Top 10 Vehicles Owned by Billionaires
by Nate Chapnick
If your pockets were as deep as Bill Gates’ what would you drive? A new Porsche or a seven-year-old one? Each year, Forbes magazine compiles a list of the world’s wealthiest people. While awaiting the release of the 2006 list, which will be published in March, ForbesAutos.com wanted to give you a look at the vehicles driven by the billionaires at the top of the 2005 list. Check back in March when we update this list to reflect the Top 10 ranking for 2006.
Top 10 Vehicles Owned by Billionaires
William Gates III
Warren Buffett
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Ingvar Kamprad
Paul Allen
Lawrence Ellison
Jim Walton
Alice Walton
Michael Dell
Steven Ballmer
The cars and trucks driven by those in the Top 10 of the 2005 Forbes list was, in short, shocking. You won’t find a Bugatti, Ferrari or BMW driven by these billionaires. But you will find a Lincoln, a Mazda, even a Dodge and Ford. It seems that for the super-rich, a vehicle is seen not as a status symbol, but as a means to an end in which to get from point A to point B. Status is something that these billionaires need not prove to others. In many cases, the people on our list prefer to live inconspicuously, avoiding the limelight at all costs. This might explain why many of their vehicles cost less than your own daily driver.
Rank on Forbes.com 2005 World’s Billionaires List: 1
Net Worth: $46.5 billion
Vehicles Owned: 1999 Porsche 911 Convertible (pictured above); 1988 Porsche 959 Coupe
Source: State of Washington Department of Licensing
-- William Gates III