The Richest DC Characters (& How Much They're Worth) (2024)

Being a superhero (or villain) doesn't come cheap. Maintaining their endeavors requires quite a bit of funds. They need to pay for their custom costumes with built-in bulletproof capabilities, state-of-the-art hi-tech gadgetry, armored vehicles, and a headquarters to house it all.

It's not like superheroes can work a standard 9-to-5 job when they need that time to save as many people as possible. That's why many heroes happen to be multi-billion dollar business owners before taking up the hero's life. DC Comics is filled with billionaires turned heroes (or villains), each using their resources to shape the world as they see fit.

Updated on July 28, 2024 by Robbie Robinson: There's no shortage of rich names in the DCU, that's for sure. This list has been updated to include more characters as well as to get this list up to current CBR formatting standards.

20 Zatanna Zatara Brings In a Hefty Paycheck

Debuted November 1964

Superhero and magician with an impressive lineage—is it really a surprise that Zatanna is considered one of the wealthiest DC characters? Zatanna is a prime example of a superhero who also has to juggle work outside of saving lives. Her father, John Zatanna, was also a full-time magician and crime fighter.

Zatanna is one of the biggest stage magicians around. While that has a lot to do with pure talent, it's also because she comes from a notable magical family line. Her tricks are more than just the average magician's performances. While Zatanna's actual net worth hasn't yet been revealed, it's clear that she's a multi-millionaire. She doesn't compare to the billionaires of the DCU, but she's more than just "well off."

19 Carmine Falcone is a Gangster With Old Money

Debuted March 1987

Before Batman's rise in the Gotham, Gotham was run by the mafia. One of the biggest and longest-reigning crime bosses of Gotham is Carmine Falcone. Also known as Carmine the Roman Falcone, Carmine led his family's crime ring. Carmine was one of Batman's earliest villains, and it makes sense, considering Carmine had been used to running the streets for far too long.

Carmine is no billionaire, but being a multi-millionaire is still incredibly impressive. After years of being in the mafia, it's no surprise that Carmine was able to amass such a fortune in Gotham. Especially since his old family name had controlled the city for many years.

18 Star Sapphire Spends Her Time In the Stars But Still Manages a Successful Business

Debuted September 1959

People often forget about Ferris Aircraft, the experimental aircraft manufacturer that once employed Hal Jordan, Earth's first Green Lantern Corps member. Ferris Air is one of the leading aircraft manufacturers on Earth and has had several government contracts.

Carol Ferris inherited the company from her father, and Ferris Air could be compared to an aircraft firm like Boeing in the real world. The current CEO of Boeing is worth about 20 million, but he isn't the sole inheritor of his company like Carol is. Boeing itself is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but it can be safely assumed that if Ferris Air is the Boeing of the DC Universe, Carol Ferris is worth at least a billion — despite her adventures as the head of one of the Star Sapphire Lantern Corps.

17 Power Girl Was a Major Business Rival For Other Well-Known DC Heroes

Debuted January 1976

Power Girl of the Justice Society started her own technology firm in the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe, and this was more or less continued in the New 52 when she and the Huntress came over to Prime Earth from Earth-2. In some of Power Girl's comics, readers learned she had dealings with Holt Industries. DC Comics never stated how much she was worth, but comic readers could assume she was on the same level as Holt.

Some of Power Girl's wealth came from the various alien and advanced tech caches that she and the Huntress raided after their journey from Earth-2. Karen Starr returned to Earth-2 with the Huntress, abandoning her company. These days, Power Girl employs another identity, Paige Stetler, but it's unclear if she has connections with her old company or if she has access to the same resources.

16 Mr. Terrific Remains One Of The Biggest Inventors In The DC Universe

Debuted June 1997

Michael Holt is an Olympic gold medal winner, has 14 Ph.D.s, and is a brilliant inventor. He accomplished all these milestones before he became Mr. Terrific. The third-smartest man in the world made his fortune with Holt Industries (or HoltCorp), a high-tech company he founded.

Mr. Terrific eventually sold his company to Waynetech, earning himself even more money. He is a hero known for his gadgets, most notably his T-Spheres and T-Mask. If he focused on his tech more than being a hero, he'd produce an even greater profit. Still, he continues to work with several major companies and expand Terrifictech because he can't stop creating.

15 Ra's Al Ghul Spends Most Of His Time Trying To Take Over The World

Debuted June 1971

Basically immortal, Ra's al Ghul has had several lifetimes to build his vast wealth. Doing so has allowed him to fund the League of Assassins, a group of the world's most talented killers and best Batman villain alliances. When he's not forming secret assassin organizations, he's spent his many lifetimes collecting jewels, treasures, priceless art, and antiques.

