite levels.
– Public companies award these salaries to attract and retain the best talent that can drive growth, create jobs, and provide strong returns to shareholders.
– Those earning $93,000 per hour pay very large tax bills – much more than average earners – that fund social services.
– No one is forced to buy products from companies run by these high earners. Consumers willingly vote for products/services with their dollars.
Arguments That This Salary is Unethical
– When CEOs and investors take such a large share of wealth, it leaves less for average workers who also contribute to company success. This inequality causes public resentment.
– Structural factors in the economy lead to accumulation of wealth at the top far beyond what can be justified by an individual’s contributions. Extreme wealth enables maintaining power.
– Society has an obligation to ensure more equitable distribution of wealth. Allowing some to earn so extravagantly while others live in poverty is morally wrong.
– When large shareholders and executives earn over 100x or 1000x more than regular employees, it negatively impacts morale, retention and overall economic health.
– Extreme inequality undermines principles of justice, fairness and democratic values. Allowing it risks destabilizing society in favor of the elite few.
There are good faith arguments on both sides of this issue. In the end, each person must decide for themselves whether $93,000 per hour is an ethical income or not based on their principles. But these perspectives provide a starting point on which to base your own judgment.
Taxes At $93,000 Per Hour
Given how enormous the income is, the tax implications of earning $93,000 per hour become very significant:
Federal Income Taxes
If you were treated as a W-2 wage earner, federal income taxes on $93,000 per hour would be:
– 37% marginal federal tax bracket
– Total federal income taxes of approximately $33 million (35.4% effective tax rate)
However, most earning this type of income have the ability to use accounting strategies to realize a lower effective tax rate, such as:
– Forming a personal corporation to take advantage of lower corporate tax rates
– Deferring taxes until gains are realized many years in the future
– Utilizing trusts and sophisticated strategies to minimize tax liability
Nonetheless, it’s safe to assume an overall effective federal tax rate between 20-30% given the very high income level.
State Income Taxes
State income taxes would also apply and vary based on location:
– California: 13.3% top rate, approximately $25 million in state taxes
– New York: 10.9% top rate, approximately $21 million in state taxes
– Texas: 0% state income tax
– Florida: 0% state income tax
So you would pay somewhere between $0 and $25 million in state taxes depending on home state.
Payroll Taxes
Payroll taxes would generally not apply since the majority of income would likely be classified as investment income rather than wage income. But Medicare surtaxes of 3.8% would apply above certain income thresholds for a few million in taxes.
All told, you would likely pay between $25 million to $60 million in taxes per year at the $93,000 per hour level. While still a huge amount in absolute terms, it would leave up to $130 million after tax for your yearly take home pay.
Is $93,000 an Hour Easy to Spend?
While having $93,000 per hour in income provides tremendous purchasing power, the sheer magnitude of this amount actually makes it difficult to spend for several reasons:
Limitations on Time
There are only so many ways you could spend money in the hours available in a day, week, or month. Even buying multiple mansions, jets, and other luxury goods, there are finite limitations around how many you would actually use and enjoy. There are only so many hours in the day to consume expensive services and goods.
Business Investment Requirements
Much of the income earned at this level flows from owning stakes in successful businesses and investments. So a lot of the money gets funneled back into new investments to allow the income stream to continue growing rather than being spent on personal consumption. Your available spending budget is reduced by what gets reinvested in growth opportunities.
Responsibility
Those earning such large incomes tend to control companies and organizations that employ thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people. This creates a responsibility to maintain financial discipline and steward resources in a prudent manner for long term health rather than lavish spending.
Spotlight of Public Attention
By virtue of their extreme success, those earning $93,000 per hour live lives constantly in the public eye. This scrutiny requires maintaining a balanced lifestyle and avoiding reckless uses of wealth that would create bad publicity or a bad example.
So in summary, while it’s an almost unimaginable amount of money, the practical realities make it difficult to actually spend $93,000 per hour on yourself without limitation. More likely, the majority goes towards taxes, investments, philanthropy, and providing for future generations rather than current personal consumption.
Could You Ever Realistically Earn This Much?
For almost everyone reading this article, earning $93,000 per hour is all but impossible. Here is a quick reality check:
– You’d have to be in the very top 0.01% of income earners in the world. This is around 1 in 10,000 people.
– It is 5,580 times greater than the median per capita global income according to the World Bank.
– The world’s 2,700 billionaires have average net worth of $4 billion. You’d have to be vastly wealthier than the average billionaire.
– To earn this from age 25 to 65 (40 yr career), you’d need lifetime earnings of over $3 billion.
While nothing is completely impossible, realistically becoming among the elite .01% worldwide is effectively out of reach for nearly everyone from any background. It would take world class talent, relentless work ethic, enormous risk taking, and once-in-a-generation type luck to come anywhere close to this income bracket.
The only reliable paths are rising to the very top of a Fortune 500 corporation, founding a unicorn tech startup, or earning once in a lifetime investment returns. For the other 99.99%, earning $93,000 per hour or anything remotely close is simply not in the realm of possibility.
So unless you possess truly extraordinary abilities and circumstances, it’s wise to set your sights on more down to earth income goals!
Conclusion
In review, $93,000 per hour provides a level of income accessible to only tiny fraction of people worldwide. It enables a standard of living and purchasing power exceeding almost anyone else on earth. While debates exist around the ethics of earning so much, the tax implications are enormous. And practically being able to spend this much is still limited despite the eye-popping quantity.
For nearly everyone, this level of pay is not even worth realistically aspiring to. Nevertheless, exploring just how much can be earned per hour at the absolute pinnacle of the global income spectrum provides an intriguing thought experiment to understand just how unevenly financial resources are distributed in the world.
