Matei Zaharia’s net worth over time
Only dates with a published estimate are shown. Nothing is filled in between. Tap or hover a bar to see the source.
See the numbers as a table
| Date | Estimate | Source |
| 2022 | $1.6 billion | Forbes World's Billionaires List 2022 |
| 2023 | $1.2 billion | Forbes World's Billionaires List 2023 |
| 2024 | $1.2 billion | Forbes World's Billionaires List 2024 |
| 2025 | $2.5 billion | Forbes World's Billionaires List 2025 |
| 2026 | $5 billion | Forbes World's Billionaires List 2026 |
| Oct 2026 | $7 billion | Forbes Real-Time Billionaires · Forbes real-time estimate |
Where the money comes from
These are the main sources of wealth named in the reporting we cite. No published source breaks the total into exact amounts, so we do not show percentages.
Matei Zaharia’s fortune in real-life terms
Based on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires estimate above. Median full-time U.S. pay is $65,416 a year ($1,258 a week, BLS, Q2 2026), before taxes. Typical (median) U.S. family net worth is $216,100 (Federal Reserve, 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances).
How do you compare to Matei Zaharia? New
Type your yearly income and see how you stack up. It runs in your browser: nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
Matei Zaharia has an estimated net worth of $7 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Matei Zaharia profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $1.6 billion in 2022.
Matei Zaharia is a computer scientist, educator, and businessman best known for creating Apache Spark and helping start Databricks. He came up with Spark in 2009 at UC Berkeley's AMPLab as a faster option than MapReduce. Forbes says Spark later set a world record for data sorting speed in 2014. That same work also earned him the 2014 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award, which helped raise his profile in data systems.
His wealth comes from Databricks, the data software company he cofounded in 2013 and where he serves as chief technology officer. The company's software is built on Spark, and Forbes says private investors valued Databricks at $190 billion in August. Beyond Spark, Zaharia has worked on open-source tools including Delta Lake, MLflow, and Omnigent, and Forbes says he has led development of multiple new AI-powered features. He has also taught at MIT, Stanford, and UC Berkeley.
How Matei Zaharia built his fortune
Zaharia's money story starts with technology he helped create. In 2009, while at UC Berkeley's AMPLab, he developed Apache Spark as a faster alternative to MapReduce. Forbes calls him the mastermind behind Spark and says he conceived it as a 24-year-old Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley. Spark became widely known after setting a world record for data sorting speed in 2014, and it gave Databricks the foundation for its software business.
In 2013, Zaharia was one of the founders of Databricks and became the company's chief technology officer. Forbes says the startup's software is built on top of Spark, linking his research directly to the business that made him rich. His work did not stop with the original engine. Forbes says he has led development on multiple new AI-powered features beyond Spark, while his open-source work also includes Delta Lake, MLflow, and Omnigent.
What Forbes says about his net worth
Forbes has tracked big swings in Zaharia's fortune over the past few years. It estimated his net worth at $1.6 billion in 2022, then $1.2 billion in 2023 and again in 2024. The estimate climbed to $2.5 billion in 2025 and $5 billion in 2026. Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker put him at $7 billion in October 2026, showing how sharply his estimated wealth moved in a short period.
The main driver in those estimates is Databricks. Forbes says Zaharia is a cofounder and the chief technology officer of the company, and that private investors valued Databricks at $190 billion in August. That helps explain why Forbes' current real-time figure for him reached $7 billion as of October 20, 2026. His long-running role in Spark and newer AI work also ties his wealth to data analytics and technology.
Career and money timeline
- 2005
At the International Collegiate Programming Contest, his University of Waterloo team finished fourth worldwide and first in North America.
- 2009
At UC Berkeley's AMPLab, he created Apache Spark as a faster alternative to MapReduce.
- 2013
He cofounded Databricks and later became its chief technology officer.
- 2014
Spark set a data sorting speed record, and he won the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award.
- 2019
He led development of MLflow at Databricks while still teaching.
- 2023
He joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as an associate professor.
- 2025
He received the ACM Prize in Computing for contributions to data and machine learning systems.
Matei Zaharia net worth FAQ
What is Matei Zaharia's net worth?
Matei Zaharia's net worth is an estimated $7 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Matei Zaharia profile (October 20, 2026). It is an estimate, not an official figure.
How did Matei Zaharia get so rich?
The main sources named in the reporting we cite are: Data analytics.
Is Matei Zaharia a billionaire?
Yes. Forbes Real-Time Billionaires estimates Matei Zaharia is worth $7 billion.
How has Matei Zaharia's net worth changed?
The earliest published estimate we track is $1.6 billion (2022, Forbes World's Billionaires List 2022). The latest is $7 billion (October 20, 2026).
What is Matei Zaharia best known for?
He is best known for creating Apache Spark and cofounding Databricks. He is also the company's chief technology officer.
How does Matei Zaharia make his money?
His wealth is tied to Databricks, the software company built on top of Spark. Forbes also links his work to data analytics and newer AI-powered features.
Sources
- Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Matei Zaharia profile (October 20, 2026)
- Forbes World's Billionaires List 2022, Matei Zaharia profile (April 5, 2022)
- Forbes World's Billionaires List 2023, Matei Zaharia profile (April 4, 2023)
- Forbes World's Billionaires List 2024, Matei Zaharia profile (April 2, 2024)
- Forbes World's Billionaires List 2025, Matei Zaharia profile (April 2025)
- Forbes World's Billionaires List 2026, Matei Zaharia profile (March 10, 2026)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings (Q2 2026) (July 2026)
- Federal Reserve, 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances (median family net worth, Table 4) (October 2026)
- Background facts: Wikipedia, Matei Zaharia (accessed October 22, 2026). Used for career facts only, never for figures.
Photo: DKP415, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Every number on this page is an estimate published by the source named next to it. We never fill in years with our own guesses. How we handle estimates.