Why Do Billionaires Want More?

[Freedom56]

I only met one. He is a majority owner of units in our condo in Florida. You would think he has better things to do, but he attends many of our association conference calls and as a majority owner dictates how to cut expenses. He also attends social functions held at our condo. He owns 2500 units in Florida and about 3500 apartment units in Los Angeles. He made over a billion buying credit default swaps on subprime mortgage back securities as housing crashed after 2008. Instead of calling it quits and relaxing, he rolled his gains into buying condos that owners/developers were defaulting on. Most of those were in Florida. All in all, a smart move. He is a workaholic and extremely driven. When he was younger, I was told he traveled across the country selling circus tickets to help him pay his expenses at Harvard. I was also told he bought his first house as an MBA student at Harvard and rented out rooms to other students. He had 18 properties at graduation. For him it's not about money anymore, he just likes what he is doing, likes taking calculated risks, and micro-manages the world around him.

 

[btdt22]

My wife and I do part time contract work for a European billionaire in the top 100 of world incomes. They are a down to earth family that likes to travel and camp with their three children in a ten year old RV. They keep in great physical shape and invest wisely (made another billion last year). If they sat next to you in a diner you would have no idea they are rich unless you were very perceptive and notice their undercover security.

 

[MarieIG]

While researching an upcoming book, I'm finding that many billionaires go to great lengths (legal and illegal) to increase their wealth.

Why is that? What can you do with two billion that you can't do with one billion?

My guess is that it's just an insatiable and irrational desire to get more money—like collectors who go to extremes.

Your thoughts?

My thoughts? Billionaires are people and I certainly don't think that they all alike and have the same motivations. I don't like putting people in a box, but since it is a very small "class" it seems to be an acceptable prejudice.

Some billionaires have been very clever creating businesses, and their businesses are their babies - their creations, and they are motivated to grow their creations. It's a feeling of accomplishment. Some feel a responsibility to their employees and/or customers and/or families. I don't espouse an arbitrary number where one has to roll over and stop being involved with his/ her business/ creation or be "insatiable and irrational." Some want to grow their wealth to fund technologies or charities.

Some people of course will do anything for money. There are "bad" people on all ends of the economic scale. There are people who will murder someone for their wallet. Of course some billionaires are motivated by a desire for power and control, some recognition, some get their jollies by watching their net worth grow. Hmm, seems I've seen that one before, albeit on a smaller scale.

 

[TromboneAl]

Those thoughts will be useful, thanks.

Why do millionaires want more?

....feel free to weigh in...

1 Million: Coach
2 Million: First Class
3 Million: Chartered Jet
10 Million: Private Jet

 

[NW-Bound]

heh heh heh - Yep. Establishes the pecking order or leader of the pack or ?.

Yes, that is it! For some billionaires, and I cannot say that applies to them all, as I do not know any, let alone what all of them think.

I read a biography of James Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon, in that order of time. He ordered a sailing yacht built, called Hyperion, that had the tallest mast for a while. It barely cleared the Golden Gate bridge. He got bent out of shape when someone else's yacht had a taller one.

Those thoughts will be useful, thanks.

1 Million: Coach
2 Million: First Class
3 Million: Chartered Jet
10 Million: Private Jet

Sorry to tell you that 3M is not enough to charter a jet. Well, you can but cannot travel very far or very often, as a 2-hour flight will cost $10K for a smaller jet, in addition to membership fees.

And $10M is definitely not enough for a private jet, as a Gulfstream IV is about $40M. Maybe a decamillionaire can get a smallest jet, a Cirrus Vision with 7 seats. It costs an "affordable" $2M.

The problem is the short range of the Cirrus. It is only 600 nautical miles. How are you going to cross the ocean?

 

[jollystomper]

One factor. Some people simply cannot sleep at night knowing that somewhere in the world, someone has more money than they do.

There are studies that give folks choices like these:
(a) you get $50, someone else gets $25
(b) you get $100, someone else gets $200

The majority of folks pick the (a) choice, even though it means they will have less money.

I have seen this play out among some of my Ivy League classmates. I have related how at one reunion one of them, who was worth in the tens of millions, was miserable when he found out another classmate that he thought was inferior to him was worth hundreds of millions. He did not think that classmate deserved it, and he started planning moves to make more money for himself, in the hopes that he would have more by our next reunion.

