Why Do Billionaires Want More?

[Cayman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB I think money is the way they measure themselves, and others.

+1

At least some of them.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl 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-owner...fstream%20G200

[redduck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Was he in The Big Short?

No Jeff Greene.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by treypar 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redduck 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]

Quote:

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.

[Andre1969]

Well yeah, that switch gets flipped one way or another, eventually. And no matter how much I get wrapped up in this hedonistic creep, constant climb, or whatever you want to call it, I'm still hoping to flip that switch myself, before I turn 51.

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 Well yeah, that switch gets flipped one way or another, eventually. And no matter how much I get wrapped up in this hedonistic creep, constant climb, or whatever you want to call it, I'm still hoping to flip that switch myself, before I turn 51.

Best wishes!

[Freedom56]

In the end, no matter how rich someone is, there are rules that govern all of us:

1. You can't take your money with you
2. You can't buy health and happiness
3. Nobody is immortal

So stay safe and healthy and enjoy every moment of your life and don't be afraid to spend some money once in a while if it buys you comfort and happiness.

[kgtest]

Power.

[kgtest]

The top 22 billionaires have over 50bln. Most are businessmen, a few are heirs, one is a women heiress.

Soo, some worked for it, some inherited it. But most worked for it. IMHO even inheriting billions takes work to grow, so likely they are part hard workers, and partly desire "more" likely in life in general, not just with their money.

So if there are 500billionaires, and 5% of them have over 50...that means the other 475 only have less than 50billion.

it could be partly that the rich get richer, but we all know that doesn't happen entirely on luck alone.

I look at someone like Jay-Z and Beyonce, I think TOGETHER they are now worth 1 billion. They put in a lot of work to get to that point, its very public how they became billionaires...they basically just sold a lot of records together, and then branded that success.

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgtest The top 22 billionaires have over 50bln.

The top 3 billionaires in the US own more wealth than the entire bottom half of the American population combined, a total of 160 million people.

Amazing!

[limeyx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethebroker Why do millionaires want more? ....feel free to weigh in...

Because w/out a pension, retiring on $1M is not possible for many people ?

[Car-Guy]

Many of us have experienced the OMY syndrome, even when we knew we didn't need more. Billionaires have the OMB syndrome.

[copyright1997reloaded]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrfeh Greed.

Would you consider yourself greedy? Some people who are living day to day would consider you greedy, simply because you have more than them.

[jetpack]

Quote:

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

Whoa! I should be chartering? I'm still usually in coach!

Back to the original question, I still work a little, I like doing something. It's hard to stop.