15 Richest Characters In DC Comics, Ranked By Net Worth

Between the Big Two comic book companies, the concept of money-as-a-superpower has undeniably been refined and perfected by DC. While Marvel may have such billionaires as Tony Stark and Doctor Doom, the skyscrapers of Gotham and Metropolis alike are inhabited by some of the most infamously loaded characters in all of fiction.

For the firm numbers relayed throughout this list specifically, we're taking into consideration the estimates of some of our peers in comic book coverage, studies, and speculations from financial outlets, and, of course, any available canon information about the characters' net worths revealed by DC through the comics themselves. All of this information will be used to determine the figures, but we'll be providing our own analysis of how-slash-why these numbers may or may not make sense — and ultimately reveal who really stands as the richest hero or villain in the DC Universe.

Niles Caulder is a sleeper pick for a list like this. The Doom Patrol chief hasn't been a main character in any comic series since the "Dawn of DC" revamp in 2023 saw the company launch "Unstoppable Doom Patrol," which only ran for seven issues. Nowadays, he occasionally appears in "Justice League" comics.

Caulder is so overlooked that it's a common misconception that he's a pastiche of Marvel's Professor X (in reality, the two characters were curiously created in the same year, with Caulder predating Charles Xavier by several months). It's worth mentioning, as the two men are strikingly similar to one another, including in their likely net worths. Like Xavier, Caulder is wealthy enough to finance a team of superheroes, providing them with technology, housing, and support that varies from continuity to continuity. Realistically, given what he's been able to accomplish, his estimated net worth has a floor of $100 million and a ceiling of $500 million.

While traditional crime families like the Falcones have held territory in Gotham City for decades, and supervillains like Two-Face and the Penguin bring plenty of extravagance to their operations, the richest crime lord the city has ever seen appears to be Black Mask. In fact, he is one of the very few DC characters ever to have his outrageous net worth explicitly stated within the pages of a comic.

Born Roman Sionis, the future criminal mastermind was born into wealth, his father being the CEO of Janus Cosmetics. Roman briefly attempted to make his riches the honest way through the family business, but quickly succumbed to his baser instincts and chose to murder his way to the top job — after which he almost immediately steered Janus Cosmetics toward total financial ruin. When the company was ultimately forced to accept help from Wayne Enterprises, Roman was fired.

It's unknown how much money Roman had when he hit rock bottom, though we can assume his criminal endeavors were far more successful than anything he did in the corporate world. During the "Year of the Villain" event in 2019, he tells Lex Luthor that, at its peak, his criminal empire was worth $500 million. The Black Mask was notably the first villain of Scott Snyder's new "Absolute Batman" series, in which one of his defining character traits is a bank account as bottomless as the depths of his depravity.

Arguably one of the most underrated allies-turned-enemies-turned-heroes in DC Comics history, Carol Ferris flies under the radar compared to her sizable net worth. When she's not wielding the power of love (cue Huey Lewis) as a member of the Star Sapphire Corps, she's the CEO of Ferris Aircraft, a family-owned aviation company that makes advanced fighter jets for the U.S. government.

In 2024, Esquire published the results of a study citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that claimed Ferris was likely raking in about $950,000 a year. Other outlets have estimated that her total net worth would be $1 billion,  which honestly feels like a bit of a stretch for us. Ferris' closest real-world counterparts are nowhere near billionaires. James Taiclet — the current CEO of frequent U.S. military contractor and advanced aviation company Lockheed Martin — is reportedly worth just $80 million. Meanwhile, Dave Calhoun of Boeing is estimated at $59 million.

On the other hand, there aren't any family-owned and operated aviation companies at the same level as Ferris Aircraft in the real world. Perhaps her unprecedented ownership of the company, combined with some fiction inflation, justifies this large figure.

And here's where the comic-book-ness of this list makes things interesting. By this point, most readers are probably aware of Ra's al Ghul, a master assassin and cult leader who stands out as one of the best "Batman" villains in the comics. Liam Neeson played a popular but significantly more-grounded version of the character in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" — which is why some readers may be surprised to learn that Ra's is hundreds of years old, a trick he manages by taking regular baths in the restorative Lazarus Pits.

Because of this, Ra's isn't just an unusually successful criminal mastermind, but essentially an immortal warlord who's carefully kept his territory small enough to remain in the shadows. This makes it nearly impossible to find a real-world point of comparison for his wealth, given that most of it was amassed in this deceptively supernatural way. Ra's spent his lifetimes wisely, literally speaking, building an untold fortune that's evident in his seemingly endless resources, his ability to bankroll supervillains and mercenaries at any level, and his palatial headquarters. Estimates online put him at $1 billion, a figure which seems reasonable if conservative.

Mister Terrific is enjoying a newfound fanbase in the wake of James Gunn's "Superman," with many audiences around the world likely getting to experience the character for the first time through Edi Gathegi's portrayal. The film doesn't dig too deeply into his background, but teases some aspects of his potential backstory through his costume and gadgets.