Not saying this is the only reason, as there are many others as noted above. Some with money also want to make more because they want to give any more or support more causes. Which is not a bad thing if done legally.

But as was mentioned above, there are probably those who are not millionaires who wonder why anyone needs to have more than a million. I have family members who if they knew we had $100K in cash in the bank would say that we didn't need that much, and we would be greedy for wanting more. I also have had a discussion with more than a few people who feel that "no one needs to make more than $100K in yearly income, anything beyond that is greedy".

So... wondering why others who have more would want more might just be all relative.

 

[samclem]

Case 1: Primitive man: Lives in a hunter-gatherer or agricultural society with a barter economy (i.e. the way most of humanity has existed for most of our existence). He's hot when it is hot, cold when it is cold, hungry most of the time, riddled with parasites and maladies, and, if very lucky, lives to the age of 35.

Case 2: You and I.

Case 3: A billionaire.

The difference between the quality of life of the primitive man and you and I is >much< larger than between us and a billionaire. We can eat whenever we want and choose from a wide variety of foods from around the world. We can communicate with anyone anywhere, we can visit any spot on the globe for the price of two weeks labor. We are seldom uncomfortably hot or cold, we live twice as long as primitive man could hope for ,and the majority of that time is spent in pretty good health. We generally die before most of our children, an amazing accomplishment. The primitive man would surely ask why anyone who lived as we do would ever want more. But, most of us do.

If we understand that, we'll understand the billionaire.

Anyway, it is not just about "getting things." As many have mentioned here, it is also about helping those who depend on you (in the business, in the family, friends, etc). That can mean continuing to run/stay involved with the business.

 

[timemoveson]

Yes, that is it!


Sorry to tell you that 3M is not enough to charter a jet. Well, you can but cannot travel very far or very often, as a 2-hour flight will cost $10K for a smaller jet, in addition to membership fees.

And $10M is definitely not enough for a private jet, as a Gulfstream IV is about $40M. Maybe a decamillionaire can get a smallest jet, a Cirrus Vision with 7 seats. It costs an "affordable" $2M.

-------------

Yes, I'd agree those amounts are not enough. At $10M, you have to think pretty damn hard about first/global business class at full retail prices. If you come from modest places, this is a very big jump, take it from me.

Forget private planes at those levels. IMO, $25M would probably be that entry point or perhaps even higher.

 

[NW-Bound]

... there are probably those who are not millionaires who wonder why anyone needs to have more than a million. I have family members who if they knew we had $100K in cash in the bank would say that we didn't need that much, and we would be greedy for wanting more. I also have had a discussion with more than a few people who feel that "no one needs to make more than $100K in yearly income, anything beyond that is greedy".

So... wondering why others who have more would want more might just be all relative.

Yes. Thank you.

I was trying to say the same thing in an earlier post, but perhaps I was too subtle.

There are people who are trying to make ends meet with minimum wage. And here we are, a bunch of fortunate early retirees discussing "blowing the dough" on business class seats to fancy foreign land.

 

[MarieIG]

Why do millionaires want more?

....feel free to weigh in...

To RE!

 

[Bamaman]

Controlling personalities?
Narcissism?
Manic depression, i.e. Ted Turner?
Nothing else to conquer?
Never learned to relax?

 

[NW-Bound]

Why do millionaires want more?

....feel free to weigh in...

To RE!

Eh, one can RE with so little. Google "Cheap RV Living" to see how people live on $500/month.

But you say "I want to live in my 3,000-sq.ft. home with a garage for our German autos, business-class seats to exotic vacation spots, etc...".

Why can't others say "I want my own jet, mansions around the world, bodyguards to keep harm away, doctors on call for my sniffles, etc..." ?

 

[redduck]

Why Do Billionaires Want More?

Do billionaires "want more?" Maybe, but "more what?"
I don't know for sure, but I can make something up.

OK, I figure a billionaire is good at what got him that billion (assuming he didn't simply inherit it) or that he did inherit it, but made the billion grow into some big money.

