Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said fast delivery is more energy efficient because it requires items to be warehoused closer to the customer to avoid air shipping
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said fast delivery is more energy efficient because it requires items to be warehoused closer to the customer to avoid air shipping AFP / Eric BARADAT

The executive jet has always been an ultimate power symbol. So has buying your own island. Or a fantastic superyacht. Or fabulously expensive cars. All of which can be yours at tens of million of dollars minimum.

Splurging on a few "baubles" has been a privilege afforded the 1%, which we more commonly refer to as billionaires. In 2018, there were more than 2,200 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide with a combined wealth of over $9.2 trillion, compared to $7.67 trillion in 2017.

Out of the 2,754 billionaires in the world in 2018, 680 billionaires or 25% of the total are Americans. A further 338 are Chinese and 117, Indian. An Oxfam report in 2017 said the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as "half the human race."

Here are what a few American billionaires decided to spend on when bitten by the urge to splurge:

Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person, spent $65 million on a private jet, a Gulfstream G650ER.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent $70 million on his private aircraft, also a Gulfstream G650ER. Musk has also put together an impressive real-estate portfolio. One of these is a $17 million Bel Air estate with a two-storey library and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar. He also recently sold his LA mansion with a "gigantic walk-in closet."

Google cofounder Larry Page and fellow cofounder Sergey Brin own superyachts. Page's superyacht is named "Senses." Brin owns an $80 million yacht called Dragonfly.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg owns a $1.3 million Italian Pagani Huayra sports car. He also spent $100 million on a former sugarcane plantation and a white-sand beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, owns Necker Island, which he acquired in 1978, for only $180,000. This island is a 30 hectare (74 acre) island in the British Virgin Islands just north of Virgin Gorda.

Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison has a slightly unusual taste in planes: he owns two military fighter aircraft. One of these is a decommissioned Soviet Mikoyan MiG-29 multi-role air superiority fighter, and the other Italian Air Force SIAI-Marchetti S.211 jet trainer/light attack aircraft.

Unbeknownst to many, mild mannered Bill Gates is a speed freak. The Microsoft co-founder owns a sports car collection, worth some $650,000. This collection includes a Jaguar XJ6, a Ferrari 348, a Porsche 911, a Porsche Carrera Cabriolet 964, and a 1988 Porsche 959 Coupe.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces the co-founding of The Climate Pledge, which aims to make the tech giant carbon neutral by 2040 while encouraging other companies to join the initiative
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces the co-founding of The Climate Pledge, which aims to make the tech giant carbon neutral by 2040 while encouraging other companies to join the initiative GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Paul Morigi