YukaHow do you say “billionaire” or “super rich” in Japanese? Let’s look at 億万長者 and 大金持ち!
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 億万長者 | okumanchousha | billionaire / multi-millionaire |
| 大金持ち | ookuramochi / ooganemochi | very wealthy person / rich person |
| お金持ち | okanemochi | wealthy person (general) |
億万長者: Billionaire
億万長者 (okumanchousha) literally means “a person with hundreds of millions” (億 = 100 million, 万 = 10,000, 長者 = wealthy person). It’s used for billionaires or extremely wealthy people:
- 彼は億万長者だ。 — He’s a billionaire.
- 億万長者になる夢がある。 — I have a dream of becoming a billionaire.
- 宝くじで億万長者になった。 — She became a billionaire (multi-millionaire) from the lottery.
大金持ち: Very Rich Person
大金持ち (ooganemochi) means someone very wealthy — a “big money person.” It’s less specific than 億万長者 and just means “loaded” or “super rich”:
- あの家族は大金持ちだ。 — That family is super rich.
- 大金持ちと結婚したい。 — I want to marry someone very wealthy.
- 大金持ちになったら何がしたい？ — What would you do if you became super rich?
ReiWhat’s お金持ち compared to these?
Yukaお金持ち is the general term for a wealthy person — not necessarily billionaire-level, just well-off or rich. It’s more everyday.
Wealth Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| お金持ち | wealthy / well-off person |
| 大金持ち | very rich person |
| 億万長者 | billionaire / multi-millionaire |
| 富裕層 | wealthy class / high-net-worth individuals (formal) |
Quick Quiz
How would you say “He became a billionaire from his startup”?
Answer: 彼はスタートアップで億万長者になった。
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