And, maybe it's all of a fun game for him (although it might be a her). He's good at it, he gets to play against the best and he gets to work with the best. He doesn't see it as work. He is not stuck in a cubicle; he makes huge deals in exclusive resorts and restaurants. Or, he is creative and enjoys the creative process--which also brings him satisfaction and money. Why should he stop doing what he does so well?

Maybe best of all for him, he will never cross paths with the likes of me.

 

[NW-Bound]

And he does not bother to debate with peons like us on this forum.

 

[audreyh1]

I only met one. He is a majority owner of units in our condo in Florida. You would think he has better things to do, but he attends many of our association conference calls and as a majority owner dictates how to cut expenses. He also attends social functions held at our condo. He owns 2500 units in Florida and about 3500 apartment units in Los Angeles. He made over a billion buying credit default swaps on subprime mortgage back securities as housing crashed after 2008. Instead of calling it quits and relaxing, he rolled his gains into buying condos that owners/developers were defaulting on. Most of those were in Florida. All in all, a smart move. He is a workaholic and extremely driven. When he was younger, I was told he traveled across the country selling circus tickets to help him pay his expenses at Harvard. I was also told he bought his first house as an MBA student at Harvard and rented out rooms to other students. He had 18 properties at graduation. For him it's not about money anymore, he just likes what he is doing, likes taking calculated risks, and micro-manages the world around him.

Was he in The Big Short?

 

[Cayman]

I think money is the way they measure themselves, and others.

+1

At least some of them.

 

[audreyh1]

Those thoughts will be useful, thanks.



1 Million: Coach
2 Million: First Class
3 Million: Chartered Jet
10 Million: Private Jet

Sorry - $3M is not enough for a chartered jet. Someone with $120K income a year might just get comfortable paying for first class airfare.

I’m not sure how high a net worth means a chartered jet, but the folks I knew who used them 20 years ago had net worths exceeding $50M at the time. They weren’t rushing out to buy their own jet either.

And if a Gulfstream costs several million used and still costs over a million a year to operate, so how would someone worth $10M possibly afford a private jet? They’d run out of funds quick. https://www.libertyjet.com/jet-ownership-costs.aspx?jetType=Gulfstream G200

 

[redduck]

I think money is the way they (billionaires) measure themselves, and others.

I think money is the way a bunch of forum members measure themselves and others. I would imagine this kind of measuring occurs in most groups.

 

[Freedom56]

Was he in The Big Short?

No Jeff Greene.

 

[Scuba]

I used to work for a billionaire in a family company with a very long history in business. He is in his 80's now. I believe that his desire is for the business to continue to be very successful in order to preserve the legacy of the company and provide for future generations of his family to be able to continue to run the company in this tradition.

I had the same experience and do not believe the family who ran the company I worked for did it to “keep score,” nor were they apparent hoarders. The business was their passion and they worked hard at it, not only for future generations of the family but also to provide excellent products to the world and to provide jobs for many thousands of employees.

If I had my own business, I might have continued to work much longer. Most people I know who have their own business, if they are successful, enjoy working and have not desire to ER.

 

[pjigar]

I can't answer that because I am not a billionaire. Seriously though there are lot of things in life that you must experience to understand why.

 

[Spanky]

I think money is the way a bunch of forum members measure themselves and others. I would imagine this kind of measuring occurs in most groups.

As human beings, we have a tendency to compare one and another in everything, e.g., financial success, wealth, income, status, rank, etc.

What separate the billionaires apart from the rest is their passion for business success regardless of their underlying motivation.

 

[mrfeh]

Greed.

 

[Andre1969]

I don't know that it's even an ego trip, necessarily. Maybe for some it is, but for others, maybe it's just the need for constant improvement. You simply get so wrapped up into seeing that net worth go higher and higher, that it becomes addictive, and even though you might have more than enough, it just gets hard to flip the switch, and go from amassing to coasting/spending down.

I'll never be anywhere near a billionaire, but I've noticed that, each time I pass a new threshold, what once seemed a lofty, exotic goal, suddenly seems not-so-special, once I've achieved it. For me, I think it's going to be hard to "flip the switch" when the time comes.

 

[Spanky]

For me, I think it's going to be hard to "flip the switch" when the time comes.

If not, end of life will flip it.