Perhaps Ra's al Ghul's greatest treasure is the Lazarus Pit, how he gains his immortality. Thanks to his access to that, Ra's has had hundreds of years to increase the size of his personal fortune. Still, Ra's cares less about his fortune and more about achieving his aim of world domination.

14 Vandal Savage Has Built Fortunes Several Times Throughout Human History

Debuted December 1943

Like Ra's al Ghul, Vandal Savage is an immortal who has had countless lifetimes to amass a huge amount of wealth. Vandal Savage was born Vandar Adg, a Cro-Magnon who gained immortality from a mysterious meteor. He's had several millennia to find his fortune.

While many sources state that his wealth is immeasurable, the closest number puts Vandal Savage's wealth at approximately $2 billion. With that much money, he can do whatever he wants. In recent comics, Savage has taken up residence in Gotham City and even acquired Bruce Wayne's Wayne Manor from him.

13 Maxwell Lord Would Rather Have Behind The Scenes Power

Debuted May 1987

Maxwell Lord is one of the most dangerous supervillains in the DC Universe. He comes up with over-the-top schemes like turning the Justice League into a team that has power across multiple nations and throws money at his problems until they go away.

Though Maxwell Lord was born into money, thanks to having a wealthy businessman as a father, he successfully ran the international organization known as Checkmate. Along with his wealth, Lord also uses his psychic powers of persuasion to commit nefarious acts. Whatever wealth he couldn't attain on his own, he could obtain it with his powers.

12 Sapphire Stagg Took Over From Her Father

Debuted January 1965

Stagg Enterprises was once a major business run by businessman Simon Stagg. It was involved in every kind of business but specialized in Research and Development. Simon lost his life in an issue of The Terrifics, passing the company to his son Sebastian. After Sebastian revealed himself as a supervillain, though, the business reverted to Sapphire Stagg.

Sapphire gained fame for being Justice Leaguer Metamorpho's girlfriend. However, their relationship has drastically changed these days since Sapphire is now one of the richest people on the planet. Still, considering Sapphire stayed by Rex's side even after his transformation, the two are likely to remain just as close even now that she's a billionaire.

11 Blue Beetle Used His Genius To Make Himself A Billionaire

Debuted November 1966

Brilliant scientists using their genius to build corporations and make billions is common in DC Comics. Ted Kord reluctantly took control of Kord Industries following his father's death and used the business to invent and experiment with new tech, which he uses as Blue Beetle.

In the Infinite Frontier era, Ted Kord is once again the head of Kord Industries. The company develops a lot of technology and relies on Ted's genius to do so. Of course, the problem is that Ted frequently spends far too much time being a superhero and not enough time running his business.

10 Green Arrow Tried To Give Away His Fortune To Help People

Debuted September 1941

Oliver Queen was already fortunate enough to be born into the billion-dollar corporate dynasty Queen Industries, but he also spent his days saving people as the Green Arrow. In a world filled with God-like beings, Green Arrow faces danger with nothing but a bow and arrow and his own skills.

Sure, Oliver has lost and recovered his fortune multiple times. But when he has his wealth, he's using it, and his position as CEO of Queen Industries, to help the less fortunate without ulterior motives. He's also been the face of his company's tech division, Q-Corp, in order to lend them more credibility.

9 Ozymandias Is the Epitome Of a Self-Made Man

Debuted September 1986

Like some of the other entries on this list, Adrian Veidt was born into a wealthy family, but what makes him interesting is that he gave away his entire inheritance to charity. Starting with nothing, Adrian then used his extraordinary IQ and intelligence to become even wealthier than he was before.

Veidt is the smartest man on the planet, runs a multi-billion-dollar corporation, and uses his money for the greater good. If it wasn't for his murder of over three million people in New York City, Adrian Veidt's story would have been one of inspiration.

8 Katherine Kane Is An Heiress

Debuted July 1956

It's no surprise that another member of the Bat-Family is considered among the wealthier DCU characters. Kate wasn't born into wealth, but when her father married the heiress, Catherine Hamilton, she became a socialite. While she became known as a notorious partier and heavy drinker, Kate eventually followed Bruce's path into crime-fighting.

Batwoman's exact net worth isn't known. She's been shown to work jobs such as being a circus performer, but it's also clear that her fortune does rival some of Bruce's. Gotham is lucky to have many wealthy superheroes to combat the rich forces of evil held by the villains.

