Batman vs. Iron Man: Who Has More Money?
Superheroes are either born with superhuman abilities, they happen upon them in a roundabout way, or they buy them. For the superheroes who buy their powers, their wealth is an essential part of their story. Iron Man and Batman are two superheroes who have used their wealth to become heroes, but which one is richer?
What is Iron Man’s net worth?
As a mechanical engineering prodigy, Tony Stark, by the age of 21, takes over his father’s company. Energy and weaponry is the name of Stark’s game until he is hit by a piece of shrapnel. Once imprisoned by communist leaders, he works with Professor Ho to create the suit that would later allow Stark to become Iron Man. The suit is where the power is, and it doesn’t come cheap.
Being a member of the Avengers isn’t enough for Stark, though. He continues to lead his company, Stark Industries. At the helm as CE0, Stark manages to keep his business profitable. According to Money, a business like Stark Industries would be worth a staggering $12.4 billion. With that kind of dough, its no wonder Stark became a superhero, but his suit is probably gobbling up a good portion of his income. According to Mashable, the suit alone would cost between $1 billion and $7 billion to replicate.
What is Batman’s net worth?
Batman is considered a titan of industry. His origin story is a bit more complicated than Iron Man’s, and his bills match it. While Stark has primarily used his superior intelligence to create Iron Man, Bruce Wayne needed a bit of outside help to craft his Batman persona. A $200,000 car, a personal karate instructor, and a pretty expensive suit puts the cost of becoming batman at $2.8 million, according to Forbes.
So, how is he paying the tab? It’s simple. Wayne’s Wayne Enterprises is a really successful business. With its hands in construction, securities, defense, and communications, there isn’t a shortage of cash. As noted by students at Lehigh University, Wayne Enterprises chooses to go public in one of the films. This would have given Batman an influx of money. According to the students’ calculations, Bruce Wayne is worth around $11 billion, just under $1.5 billion short of Stark’s estimated net worth.
Neither Batman nor Iron Man is the wealthiest superhero
While Iron Man and Batman are both super-rich, there is one superhero who has way more money than them, at least in theory. T’Challa, as the leader of a fictional African country, should be pretty wealthy, but there is more to it than that. T’Challa’s nation has a massive supply of Vibranium. Vibranium is the metal that Captain America’s shield is made out of. It’s incredibly durable and incredibly expensive. According to Black Panther comics, T’Challa has a vault filled with 10,000 tons of the metal, which was trading for $10,000 per gram.
Let’s do the math. If there are about 453 grams in every pound, we can assume that each pound of the metal is worth $4.53 million. There are 2,000 pounds in every ton. Essentially, T’Challa’s Vibranium stash is worth more than the global GDP, according to Money. The Vibranium stash, alone, would be worth more than $90 trillion.
