Join our Waitlist for Expert Advice!

Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Are Oldest Children. First-Borns Often Have 2 Leadership Traits That Help Them Succeed in Business. How did the business leaders' families impact their massive wealth and success?

By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas

Key Takeaways

  • Billionaire business leaders Bezos and Musk both have a younger brother and sister.
  • Being the oldest child can come with "natural" leadership ability, psychologist says.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI | Getty Images

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are two of the richest business leaders in the world, with respective net worths of $202.5 billion and $261 billion. But that's not the only thing they have in common.

The 60-year-old Amazon founder and 53-year-old Tesla CEO happen to be the oldest children in their families.

Related: How Being the Oldest Child Impacts Your Success in Business and Life

Bezos has a younger brother named Mark and a sister named Christina, both of whom were early investors in Amazon; they bought 30,000 shares apiece for $10,000, potentially worth more than $1 billion today.

Musk's younger siblings are businessman Kimbal Musk and filmmaker Tosca Musk.

Did Bezos' and Musk's first-born sibling status help them achieve their impressive leadership, wealth and success? Being an oldest child certainly doesn't guarantee either, but some research suggests that it can prepare people to be strong leaders.

Related: Billionaires Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg Are All Middle Children — Here's How It Impacts Success, According to a Psychologist

Earlier this year, Entrepreneur sat down with Dr. Brittany McGeehan, a licensed psychologist based in Frisco, Texas, who specializes in working with high achievers, to learn more about how birth order influences personal and professional outcomes, including leadership ability.

Although McGeehan acknowledges that conclusions about birth order and success don't apply to everyone, oldest children do tend to be "natural-born leaders," she says.

In fact, two important leadership qualities can help establish first-born siblings as people to look up to. As adults, they're often able to take accountability and handle critical feedback more effectively than their younger brothers or sisters, according to McGeehan.

Related: These Leadership Blunders From Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Should Be a Warning to All Entrepreneurs

Parents who want their children to find success in business (or in whichever path they pursue) should pay attention to their kids' attributes and interests, McGeehan says.

Providing structure is important, McGeehan notes — but so is finding "the sweet spot" where the child can "lean into their work ethic without sort of cutting themselves off."

Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

'Unfair and Unjust': JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Says Federal Banking Regulations Are 'Hurting Companies'

Dimon said it is "time to fight back" against federal regulations at a conference on Monday.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

Want to Start a Small Business? Here Are the Best States to Try (and the Ones to Avoid).

Plus, here's how many businesses closed in your state last year.

Career

Personal Accountability Will Push You Forward and Help You Grow in Business and in Life — Here's How to Practice It

There is a startling lack of personal accountability today. Exercising personal accountability will push you forward both personally and professionally.