7 Bruce's Children Benefit From Bruce's Planning

Multiple debuts over the years

Being Batman is a dangerous job. Bruce Wayne could die at any point, and that wealth has to go somewhere. When exploring his children's wealth, the concept doesn't consider someone like Catwoman, Batwoman, Huntress, Azrael, Batwing, or Lucius Fox, or if Alfred Pennyworth returned from the dead at some point. This only concerns the wards or semi-wards that Batman has taken on over the years. Bruce Wayne's net worth is no longer the same. However, it's not unlike him to have already planned ahead. If he were to pass, the Bat-Family would likely receive his fortune without the same attention that would be on it if Bruce were to take it back himself.

Presuming the entire Bat-Family were to receive money equally, then each one would likely receive something in the $10 billion range if Batman fell in battle. Again, this is theoretical and would probably be slightly less after certain legal factors are accounted for. Regardless, that still makes Nightwing, Batgirl, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, and others some of the richest teens/twenty-somethings in the world.

6 Black Adam Is the Ruler of an Entire Nation

Debuted December 1945

People often forget that Black Adam is the ruler of a fairly powerful nation in the Middle East. Kahndaq is a nation with oil and a rich and deep ancient history, which it's largely been able to preserve thanks to its relentless defender, Black Adam.

In addition, Black Adam is the totalitarian ruler of Kahndaq and has personal access to all of its resources. While it may not be as wealthy as America or a European nation, it still has a decent amount of wealth, all of which technically belongs to Black Adam.

5 Lex Luthor Has Been Forced to Transform His Company Into Something New

Debuted April 1940

Lex is worth much more than other billionaires in the DC Universe, but with good reason. Lex Luthor is a self-made billionaire businessman, inventor, philanthropist, and arch-nemesis of Superman. Scheming to take down Superman, Lex Luthor often builds powerful armors to help fight the Man of Steel.

Luthor has a stake in just about everything, using his fortune to fund foundations, charities, aerospace engineering, oil, real estate ventures, and even his successful presidential campaign. More recently, he's transformed his business into something different now that he's in prison. LexCorp has transformed into SuperCorp and is completely devoted to Superman's goal of improving Metropolis. Despite being in prison, Lex Luthor serves in an advisory capacity.

4 Nightwing Has Vowed to Spend His Money to Help People

Debuted April 1940

Nightwing has always been a child of privilege since Bruce Wayne adopted him. Recently, though, he fell into his fortune, separate from Bruce Wayne's money. During his time in Bludhaven, Dick received a letter informing him he'd received an inheritance directly from Alfred. As it turns out, Alfred had been saving up money for years on top of making smart investments, making him a billionaire. He only continued to work for Bruce out of love and a belief that he was needed.

With Nightwing's newly inherited money, he has as much financial power as Bruce once did. Unlike Bruce, though, Dick Grayson has chosen to give it all away. He's pouring his billions into making the city of Bludhaven better, starting with building a new Titans Tower there to protect people.

3 Joker Steals All of Batman's Money

Debuted April 1940

The Joker has been Batman's and Gotham's biggest foe for a very long time. While the Joker is a crime boss and certainly has the means to fund all of his schemes. That being said, he's never been as consistently wealthy as Batman. Most of that is because Joker is someone who can make fast cash when he needs it, and then he immediately burns it on whatever he has planned next.

That being said, in Batman #93, the Joker successfully steals all of Bruce's money. While Batman's fortune often fluctuates throughout the different comics, in this particular comic, Joker rakes in billions. Joker might not always be the richest in Gotham, but this comic gives him the entire Wayne Enterprise.

2 Bruce Wayne Has Always Been Known For His Massive Fortune

Debuted March 1939

Bruce's estimated net worth isn't always consist. Forbes gave Batman an estimated net worth of about $9.2 billion. However, many fans believe that estimation comes from comparing DCU money to real-world money. Considering how much wealth Batman can pass on to Robin and how much the Joker stole from him, it's clear that Bruce has far more money to him than $9.2 billion.

For people who don't even keep up with DCU, Batman is easily one of the first characters that comes to mind in terms of being extremely rich. He controls an entire enterprise and comes from generational wealth. Even with how much money he seems to spend on all his gadgets and gear, there never seems to be an end to his pool of money.

1 Aquaman Rules Over Most of the Planet

Debuted November 1941

It might be surprising to learn Aquaman is the richest of them all, but it makes sense on several levels. As the king of Atlantis, Aquaman rules over 70% of the Earth's surface and technically owns everything within the seven seas. That means that all the gold, oil, diamonds, rubies, etc., yet to be found in the ocean belongs to Aquaman.

Aquaman estimates he has $60 billion in shipwreck treasure alone. Meanwhile, the amount of gold in the oceans approaches $150 trillion in value based on the value of gold per ounce. In other words, Aquaman is easily the wealthiest hero in the DC Universe. However, he's so modest that he never tries to flaunt it.

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