To wonder what it must be like being a billionaire?

[malificent7]

And what kind of personality these people have?
Just facinated by star link and Elon Musk's space ambitions, also by Bill Gates and all the hysteria around him at the moment.
I mean these characters have so much power and influence.
Just musing on how much easier it must be being in lockdown with all that cash but also wondering if any of them are true philanthropists.
Im a socialist at heart but wonder at how these people managed to hoard so much of the worlds resources. It seems vastly unfair.

That video is amazing!

However, I can say, with absolute certainty that there are a few personal assistants that definitely need to realise that THEY are not as special as they think they are. Some of the rudeness and poor manners I witnessed from 'staff' made my head spin!

It's funny you say that. My Gr-Grandparents met when they worked for a brewery family. I remember my Granny saying that the only ridiculously rude and posh person in the household was actually the more senior of the Lady's maids.

What's so special about a fancy car when you buying a Ferrari is like an average person doing a weekly shop?

There was definitely an element of that. I remember on more than one occasion one or other of the sons' freakishly expensive cars being towed away for parking offences or similar in Knightsbridge, and them simply not bothering to go and pick it up and pay the fine.

I’ve got nothing to add except that on this thread I see an ad for a Tesla 😂

Steve Jobs wrote a list of things that money can't buy before he died
One was good health
This obviously works in Steve Jobs' case but, on the whole it's not really true.

Money buys you better food, better living conditions, it can buy you a healthier lifestyle in general (obviously not all rich people have one). In many countries, if you have no money you can't afford health insurance and you can say goodbye to receiving healthcare. In countries where piped water is uncommon, having money is the difference between having clean water or not. Even in the UK, the life expectancy is considerably higher for the people in the uppermost economic quintile than the lowest.

Money cannot buy everything, obviously, it couldn't save Steve Jobs but there is a reason that people in the richest countries are expected to live a few decades more than those in the very poorest. That you don't see many rich people suffering from Kwashiorkor or that their children don't tend to die from malnutrition.

Money can almost always buy you better health and the exceptions to this do not negate from the general trend of more money= better health (or more opportunities to have better health, I should say).
Pancreatic Cancer has a fatality rate of about 95%. If we ever have the technology to treat it more effectively and improve that rate then someone with Steve Jobs' fortune is far more likely than most to be able to access that treatment.

According to Warren Buffett, billionaires don't live too differently to the rest of us. They sleep the same number of hours, drink the same Coke, eat the same carrots, get the same wind, use the same toothpaste, watch the same TV programmes, read the same books etc.
The only big difference is that they travel better.

Excellent video.

Maybe I'm derailing the thread somewhat but I feel that once you arrive at a certain income level adding more money to your pot won't improve your life very much.
I have been extremely poor. I am now ok. I have many things people would covet, a car and two holidays a year. My car is an 06 Zafira and my holidays are DIY trips to the sun. I'm still doing the things that wealthy people do. Just in less 'style'.
One thing that money could improve maybe is my location.. I have serious view envy of many of my friends who have rolling fields or sea views to admire in lockdown.

@Snog if they have any financial sense, it won't be "hoarded". The actual liquid cash they hold will be minimal compared to how much they are worth. A billionaires wealth will primarily be tied up in investments in other companies.

Now, imagine the impact on the hundreds or thousands of employees of those companies, their families, and the much wider economic impact, if that billionaire decided to remove £900m of capital from the market to give to charity.

It's all very well saying billionaires should give away most of their wealth. The problem is people perceive that wealth as being held in cash or easy access ISAs, premium bonds etc, as for most normal people that's how we save. But when you get to billionaire level holding your wealth like that makes no sense.

Someone might be worth £1bn but that does not mean they are able to write a cheque for £1bn, or even £100m or £50m. When you are that wealthy you become an intrinsic part of the economy. You do not exist in isolation with a vault full of cash to swim in a-la-Scrouge-McDuck. What you do has far-reaching impacts for many many people.

