I had no idea that my friend is a multi millionaire!!

Companies House information is all accessible to the public by design though. Anyone can look up anyone else and there is no need to sign up or justify it. Public records are public records, just like Land Reg, Births or Deaths.

Nosy? Maybe, but she's not going through their bins looking for bank statements.

I had a friend who mentioned everyone’s finances, all the time. Then her dad died and she inherited his house and a big chunk of money that she never mentioned. She continued her green eyed gossip about everyone with more money than her. I honestly couldn’t stomach it and when I told her …well.. I never heard from her again. Thinking about other peoples wealth is a very odd and unhelpful mindset!

And particularly if they are stingy buying drinks and gifts.

And they’ve clearly worked hard to build a successful business from nothing, you won’t have seen the sacrifices they’ve made. Instead of being jealous you should be proud of them. Or work harder.

This is EXACTLY why my petty and jealous family have NO idea about me.

My own sister thinks I’m a sahm.
I am not!

Don’t t forget if they took that money as dividends the HMRC would take a MASSIVE chunk of it.

i think it was really mean of you to snoop on your friend

I never understand jealousy especially around money. Your life would be no different if they where rich or poor. Its actually shitter having poorer friends as you miss out on doing lots of nice things together as they can't afford it.

I have never been involved with a business and know next to nothing about the business world. But even I know that net worth has little to do with how much cash you actually have, or even how much you're able to realise in a pinch.

It’s quite likely that IF your friend is as day to day rich as you think she is, she’s keeping it quiet due to worry over the change in relationships it will inevitably cause
Your own reaction being the perfect example

I can understand why your friend hasn't shared this with you.

As my dear old dad (who owned a business) used to say "Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity".

And this is what living in the end stage capitalist west does to us. It robs us of contentment.

You are in a blessed situation. At the end of paying off your mortgage, have a tangible asset, have some decent savings, have (assuming) a good stable relationship, and you are feeling discontent by comparing what you have to someone who appears to have more.

There is someone else looking up at you feeling the same discontent and there are those with none of the things you have, but are still content with what little they do have.

You should never have snooped and checked what they have coming in.

And there's a difference between seeing the value of material things and experiences - a lot of financially well of people don't place a high value on things, they place more value on experiences. Also they might feel more under pressure to live a less showy way of life.

They also might value the enjoyment of acquiring the wealth. It's becomes addictive.

It's partly why mega rich people keep working.

What is the point of your thread? It makes you look like a right sticky beak.

I ah w a friend who’s a multi-millionaire…she made the millions.
She’s an absolute gem, with no airs and graces. She’s one of those who hasn’t forgotten where she’s come from.

You're feeding the jealousy, which won't help you.

Try to set it aside.

No, because I know the difference between personal wealth and the bottom line of a balance sheet.

I might be surprised but I absolutely wouldn't be checking their accounts and posting about it on social media! That's not normal behaviour.

That's their business, not them. Massive difference!

Honestly - I probably would be a bit surprised, but no more than I would be to learn that someone was in lots of debt. No way would I look up the company accounts or start a thread about it.

I think you need to set this aside.

I love all the snooty posts telling OP she’s clueless. Bunch of cows!

Fact is, the friends are tight buggers and don’t put their hands in the pockets and OP is rightly annoyed.

A lot of wealthy folk are tight unless it’s their own immediate family.

OP, make sure you tell them when it’s their turn to pay.

In my experience the “rich” keep their money by being tight with it. I know myself since I’ve stopped extended family gifts, cards etc, albeit small, there is a saving.

But really they’re not “cash rich” are they? You’d probably call me rich on paper…I’m not, I just have a lot of investments, my husband owns a business etc. I live in a “nice” house in a “good area”, I drive a “nice” car., I’ve retired early. But it doesn’t mean I can buy my grown up children a house etc (as much as I liked to! Any parent would!).

But does it matter? Why has your opinion on your friend changed so much since you’ve found this out? Surely our friends are our friends. Do you feel that they’ve not been honest with you? But on the other side of the coin, do they need to tell you? Tell anyone? Personally I hate talking about money.

she might be a true eco warrior and believes in regifting. Maybe they didn’t realise they were slow on the drinks. I don’t know, I don’t see the point in now looking back at your experiences together now with a different onion just because you found out some new info on them. Either enjoy the friendship I think or move on.

jealousy is an emotion that lots of people experience so I applaud you for recognising that emotion, lots of people can’t, but really it’s taking the joy away from being friends if you can’t get past it.

you’ve secured your house, you say you have savings, enjoy those and all your own achievements

No I genuinely don't think most people would be shocked or even give it a second thought. They almost certainly wouldn't post about it online and check their accounts...

You are a green eyed monster as my granny would say, the mental stress alone wouldn’t be worth it for me.
Don’t be one of those people who can’t help gawking.

We had a friend that decided to look our company up then mention our turnover at a social event in front of a bunch of our other friends, when they mentioned it you could see the tumbleweed blowing through the room, we are no longer friends. Why would anyone be so nosy to look up their friends business interests? That’s weird, why not just ask outright instead of skulking around behind their backs?

Edited to add our finances are nothing to do with our friends, would it have changed the friendship if you knew how much they were worth? We don’t think about our friends in terms of £££££ because they’re friends.