The United States federal securities laws define an accredited investor as any of the following:
(i) a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year;
(ii) a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person;
(iii) a corporation, partnership or charitable organization with assets exceeding $5 million;
(iv) a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchase is directed by a sophisticated person;
(v) a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities; (vi) a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors (vii) a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company; or (viii) an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million. For the full SEC definition click here.