I've not long finished a contract as the Head Nanny for a Billionaire - all of my employers have been multi-millionaires, two of which were Billionaires.
Job involves living in their house, travelling with them an awful lot etc etc

Lots of big egos, lots of anger issues, lots of eating disorders and most of them are surprisingly tight fisted!

I’ve known a few children of the very rich and famous and all were very damaged or mentally unwell. I remember think as even a youngish teen that I definitely would not want to swap. We weren’t poor though, just not mega loaded.

I’ve heard there was a study done on the perfect income to balance happiness and mental health with the view that needing to work was essential for mental growth. I think it was around 65k.

Another perspective is that there are people who don't have access to food, clean water, healthcare etc in developing countries who wonder what it's like to be you.

Being 'rich' is relative. People rarely think of themselves as rich, even millionaires compare to those a few rungs up the ladder.

"I have serious view envy of many of my friends who have rolling fields or sea views to admire in lockdown"

Location could do this for you without money. I've got the most amazing views. It didn't cost that much though!

I've known a few millionaires and they still have family problems. Around the time my middle DD was two, one of their grandchildren was two. I asked what they did for it, thinking there'd be an over the top party (their house had a pool and tennis court size gardens), including ponies etc. They did nothing because the GM (my relative) had taken her DD's shopping in a designer type place, a couple of weeks before, bought them a few outfits costing £ thousands and one had to return some items, so swapped for something else and got £200 more spent on her. This then escalated because the DD who felt badly done to said that she should be given an allowance because her Siblings children had their private education paid for. Massive falling out, so no one saw the GC on her Birthday. Every occasion was overshadowed by this stuff. They never had enough.

None of them were ever happy. Another spent £5k per gambling session for something to do. The men (and women for that matter) knew that they could buy beautiful people to have a 'relationship' with, so it changed how they viewed sex and relationships. They didn't trust anyone.

I've met enough super rich people to not be envious.

You'd have to find a passion and focus on it, but then if you really knew the extent of poverty and how it's created, how would you ignore your excess etc? Coming from a normal background that is.

Michael Jackson had millions, but I guess he couldn't walk to his local shop to buy a pint of milk

I think he had a few other things to worry about tbh

I imagine it’s very lonely and full of fake or fair weather friends.

The most impressive billionaire IMO is JK Rowling (I think she's a billionaire). Pays her taxes, gives money to charity.

Billionaires shouldn't exist. I think its disgusting that they do. Most people dont realise how much money a billion really is.
I think as soon as you earn more than a billion the rest should be redistributed.
Nobody deserves that much money to just sit on. Just shows how broken our society is.

I remember watching a programme on Tamara Ecclestone & she was on holiday with her sister & their then boyfriends. They were on a huge yacht, then they went to the club & bought a super expensive bottle of fizz, repeat the next day. Honestly they looked so bored & seemed lonely, I wouldn't ever want to be that rich.

Branson currently asking UK government for a business loan for Virgin Atlantic airlines

His worldwide charities are via Virgin Unite, which includes UK charities

Prince Harry, is now photographed going to his local shop to buy a pint of milk

It's a nice idea in theory but as someone who is a bit introverted and likes my own space I'd struggle with the amount of people needed to run my life.

Once you have a huge mansion with 50 rooms and massive gardens you have to have regular staff plus security staff. You probably need a PA and most likely a chef...and the list goes on. I wouldn't be surprised if the super rich employ upwards of 150 people just running their day to day affairs.

I bet they rarely have alone time and are never 'switched off', which of course suits some people but I think it would drive me potty.

In the news, it said the Queen has only 20 staff who have self isolated with her in Windsor castle
Evidently, she is not horse riding

I'm not sure I believe the not horse riding
She has plenty of grounds to ride in

So humanity figured out this thing a long time ago which people have since used to become super rich. Because you seem so nice I’ll share the secret with you: wealth is not finite. You no longer have to be a socialist. You’re welcome.

A lot of billionaire's worth is the worth of their businesses, they don't have 900 million just sat in a bank account