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Posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2016 at 04:07pm

Somewhat lost in all the excitement about DC’s 2016 movies was the fact that Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne was subtly depicted with exceptional wealth. Sure, the Christopher Nolan movies spent a little more time focusing on Wayne Manor, Wayne Enterprises, and the specifics of the engineering behind the suit, car, etc. Christian Bale’s Wayne basically bought whatever he wanted. But while his Batman wore protective armor and high-tech gliding wings, Affleck’s was more or less in a crude Iron Man suit (sacrilegious, I know, but come on, we all saw it). It was hard to imagine the money being pumped into this version of the character.

Then again, that’s part of the point. If Batman’s superpowers are his combat prowess, moral compass, and ability to manipulate with fear, then Bruce Wayne’s superpower is his wealth. But just how rich is he actually?

Stately Wayne Manor: Expensive real-estate!

It’s impossible to know given that he’s a fictional character. But fortunately for those of us who might be curious, some have actually delved into the process of estimating Batman’s wealth in real world money. Time Magazine, better known for general news and editorials, actually has a money section in which it once wrote up a list of the five richest superheroes. And on that list, Bruce Wayne came in third (ahead of Emma Frost and Charles Xavier but behind Tony Stark and T’Challa). T’Challa’s wealth is frankly completely absurd, based on the reserves of a fictional resources (Vibranium) in a fictional country (Wakanda). So as far as I’m concerned, Wayne is second. That’s not to say these aren’t all fictional, but Stark and Wayne are at least wealthy through somewhat feasible means. The article estimated Wayne’s worth at $9.2 billion based on Forbes estimations, which also pegged Wayne Enterprises at $31.3 billion in annual revenue.

So even among superheroes, Wayne’s wealth is off the charts. But even more impressive is where he ranks among all fictional characters (on a list that thankfully did not include T’Challa). This list was hosted by Lottoland, a gaming and lottery site catering to EuroMillions players but occasionally writing up pieces of interest about elite wealth. Specifically, the article listed the 15 wealthiest fictional characters and put Wayne at sixth, behind only Scrooge McDuck, Smaug the Dragon, Carlisle Cullen, Tony Stark, and Charles Foster Kane. Notable characters Batman outranked included Christian Grey, Tywin Lannister, and Charles Montgomery Burns. His specific fortune was pegged at £6.3 billion, which at the time was worth about $9.2 billion, and based on the same estimations from Forbes.

These numbers are a lot of fun because they compare Bruce Wayne to other characters who are as fantastically wealthy as their creators saw fit to make them. But they’re actually not the only estimates out there for how much money Batman is worth. For instance, one net worth listing compiled by economics students at Lehigh University put the number at $11.6 billion, which at the time would have made Wayne the 100th richest man alive, if in fact he were a real person.

Meanwhile, an article at Thrillist (which incidentally cited the Lehigh study) delved into what Batman’s costs are in order to determine how much it would cost to live his life. This was based on Nolan and Bale’s version of the character, and came up with some interesting numbers, such as $150,000 per year for a live-in butler (I’m betting Alfred costs a bit more to retain) and $52,440 per year on fitness (which is very specific, but based on the average charge of a trainer for three hours a day four days a week, plus a home gym).

In short: Bruce Wayne/Batman is really freaking rich. You knew that already. But to put it in real world terms, the popular guesses seem to average out to roughly $10 billion. For perspective, if you’re making $50,000/year, that means the character is worth every penny of your job - if you did it for 200,000 years.

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