I don’t know any super rich people other than executives I worked with when I was in o&g.
My aunt and uncle are fairly weathly I think but nothing crazy. They owned a car dealership that was in his family forever but when he wanted to retire none of the younger people in the family wanted to be involved in it so they sold it. They travel quite a bit and have a second home. My uncle is very down to earth but my aunt is pretty snobby all the time. I think she would be like that even if she was poor though.
My parents are probably the next? My dad was the general counsel for a long time for a company you have all heard of. He was able to retire at 58 because he was just burned out. I think they are smart with their money though so it will last. They are 68 now. They have a very nice home and go on pretty expensive vacations. Unfortunately they don’t really share any of their money with us lol.
This person is a contact in your phone, and you are in his or her phone.
How do you know this person? College roommates
How did this person make all that money? She married into a big O&G family. His family immigrated and happened to settle in the right spot. They are worth over a billion.
What is this person like? They can be a lot of fun, 0 social media presence. Also their family has had more than their fair share of tragedies; money does not equal happiness. We gtg (~10 of us) once a year for a long weekend. She always says her H wants to treat us to a round of drinks or wants to pick up the check at a meal. Half our friends are like, "oh no, that's not necessary." lol, I'm like whatever! Let them treat! Y'all are being ridiculous!
Post by UMaineTeach on Nov 3, 2017 17:19:56 GMT -5
Looking through my phone, all 60 contacts, I think MH is the richest. And he’s not 6 figures. Turns out, I don’t know anyone rich. Everyone is a teacher or ed tech.
I don't know anyone truly wealthy, unless they are secret richies. I had to scroll through my phone list just to make sure I wasn't missing someone that I should be hanging out with more.
Probably the richest I know is a friend from grad school - she lives in London, and is largely rich from family money. Here dad was CEO of one of the big financial services firms, parents lived in the Caymans while we were in school. She's a bit posh, has always had a sort of (British) middle class socially acceptable lifestyle, working in marketing and taking ski holidays and doing lunches and working with charities.
She has always seemed relatively average, I guess - her parents were really careful to raise her without a ton of excess privilege. I mean, some things can't be helped, like you live in a 6 bedroom house, or don't ever have to worry about debt or having connections. But she held a part-time job in school to pay for clothes and her car, she lived in a very student-y house with like 5 housemates in grad school. I remember being kind of shocked to learn what her dad did, and to visit her home, I totally thought she was "poor" like me!
There are two other people in my phone who might be richer, and both are fellow preschool moms (so, despite their presence in my phone, I don't actually know them all that well).
One woman lives in a gigantic house in a very very nice neighborhood. We went trick-or-treating with her daughters in their rich neighborhood last year. I have no idea what her husband does (or doesn't do) for a living. She is a SAHM.
The other woman co-owns a clothing brand with her husband. They are both very stylish, and her daughters always have the best outfits. Neither works in an office, and, when I was unemployed, I would always run into them at our local coffee place, where one or both of them would just be sitting and chatting with our barista or other patrons.
Probably my grandmother (technically ex-step grandmother)- she was a sahm, but my grandfather was a legitimate rocket scientist with nasa, and they were frugal and invested well. I have absolutely no idea how much she has, it’s never been a conversation that’s come up.
But other than that I know teachers and artists, sooooooo lol.
My cousins. They are multi-millionaires thanks to their mother's side of the family (their father is my mom's brother). They are over-educated, travel all the time, and are basically good people who just don't have to work. When their grandmother died they each got control of a substantial trust fund.
My late grandfather was a surgeon but also owned the hospital. My grandma still owns the hospital and lives in a penthouse suite on top of it. She also owns a number of other buildings and has owned several businesses over the years, including, but not limited to, a KFC and a bowling alley.
Post by picksthemusic on Nov 3, 2017 17:52:43 GMT -5
My aunt (mom's sister) and uncle.
My uncle owns two local establishment restaurants (that he inherited from his grandfather), and a locally-based/nationally famous line of seasonings. My aunt married well, really.
They own waterfront property, property in Alaska for my uncle's fishing expeditions, boats, go on safaris and take lavish, long vacations.
I know one of the guys who was in on the ground floor of Facebook. He retired at about 30 as a multi-millionaire and was once in People as one of their most eligible bachelors. I also know Jessica Simpson's husband from college. I assume he's got some cash these days...
The former is a bit of a recluse these days, kind of always has been. Nice, but not super social. I have not kept in contact with Jessica's husband in the last couple of years (I graduated from college 17 years ago), but he is a really nice guy.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I have a cousin who married a 0.1%-er level wealthy, but she stopped speaking to any of us immediately after said marriage.
