Some of us rely on prayer to get us through the day, or through any difficult situation in life. Prayer is also sometimes used by some to bring about success, or a specific triumph.
There are other individuals who don’t feel the need to pray, and in fact, don’t believe in any sort of higher power at all. Nevertheless, those who believe, as well as those who don’t, can all be super successful. But just in case you weren’t aware before, here are 10 of the richest atheists in the world:
Stephen Hawking
One of the most famous physicists and cosmologists of all time, as well as the author of The Grand Design and A Brief History Of Time, Stephen Hawking is worth $20 million.
In The Grand Design, Hawking discusses how unnecessary it is to involve the concept of god in order to understand existence, as “spontaneous creation works fine.” The scientist also told an interviewer in 2011, that heaven is a “fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”
Kathy Griffin
The Emmy-winning actress worth $15 million, once gave a speech saying, “A lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award.
I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. So, all I can say is, ‘Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now!’”
Though she was raised in a Catholic home, Griffin says that her religious upbringing caused her to be a militant atheist. Griffin has a solid reputation as being very anti-religious, and has been known to speak out against organized religion in many contexts.
Sir Ian Mckellen
This knighted Shakespearean actor, worth $55 million, has never explicitly stated being an atheist, but has spoken out against Christianity, going as far as ripping pages out of hotel room bibles.
Mckellen even stated once: “I’m an atheist. So God, if She exists, isn’t really a part of my life.”
In addition to Mckellen’s anti-religious beliefs, he is also known to be one of the biggest LGBT activists in Hollywood.
Richard Dawkins
Possibly the most militant of all famous atheists, Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, writer, and ethologist worth $135 million.
Dawkins is extremely adamant about his atheist position, and has written multiple books on the matter, such as The God Delusion.
He has had “discussions” with various spiritual leaders and authors like Deepak Chopra, and rabbis and priests worldwide. He is very passionate about the concept of Darwinian evolution, and has started a movement for “in-the-closet” atheists to start speaking up about their non-belief.
Seth MacFarlane
The creator of the hit TV show Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane, worth over $150 million, is also an atheist.
MacFarlane was raised Catholic, but has been making fun of religion in general since he was about 11 years old, and since then, claimed atheism as his stance of choice.
Family Guy, his best-known creation, features many different forms of satire, including religious satire (Jesus is a reappearing character in the series).
Warren Buffet
The famous businessman, investor, and philanthropist worth $72.3 billion, doesn’t attribute any of his success to a higher power. In fact, as a child, it was said that he never gave into any kind of religion, not even his family’s.
He was said to develop his moral compass from his father, and was always too logical and mathematical to have faith.
Buffet is known to be one of the most successful investors of all time, with impeccable strategy, and has also read the bible 3-4 times, still remaining a non-believer.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is a well-known programmer, most famous for having invented Microsoft, and is worth $79.3 billion.
He doesn’t believe in god, and when asked about his belief in god (or lack thereof), his response was: “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient,” he explains. “There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”
He has also stated in the past that he believes it to be good for people to have a belief in god, and although this sounds a bit ambiguous, Gates has an overall reputation of being incredibly optimistic, believing or not.
Christopher Hitchens
Worth $2 million, Christopher Hitchens is a British journalist, commentator, author, and critic. His criticism has included many topics, but religion is most definitely one of the more prominent ones.
Hitchens has openly spoken against the Abrahamic religion: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and has done so despite his own Jewish roots.
He claims that organized religion is “the main source of hatred in the world.” Hitchens was considered a distinguished achiever of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in February of 2010.
George Carlin
An American actor, social critic, and comedian, George Carlin was worth $10 million.
He passed away in 2008, but before his passing, was an atheist.
He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he is quite critical of religion through his humor, mostly directed at Catholics. Carlin attended a Catholic grammar school, and credits his Catholic school experience for making him a non-believer by forcing him to use his mind and instincts, and to always question.
Mark Zuckerberg
The CEO and founder of Facebook is worth approximately $34.8 billion.
Zuckerberg reportedly became an atheist after his Bar Mitzvah when he was 13 years old.
The world’s youngest billionaire isn’t shy about his atheistic stance, as he posts “Atheist” under the “religion” section on his own Facebook profile. Aside from identifying as an atheist, Zuckerberg hasn’t been known to ever be super vocal about it, and the same also applies to politics.