Jeff Bezos shared how much he actually earned per year at Amazon after warehouse employee emailed him about pay

Billionaire Jeff Bezos revealed how much he was raking in on an annual basis as Amazon's CEO.

He might be one of the richest men in the world, but the salary he took home each year was a lot slimmer than people may think.

The 61-year-old made his fortune from the e-commerce giant he launched from his garage back in 1994 and acted as the firm's chief executive for nearly three decades.

But in 2021, Bezos announced he would be stepping down and passing the baton to Andy Jassy, while he would instead be taking on the role of Amazon's executive chairman.

He explained that it would allow him to put 'time and energy' into his other business ventures, such as his space tech company Blue Origin, which memorably took stars such as Katy Perry up to space last year.

Jeff Bezos, 61, became a billionaire after launching the e-commerce business in 1994 (Natalie Fobes/Getty)

In a letter to his employees discussing his departure from the CEO position he held for 27 years, Bezos described the role as a 'deep responsibility' which was 'consuming'.

"When you have a responsibility like that, it's hard to put attention on anything else," he wrote.

"As Exec Chair, I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.

"I've never had more energy, and this isn't about retiring. I'm super passionate about the impact I think these organisations can have."

In December 2024, Bezos revealed how much he earned for shouldering the weighty responsibility of being Amazon's CEO.

He told the New York Times that he paid himself just over $80,000 (£59,670) a year for the gig, because he thought it would be greedy to give himself any more.

The uber-rich businessman explained that his shares in the firm earned him enough as it is.

"My view was, I was a founder," Bezos previously told the publication. "I already owned a significant amount of the company and I just didn’t feel good about taking more.

"I had plenty of incentive. I owned more than 10 percent of the company. I just felt, how could I possibly need more incentive?"

Amazon's founder took home an annual wage of about $80,000 when he was acting as CEO (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Dubbing entrepreneurs such as himself 'owner-operators', Bezos said they don't generate wealth 'by getting more equity', explaining: "They just want to make the equity they have more valuable."

This strategy paid off tenfold, as according to Inc.com, the Amazon founder made a little under $8 million every single hour between 2023 and 2024 alone due to the stocks in his possession.

Which is brilliant for Bezos - but it probably hurt to hear for those employed by the online marketplace, who are on a lot less than that.

12 months prior to his resignation as CEO and four years ahead of him revealing his former salary, a woman who worked in an Amazon warehouse sent the billionaire an emotive email about an issue with her pay.

New mum Tara Jones, from the US state of Oklahoma, explained that her monthly wage was consistently short - leaving her struggling to pay her bills.

So, in desperation, she sent Bezos an email directly which laid out her problem, telling the business tycoon that she was sat sobbing because she was 'behind on bills' due to the issue with her pay.

After supposedly being snubbed by other superiors, she had contacted about her wages lacking a chunk of money, Jones' email ended up triggering a company-wide investigation.

It then subsequently came to light that the warehouse worker wasn't the only one who was being shortchanged - which goes to show how taking it up with the big boss can pay off. Sometimes...