My FSiL is an heiress to a pretty massive amount of money, but it's even odds she is going to be written out of the will. Her family does not approve of her marrying my sister.
DH's sister and her in-laws. Her FIL started several well-known retail chains, sold them for a boatload and made some great investments. BIL has a multi-million dollar trust fund and they live off the interest and BIL's salary from his patent troll company.
Post by sapphireblue on Nov 3, 2017 18:31:05 GMT -5
How do you know this person? He is my uncle (mother's brother) and now by extension my cousins, his three children, are also very wealthy.
How did this person make all that money? He has a great head for business and took over a business my great-grandfather started. It had been doing well since it was founded in the early 1900s but when my uncle took over he built it into a vastly different, much more successful company.
What is this person like? He is warm and welcoming, envelops me in a big bear hug as soon as he sees me. He enjoys helping people with business ideas and also started a foundation to give money away in an organized manner. He places a lot of value on acting with integrity.
I commend and respect your decision, but why? lol I won't lie, I'd take it in a heartbeat!
Oh, I don’t think it’s commendable, lol. We accepted a really generous gift as a down payment but put our foot down about them buying it in cash. It was important to me to feel like it was ours.
This is the kind of stuff that rich people say! LOL.
If someone wants to give me money, I say YES YES YES PLEASE THANK YOU.
My uncle was the CEO of one of the biggest power companies in the country. He has more than what he “displays” for sure. He lives a pretty modest lifestyle.
My husband is friendly with the Siegel family (of Queen of Versailles fame) if we are talking having each other’s phone numbers. He grew up with David’s son and DIL.
Other than those, everyone else is pretty far down. Even my in-laws, who are multi-millionaires, aren’t “private jet” people..
I didn't know any of this until after she passed away.
How do you know this person? My childhood bff's grandma. We spent most summers at her house since she had a pool. Her husband taught me how to play tennis.
How did this person make all that money? Heiress to a well known company. Husband was a semi pro (I think that's the right term?) tennis player in his youth.
What is this person like? So average. Lived in an average house. Drove a Honda. Didn't vacation often and if she did, it was very average. She had nice things, but nothing seemed fancy. I never knew they were millionaires.
I also went to college with the granddaughter of someone famous/wealthy (grandpa had a college building named after him). I was surprised to learn all this when we crashed at her mom's $$$$ house one day and I saw their family photo. My friend did shop often, but it wasn't like she was spending thousands or buying fancy brands.
Post by shananagins on Nov 3, 2017 19:02:00 GMT -5
H was high school friends with the son of a very famous author. I've never met him, they're not really close now, but he passes the phone test. The wealthiest person we know well doesn't have a phone because she's 11 years old. H's cousin got his college girlfriend pregnant. Girlfriend was from a super wealthy family. Girlfriend was a hot mess. After a few years sharing custody of the baby girl girlfriend gave H's cousin sole custody. Baby girl is now 11 and doesn't have any contact with her mom, but she has a relationship with the grandparents and supposedly a large trust fund.
Omg! The first time I went to my college roommate’s house I was all OMG YOU SO RICH because they had a powder room downstairs, a full bath for her and her brother and her parents had a bathroom with a shower off their bedroom (I now know that’s a master bath off a master bedroom lol).
The richest person I know is an heir to a famous american business family. I know her because she was a client of my law firm and I did some work for/with her.
The next 5 richest people I know are probably also clients.
Post by lightbulbsun on Nov 3, 2017 19:24:57 GMT -5
A guy my H plays in a band with (T). I have no idea how much he's actually worth, though. T's cousin is one of the founders of Barcade, and T was an investor, and is a partial owner of all the Barcades except the original one in Brooklyn. Occasionally he'll take us all out to one and give us free food and beer on the house. T is super low key, and I don't think anyone would know he had money unless they knew him.
ETA: Oh, and my mom's two creepy uncles. They own their own company and own a bunch of radio towers in the area. They are so stingy, and still live in the house my great grandparents bought in the 1950s. They have literally always lived there, never moved out. The house has never been updated. They share a 1990s Ford Taurus. Neither of them ever got married or had kids. They never go out or travel. I should probably get in contact with them again because I'm basically their last living relative, besides my grandma, and I should be gunning for the inheritance, haha.
My "almost" uncle. He and my aunt (my mom's sister) have been dating forever, but my aunt never wants to get married so we joke that he is our almost-uncle. He's an attorney who is in the middle of a high-profile dispute. It was recently printed in the paper that he makes over $1 million/month. He's extremely generous and kind, although I think most people who only know his public persona don't perceive him this way.