Wealth is like a genie. It can grant you everything except love and bringing someone back from the dead. No one knows this more than billionaires. Yes, they have enough money to buy up entire countries, but many of them have earned the scorn of the public.
So who are the world's most hated billionaires? While you probably have an inkling, a new study has managed to quantify just how much these public figures rile people up.
These are the world's wealthiest and most controversial individuals.
5. Bill Gates (Tie)
Evan Vucci / AP Photo
Nationality: American
Net worth: $109 billion
Most hated in: 3 countries
*Rankings are based on a report by Business Financing. Net worth is based on Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
Why Bill Gates Is So Hated
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
Interestingly, Gates is also the most well-liked billionaire in the world, with 37 countries favoring him above all other one percenters. His nerdy, everyman vibe charms some people but annoys others, who accuse him of falsely portraying himself as a regular guy.
Gates, who is best known for his role in building Microsoft, is also highly involved in philanthropic pursuits through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. However, the foundation is not without controversy. Though many praise its work, it's also been criticized for using charity as a way to exert control over developing countries or for disregarding the actual needs of the people.
Most recently, the billionaire has also faced backlash over his alleged friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
5. Elon Musk (Tie)
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Nationality: South African
Net worth: $223.2 billion
Most hated in: 3 countries
Why Elon Musk Is So Hated
Hannibal Hanschke / AP Photo
Elon Musk could have been the Bruce Wayne of the real world. Not because he would don a batsuit to fight crime, but because he had the potential of being a cool billionaire. But, alas, this isn't the DC Universe, and all billionaires shall remain evil — with the exception of Richard Branson.
Musk is best known for Tesla and SpaceX. He's also the new owner of Twitter. There's something positive to be said for Musk's companies. But it seems like wealth has gotten to his head, and he sometimes appears completely unhinged. After all, the man named his children with singer Grimes, X AE A-XII and Exa Dark Sideræl Musk. That should've been enough to warrant a visit from child services.
He's also known for promoting baseless conspiracy theories on Twitter, a platform that he bought for $44 billion.
3. Mark Zuckerberg (Tie)
Paul Sakuma / AP Photo
Nationality: American
Net worth: $36.8 billion
Most hated in: 4 countries
Why Mark Zuckerberg Is So Hated
Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo
Mark Zuckerberg didn't start out as one of the most hated people in the world. In fact, many found his origin story inspiring: a Harvard dropout who became a billionaire by creating the first globally viral social media platform.
But Zuckerberg has spent the last decade or so embroiled in controversy. He's been taken to court more times than anyone could count, primarily for behavior that is irrevocably immoral and often illegal. Scandalous allegations against Facebook include running social experiments that played with people's mental health, letting misinformation run rampant, allowing third parties to use people's data improperly, and the list goes on and on.
Besides, it's very difficult for people to like Zuckerberg since absolutely no one can say for certain that he is not, in fact, a robot.
3. Rupert Murdoch (Tie)
Andy Kropa / Invision
Nationality: Australian
Net worth: $7.59 billion
Most hated in: 4 countries
Why Rupert Murdoch Is So Hated
Mary Altaffer / AP Photo
Rupert Murdoch may not be in the news as much as his fellow disliked billionaires. But that's probably because he controls the news.
Building his wealth with a media empire that includes outlets like the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Telegraph and Fox News, Murdoch has been accused of using his channels to promote his own political views or personal monetary interests.
The New York Times claims that his "empire has given him influence over world affairs in a way few private citizens ever have, granting the Murdoch family enormous sway over not just the United States, but English-speaking countries around the world."
2. Jeff Bezos
John Locher / AP Photo
Nationality: American
Net worth: $120 billion
Most hated in: 6 countries
Why Jeff Bezos Is So Hated
Reed Saxon / AP Photo
Jeff Bezos may not be as robotic as Zuckerberg or as unhinged as Musk, but people really dislike him. Part of it may be that we resent the absolute hold Amazon and its subsidiaries have on us. But most of the backlash the billionaire faces has to do with the reportedly horrible conditions of his company's workers.
One controversy, for example, centered around claims that Amazon delivery drivers were forced to work 14-hour days with no bathroom breaks. Many stated that they resorted to peeing in water bottles as a dehumanizing solution. All of this while Bezos fights for the title of the wealthiest person in the world.
It's understandable that people would be angry. Bezos is off enjoying his $120 billion and getting richer by the day while his workers face abusive conditions in the name of profit.
1. Donald Trump
José Luis Villegas / AP Photo
Nationality: American
Net worth: $2.33 billion
Most hated in: 84 countries
Why Donald Trump Is So Hated
Nick Wagner / AP Photo
How controversial is Donald Trump? Let us count the ways. Actually, forget that. We would need years to list all the scandals that the former president of the United States has been — and is — involved in.
Trump is undoubtedly one of the most divisive personalities in the modern world. Some people love him with religious fervor. Others hate him with a passion. He won the presidency with questionable tactics that included promising to build a wall along the Mexican border and statements that many have deemed racist and xenophobic.
He also was the only president to be impeached twice. The second time was due to his perceived encouragement of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. Most recently, he saw himself involved in an FBI investigation over highly confidential nuclear documents that he apparently took from the White House.
Plus, the man has a penchant for making wild claims about how he is the best, smartest and most informed about absolutely everything. Whatever your take on him is, it should not be surprising that he is the least popular billionaire in a total of 84 countries.
The Most Hated Billionaire in Every Country
Business Financing