Jeff Bezos had a pretty good, well, decade, especially considering how much he boosted his net worth last year and throughout 2025. It’s now at around $240 billion, making him the world’s fourth-richest person behind Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg. Not too bad for a guy who started by selling books online.
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This fortune didn’t appear overnight, though. Bezos accumulated his wealth over decades of saving, investing and navigating plenty of pitfalls and setbacks along the way. Despite obstacles, he remained focused on his goals and refining his approach to business and financial planning.
Along the path to obtaining billionaire status, Bezos has acquired wisdom and insight that can help other entrepreneurs looking to strike gold. Here’s what the Amazon founder has to say about building wealth — and what you can learn from it.
Don’t Be Afraid To Think Big
Bezos has shared some knowledge about thinking big on everything from long-term investments to real estate purchases. He has always emphasized the importance of focusing less about short-term gains and more about building toward the future. This philosophy has been pivotal to Amazon’s success.
“Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Bezos said, adding that most people get too caught up worrying about risks while missing out on huge opportunities. Instead, Bezos is a fan of playing the long game.
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Keep Your Eyes on the Money
Bezos is all about what he calls “intuition, curiosity and the power of wandering.” Sometimes you need to step back and look at the bigger picture to find outside-of-the-box solutions — even if that means being a little less efficient.
Steps to building wealth can vary, but as long as you are putting money into your retirement accounts rather than racking up credit card debt with high interest rates, you’re on the right track.
Put Passion Behind Your Work
Clocking in and clocking out just to earn a paycheck is one way to go about work. But Bezos knows that building real wealth requires passion — that extra something that gets you up in the morning ready to invest your whole self into your company.
As Bezos explained, “You can have a job, or you can have a career, or you can have a calling. And if you can somehow figure out how to have a calling, you have hit the jackpot.”
While some chase trends for quick profits, Bezos encourages you to look inward and explore what you believe you can give to the world and use that drive as motivation. When work aligns with personal passion, financial success becomes a natural byproduct.
Mix Up Your Investments and Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment
Any person looking to grow their money would love a simple formula to success and riches. Slow and steady investments in an emergency fund, 401(k) plan or individual retirement account (IRA) are a great foundation, but even the most successful entrepreneurs don’t get it right on the first try when they attempt something riskier.
Bezos has repeatedly stressed the importance of being willing to try new strategies, all while innovating and adapting along the way. “If you double the number of experiments you do per year, you’re going to double your inventiveness,” he said.
This one’s straight from Bezos’ playbook — his investment company, Bezos Expeditions, doesn’t just stick to tech. He’s got his fingers in all sorts of pies, from startups to established companies. Everyone can learn (and implement) the important element of diversification when it comes to investments.
Take Big Risks and Learn From Your Mistakes
Bezos often stresses that being unique comes at a price. “Being yourself is worth it, but don’t expect it to be easy or free,” he explained. “The world wants you to be typical — in a thousand ways,” he said, but he urged people not to give in to that pressure to increase their income by selling out.
Amazon is now a global powerhouse, but in the 1990s, the idea of an online retail business was considered revolutionary and highly risky. Many doubted Bezos’ decision to leave his stable finance job and put everything into a new internet startup.
“I think that’s probably true for all kinds of risks in life, not just for starting a business,” he said. “Life is full of different risks. And I think that, when you think about the things that you will regret when you’re 80, they’re almost always the things that you did not do.”
This may be the most important lesson that Bezos offers for getting richer: take calculated risks in business and in life. The bigger the risk, the bigger the potential payoff as you have learned more from where you went wrong than what you got right, and this is crucial for building wealth.
Look Way Ahead
At the DealBook Summit, Bezos shared another gem about playing the long game. He explained that real success isn’t about quick wins — it’s about making choices today that’ll pay off years down the road. Make sure you have a view of where you want to be in one, five and ten years. That will guide your path to building your wealth and hopefully a healthy retirement savings..
Sure, most people won’t be building their own space companies anytime soon, but Bezos’ advice isn’t just for billionaires. Whether you’re starting a side gig, paying off debt or planning for retirement, these strategies can help grow your wealth.
Laura Beck and J. Arky contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Top Wealth-Building Tips From Jeff Bezos