In some continuities, primarily the alternate comic book reality of Earth-2, Holt isn't just a superhero, but a businessman, inventor, and tech entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Holt Industries (which is pretty much just a stock comic book advanced technology company that serves to explain a character's wealth rather than to explore the tech of the fictional world). His estimated net worth fluctuates, but the broad consensus seems to be $1 billion. This could change in the near future, however, as Holt Industries was informally introduced into Gunn's DC Universe by way of a dubiously canonical companion novel. If Gunn does choose to make his Mister Terrific a tech tycoon, his net worth could balloon to be comparable to contemporary tech billionaires.

Though it has been frequently debated that Superman might actually be a secret millionaire or even billionaire, given how much one-of-a-kind extraterrestrial technology he has stashed away in his massive Fortress of Solitude (itself probably worth millions of dollars at least), Karen Starr / Power Girl is DC's richest Kryptonian survivor, traditionally speaking. The Earth-2 counterpart of Kara Zor-El has a surprisingly corporate background for an invincible alien superhero, starting as a gifted computer programmer at the Ultimate Computer Corporation before founding her own definitively-'90s tech start-up, Starrware Industries.

Karen is a successful businesswoman, notably rivaling the Earth-2 version of Michael Holt's Holt Industries (which is seemingly what has inspired an equal estimation of $1 billion for both). However, Karen's net worth may be even larger, given that she managed to sell Starrware Industries just before the burst of the dot-com bubble, which cratered the immediate hopes of her peers in the tech sector. Pets.com was famously worth over $400 million at its peak, so it's likely Karen's company fetched a much larger price tag.

A longtime fan favorite of DC Comics readers across all eras, Booster Gold is exactly the kind of character whose stock will rise exponentially once he finally makes his debut in James Gunn's DC Universe. That is, his cultural stock — but what about his financials?

The literal "Man of Tomorrow," Booster Gold (real name Michael Carter) hails from the 25th century and is an otherwise normal man who uses advanced technology to save lives. After a quick visit from the IRS, Booster Gold is allowed to officially generate income under the alias of his superhero persona alone (of course, the IRS is future-proof), which he monetizes in every way imaginable — sponsorships, endorsements, live streams, public appearances, etc. And, being from the future, Booster also likely has a "keen eye" for investments. His fortune is estimated to be at $1 billion, most of which he manages through a holding company called "Booster Gold International."

Vandal Savage is an immortal warrior and supervillain who has been alive for tens of thousands of years. He served as the inspiration for the "Invincible" character Immortal (who has ironically become more famous thanks to the hit Amazon Prime Video series, as well as the lack of solid popular representation for his predecessor), with both men having lived as famous historical figures. For example, the Immortal was apparently Abraham Lincoln in the "Invincible" universe — Savage, meanwhile, was none other than Genghis Khan.

This amusing factoid is actually crucial to determining Savage's net worth, as Genghis Khan is widely believed to have been one of the richest people in history, with an estimated net worth of over $100 trillion (adjusted for inflation, of course). That means that at his peak, Savage should be near or at the top of any list like this. That said, it's unclear how much of that fortune Savage has been able to hang on to over the millennia. In the comics, it seems the answer is very little — his net worth is estimated to be just $2 billion.

One DC writer might disagree. When legendary comics creator Dwayne McDuffie wrote the animated movie "Justice League: Doom," he had Savage describe himself as being wealthier than any living person, thus explaining his ability to finance a League-killing supervillain team.

If any DC Comics character could rival the professional ruthlessness of Lex Luthor, it's Maxwell Lord. Fans have been getting to know Lord a little better in recent years thanks to his appearances in "Wonder Woman 1984" and James Gunn's "Superman" film.

Lord began his career working up the ranks of an '80s-style information technology company called "Innovative Concepts," almost killing his way to the position of CEO. He then started his own company, Maxwell Lord Enterprises, which he subsequently used to found and fund the Justice League International.

While the $4 billion net worth attributed to Lord might seem low for someone with a company named after them in the DC Universe, it's worth noting that MLE doesn't seem dominant in the business world, nor does Lord himself seem motivated by money. Instead, he's largely focused on amassing power and influence, which he largely does through involvement in less-than-lucrative schemes.

We're certain Simon Stagg is at least as rich as Maxwell Lord, if not even richer, due to his financially-focused mentality. The founder and CEO of Stagg Enterprises, Simon generates billions in yearly revenue through aggressive scientific innovation in multiple fields,  though he also generates a fair amount of hardship. He was responsible for hiring Rex Mason to retrieve an ancient Egyptian artifact alongside a Neanderthal Simon had revived and artificially empowered. When the Neanderthal betrayed Rex, the latter was permanently transformed into an inhuman shapeshifter, whom we now know as Metamorpho.

