There are many nice things about earning billions of dollars through transformational technology.

Yes, the kudos, respect and wealth are all nice, but one of the more understated benefits is this: you can reinvest some of that money on new clothes and cosmetic improvements to transform yourself from gawky teenager to a titan of the business community.

To demonstrate this, the folks at Empire Flippers have blended together pictures of the tech billionaires over time, to see how age, experience, life and several billions of dollars has changed them. Here are the results:

Jeff Bezos

Look at the enthusiasm in the young Jeff Bezos’ eyes: he wants books, but more than he can find in the local store. And crucially, he doesn’t want to pay very much for them.

It also leads to a potential hypothesis: hairline is inversely correlated with wealth.

Elon Musk

The man who started SpaceX and Tesla off the back of his PayPal billions seems to be getting better dressed over time, going from a very loose-fitting tee shirt to a full tuxedo over the duration of his lifespan.

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While the hairline hypothesis still holds, I’m going to add an additional possibility – the higher the neckline, the greater the wealth.

Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has thrown me completely. He seems to be wearing a shirt, tie and braces in the earliest shot and then moves towards hoodies and T-shirts – except when he’s being made to sweat in Washington, of course.

Bill Gates

Microsoft founder Bill Gates obviously has the greatest gaps between pictures, being the oldest by some way, but what really strikes me is the glasses.

Gates’ wealth seems to correspond loosely to the size of the lenses, getting larger as Microsoft grows, and shrinking as he begins the task of giving away all his money. Presumably when it’s all gone, he’ll switch to contacts.

So in short: lost your hair, get glasses, and dress well. Oh, and have a billion-dollar idea as well – that’s probably the main thing these men have in common.