Tech Billionaires and Their Watches - Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg
I have done a lot of watch spotting in television, movies and athletes and actors. However, with the growth of technology companies such as Facebook (sneeze, Meta), Tesla and SpaceX, Amazon, and Twitter - the founders and CEOs of these companies have become celebrities in their own right. In this article I will take a look at what these tech celebrities have worn on their wrists throughout the years.
What watch does Elon Musk wear?
Elon Musk is the founder of PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, as well as an outspoken Twitter troll and “the Dogefather.” Musk has an extroardinary net worth of around $300 billion. While Musk has been spotted earlier in his career wearing what appears to be an Omega Aqua Terra, he is often not wearing a watch at all.
However, rumor has it that he has worn a Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 SpaceX chronograph, branded with the SpaceX rocket on the dial and on the caseback. Tag Heuer released the watch as a limited edition of 2012 in 2012, not only as collaboration with SpaceX but also to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the Carrera being the first watch to be worn in space (by John Glenn in 1962).
In very un-Musk-like fashion, Elon has also been photographed at least once wearing what appears to be the highest of the high-end watches, a Richard Mille. In my opinion it is either a Richard Mille RM005 or RM029. You can see the dot-indices on the outside of dial with what appears to be a skeleton dial below (both indicating one of the two Richard Mille models identified). It is possible that this watch could be a Franck Muller, as the brand also makes watches with similar case shapes. I’ll let you decide.
Which piece do you think Musk is wearing? Is it a Richard Mille or Franck Muller?
Update: April 26, 2022
Musk has been in the news recently for the recent closing of his deal to buy and take Twitter private for $44 Billion USD. Because of this, I decided to return to this article and see if I could dig up any other instances of Musk wearing a watch. We know that he has rarely been seen wearing a watch recently, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in 2004, during the early days of SpacEx, Musk was seen in front of a rocket wearing a 36mm Rolex Datejust. This Datejust is possibly a Ref. 16200 but I cannot be sure. You won’t catch Musk wearing this piece today (and who knows if he even still owns it).
What watch does Jeff Bezos wear?
Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin and has a net worth of around $200 billion. Bezos seems to be an occasional watch collector, with some very nice, although not extravagant timepieces. Bezos owns a very nice Ulysse Nardin Dual Time that he has been spotted wearing many times.
Recently, Bezos flew on a suborbital flight into space, reaching a peak altitude of 66.5 miles. For this flight, Bezos went with the classic - an Omega Speedmaster "moon watch." The Speedmaster was the first watch worn on the moon during the Apollo Missions. Omega made Bezos a custom strap and he wore the watch around his suit, perhaps an homage to the astronauts that wear their watches outside their spacesuits (so that they can use the watch while on space walk/on the moon).
What watch does Jack Dorsey wear?
Jack Dorsey is the eccentric founder and former CEO of Twitter, as well as the founder and current CEO of Square. Dorsey is estimated to have a net worth of around $11.5 billion. Indeed, Dorsey is a big fan of meditation and yoga, was once punk rocker, licensed masseur and wanna-be fashion designer. With his long beard and choice in clothing it appears that Dorsey is going through a somewhat hipster-bohemian stage in his style. Thus, his choice in watches is all the more interesting. Dorsey, like many of his tech counterparts, has often been spotted wearing a simple Apple Watch. Coming from the tech world this makes a lot of sense to me. A tech billionaire wearing a smartwatch makes perfect sense.
However, more recently Dorsey was spotted wearing what I am pretty sure is a Cartier Crash (yes, Kanye West also wears one). And it appears that Dorsey doesn’t just have the standard yellow gold variation with roman numeral indices. From what I can see he has the Cartier Crash in rose gold with skeleton dial. I have to admit that it’s a very interesting and unique piece, and I am a fan. For some reason, I just can’t get out of my head that I just don’t see Dorsey wearing that watch. But at the end of the day, who am I to criticize someone on their choice in timepieces? The Cartier Crash with skeleton dial is currently selling on the secondary market for close to $70,000 USD.
What watch does Mark Zuckerberg wear?
Including Mark Zuckerberg on this list is something of a joke. I have spent hours searching the internet for a single instance of the Meta (Facebook) founder wearing a watch. I have yet to see him with any watch on his wrist, not even an Apple Watch or some other smartwatch. I went as far as joking on my Instagram account that Zuckerberg was spotted wearing an aqua green plastic wristband (the kind you get when you go to a convention or house music festival). But if you really feel the urge to rock Zuckerberg’s look, you can pick-up a 100-pack of these wristbands for a mere $13.95 on Amazon. Hey, maybe Zuckerberg will wear a watch when he migrates to the Metaverse full-time.
