Who is the richest person in your family and why?

[ByFluentPombear]

Just being nosy! Who is the richest person in your family and how did they get there? Did they inherit wealth, build a business, work their way up in a high-paying career, or something else?

Do they live noticeably different from the rest of the family, or are they quite low-key about it?

No judgement - just curious about the different paths to financial success!

BiL & SiL, he had a multi million £ business, they bought several buy to let properties. He lost his company, but still does lots of high value things for other companies.
AND, they are very very careful with their own money.

No idea, financial information isn't typically shared indiscriminately in my family...

Of course can guess, but that's not factual.

My dad. Studied for many years to qualify in his field and worked extremely hard for everything he’s got. He supported his mum for over a decade, gave my mum the house when they divorced and lost hundreds of thousands in a pension disaster but he carried on working, sold a business, retired then went back to work and he’s now absolutely minted.

My husband's aunty - she married well.

Probably DH. He co-founded a fintech startup during the first dotcom boom, did well out of that, and has just kept investing as a VC in other tech and cryptocurrency businesses since. Whilst I’m sure most people know we’re fairly affluent, I suspect people don’t really know or think much about how and at what level; he mostly dresses as though he robbed a drifter and has an accent and voice like Eminem, but louder, so most people just think he’s a classless, brash American.

After that, probably my parents! They got there through both having DB pensions and having bought an ordinary family home in the 1970s in what has since become a very desirable and expensive city. Just the way the cookie crumbles. They’re very generous, and live very simply themselves.

My parents. They were never hard up to start with but are both only children so they inherited everything when both sets of grandparents died.

My dad is also the tightest person in the family.

Me. Not inherited. DH business but he built it from nothing. Engineering consultancy. Yes - we have better cars, holidays, house and pension as well as an investment portfolio. But…. We wanted it. Others in my family don’t. DDs are working to do well too. One is self employed and the other is working towards it.

My brother and his wife. He has a well paid job and she inherited loads of money quite young. They have therefore been mortgage free in a nice house for years, so could afford private schools and holidays much younger than most people.

Me..but not by choice.
An ex threw me under a bus and left me severely disabled.. and l mean real bad (he's still in prison for attempted murder) this was years ago .
I ended up in a coma .. l was a single parent on benefits later ( DLA) before PIP.. l finally got a pay out 11 years later.. they needed to know how bad l was likely going to be..
I got a few million.
I'd give it all back to not be disabled.

We're all skint

@Moier sending love, that sounds so traumatic 💐

Dh and I. We own a lot of property (which dh bought mainly in the 90's) and investments.

In terms of the way we live compared to family, there's too many things to mention really. Were both from WC backgrounds but now have multiple homes, send our kids to private school etc. We're not flash and are pretty low key (don't post on SM etc) but i don't really have any friends or family who live a comparable life to ours. The only people I know who are similarly wealthy are friends of the dc's families from private school but I don't know them well.

Probably my DC as they've worked hard, saved money along the way and invested wisely.

Oh my God, I'm so sorry that happened to you - no one would wish that on themselves in exchange for money 💐

A fairly close family member - drugs and cheating the tax man !

I've never really thought about it but probably me, not a huge difference though. Largely due to being quite frugal and doing well on the housing ladder. Most of it is tied up in the house and pensions though.

Up until recently, PIL. They lived very frugally, to the point four separate people offered to SIL and DH to pay for the funeral and when FIL died it became apparent they were millionaires.
MIL is now in a care home, DH and SIL have inherited well and there will be more to come regardless of how long MIL lives. DH is already a high earner. We have been mortgage free since early 40's (I inherited too as parents died fairly young). So I suppose we are.
Lesson learnt from PIL way of living, we are going to spend and actually enjoy the money.

My parents. Built up a business, sold it to a larger company, got shares which took off. They are very comfortable now in their old age, having come from practically nothing.

Probably my parents. They are the Boomer generation, so have their own house, good public sector pensions, plus I am convinced they won the Premium Bonds but haven't told me how much.

My cousin, because he was an only child and lived with his parents until they died. So he has never been in any debt or had any significant outgoings, not even a mortgage. He’s also a KC, so earns extremely well. Never married, no children.

He’s many times richer than everyone else in the family! And now that he has retired, he enjoys life.

@Moier Oh I'm so sorry - a perfect illustration of how money isn't everything. Not anywhere near x

Probably me. Earn well, invested really well, inherited a lot, married a man who earned even more and inherited lots too.

My cousin, brought a 6 million pound house in Cornwall, another beautiful house in London and always jetting of on luxury holidays.
He is a retired car mechanic, we all think he may have won the lottery but doesn't want to say anything.

Not a clue! No one has a noticeably flashier lifestyle than anyone else. On paper I suspect my SIL earns the most but even with 2 salaries they have a sizeable mortgage and 2 kids to support. So in terms of disposable income and equity in property i might be better off than them. And my parents paid their mortgage off years ago, have investments and good pensions so they're possibly sitting on a fair few bob. It could be my auntie as she had a professional but not particularly high paying career, but bought property at a time when it was very affordable, will have decent pension from her job and didn't have kids......
I really have no idea!

A cousin. Think Succession-type wealth. She married someone who built a business out of nothing and it grew into a very very valuable company. When they divorced, her payout was enormous. (She's really boring though).