We stand to learn more about Stagg Enterprises, should James Gunn ever revisit the character he debuted in "Superman" (played by "Barry" star Anthony Carrigan). Metamorpho's son, "Joey," seen briefly in the film, is the child of Rex and Simon's daughter, Sapphire. For now, we agree with popular assumptions that this mad genius has a net worth of $4 billion.

Though he doesn't exploit his superheroics nearly as much as his best friend Booster Gold, Ted Kord — aka the Blue Beetle — has yet to really need the extra income anyway. Long before he was a superhero, Ted's father attempted to start a scientific research and development company (R&D — think a combination of Apple, Microsoft, and Pfizer or, fictionally, STAR Labs). Though it never took off during his lifetime, Ted (an even more brilliant scientist and inventor) chose to revive the idea when he came of age and founded Kord Omniversal.

Kord Omniversal is similar to Wayne Enterprises in that it kinda just does whatever the story needs it to do and/or whatever will make Ted look like a benevolent businessman. Many of Ted's most noteworthy inventions are personal and employed in his activities as a crimefighter. His net worth is speculated to be $5 billion.

At first glance, Oliver Queen may seem like yet another character who just so happens to have a super successful company founded by his super-rich parents that can conveniently bankroll all the ridiculous gadgets, training, and resources he needs to be a superhero. And, yeah, that's like 50% true (and more like 90% true if you're just talking about the version played by Stephen Amell on "Arrow").

But part of Oliver's quirk, at least in the comics, is that he's somehow both a deeply anti-capitalist freedom fighter as the Green Arrow and the billionaire CEO of Queen Industries. Over the years, the company has been written as either a lean tech company in the same vein as Apple or a massive weapons manufacturer and military contractor like RTX (Raytheon) or Northrop Grumman. Multiple financial blogs have estimated or reiterated that Oliver Queen has a net worth of $7 billion which, while seemingly low for the industries he's involved in, might square with how little interest he has in money or business at large.

While popular estimates for the billionaires of the DC Universe have felt more-or-less accurate so far (save a few supernatural asterisks for the likes of Vandal Savage and Ra's al Ghul), the figures commonly attributed to the next two characters feel quite low. For Lex Luthor — perhaps one of the most famous fictional industrialists and businessmen of all time, who often uses his exorbitant wealth to level the playing field between himself and literal gods — the general consensus appears to be that his net worth is just $75 billion. The source of this specific and honestly underwhelming figure appears to have spawned from a study of the richest villains in film and television.

While Lex may not be the sole owner of Lex Corp — a company which, in the real world, would surely have a valuation of $1 trillion or more — it's hard to imagine someone with his ego not owning a majority stake of a company with his name on it. His business assets alone should be worth hundreds of billions, and that's not accounting for undoubtedly expert investments in other businesses and the stock market. For our money, $75 billion is probably just the cash sitting in Lex's bank account, but the #3 spot on this list feels acceptable for the character regardless.

For being one of the most famously wealthy fictional characters of all time, Bruce Wayne's net worth is surprisingly low compared to real-world billionaires. And yet, he's an example of a rare character that actually has a definite figure assigned to them.

As revealed during the "Joker War" storyline from 2020 (which takes place in the current ongoing mainstream DC continuity), the Dark Knight has $100 billion in the bank — which, among most of those sources who have previously written about this subject, has earned him a net worth of $100 billion. But while we're willing to keep this as the character's firm number, it needs to be noted that this is only Bruce's liquid financial assets — not really his net worth. That figure would almost definitely include tens if not a hundred or more billion dollars worth of non-cash assets such as Wayne Enterprises stock, investments in other companies, owned businesses (including any shell corporations), Wayne Manor and any other owned property, and — if we were to do a full forensic accounting of his assets — the billions of dollars in advanced weaponry, technology, and vehicles in the Batcave. Oh, and also the Batcave.

The final total would likely be between $200 billion and $300 billion at least. Regardless, even if you only count his cash-on-hand, Bruce Wayne is canonically the richest human in the DC Universe.

As is the case for comic book universes, the wealthiest individuals often have a net worth that borders on god-like, largely because they could be considered god-like themselves. Vandal Savage might well deserve the title of richest man on Earth, but underneath it, in the depths of the ocean, the King of Atlantis holds an even greater fortune.

Arthur Curry — in his capacity as the superhero Aquaman and as the ruler of a vast underwater kingdom — has a net worth in the hundreds of trillions, surely north of the $100 trillion figure attributed to Genghis Khan (Savage). He has the conquest-amassed fortune of such historical warriors, as well as the sovereign wealth of modern-day monarchs and oligarchs multiplied exponentially (one could compare him financially to wealthy leaders like Vladimir Putin, who was once speculated to have secretly been the richest man in the world with a net worth north of $200 billion). When you add in all the advanced, nigh-extraterrestrial weaponry and technology he also controls, there's no doubt that Arthur Curry is the richest character in the DC Universe.