Millionaires and billionaires living under their means

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sili...0,7867801.story

Money can't buy happiness, but come on!

You're worth tens of millions or even billions and don't even make your home a nice place to live... wtf?

Money can't buy happiness, but come on!

You're worth tens of millions or even billions and don't even make your home a nice place to live... wtf?

 

 

I agree. I mean no one says you have to go buy a mansion and 30 cars but at least buy something decent. That money you spend is going towards the economy. The one guy at least had an R32 VW which is a somewhat cool car.

I think a lot of the mentality they are describing also comes down to their interests. Look at the people here, for example. We have Business owners, Web service/site owners, Designers, Etc. Our common interest here is cars, Houses, Architecture, and for a lot of us motor sports in general. We see guys on here buying Exotic cars and spending more that what an R32 costs putting turbos on them. Why, because it is our hobby/interest outside of work.

 

The people they are referencing in that article are people with interest mainly in computers/internet ventures and trying to make the next big website or web function or make something that is already out there better is not only their Job, but their hobby as well. We have a few of those here too ( GBGallardo, Sprite are ones that come immediately to mind ) but they also have other interests also that happen to coincide with ours. I am sure there are many people on here that donate large amounts of money to charitable organisations or have helped start-ups or want to invest some of their money in the "next big thing". We don't always hear about it, because most of us come here to talk about our common interests. If the media were to look a little further, I would venture to say that some of these guys have computer and electronics setups that exceed the price of some cars or even moderately priced homes.

 

But who knows, I could be completely mistaken, This is just my opinion.

They aren't sacrificing if they don't want this stuff. I know people who think a lambo is a waste of money but will spend 100 grand on camera equipment cause their hobby is taking pictures. And they fly commercial when they could fly private, it's cause they don't care. If they cared they would do it

Money can't buy happiness, but come on!

You're worth tens of millions or even billions and don't even make your home a nice place to live... wtf?

reminds me of someone said something about having a neighbour that is worth hundreds of millions or billions..his roof is leaking water and he just covered it up with some mat...rich and cheap..lol

Ryan is spot on. That coupled with it being "fashionable" in Silicon Valley to look poor and the uncertainty of paper money in this economy coupled with the previous tech bubble make it that way.

 

Mark Zukerburg-he's just strange.

 

Hipsters are really annoying and the San Fran crowd's holier than thou attitude gets old quick.

Totally gay...

nothing wrong with this.

A lot of these people are paper rich. Many of them are not worth $50 , 100, mil etc in actual cash. They may have only a few hundred thousand in the bank. Zuckerberg is a billionaire on paper. When Company X buy Company Y for $100 mil its mostly in stock and not cash. If company X is not publicly traded then it is very hard to turn the stock into cash. If Twitter or Facebook etc buy out a company its using their non publicly traded stock. So most of this money is paper. I'm pretty sure if the money was 'real' these guys would be spending it or at least spending more than they currently are.

 

On the other hand if they do actually have the money and choose to live like this I guess its their business. If it makes them happy who cares. Once you have that kind of money you don't really care about status symbols like $400k cars and $20 mil mansions. It might have something to do with Maslows hierarchy of needs. The need for status symbols is in the 4th level - Esteem. These people may have moved on past that level to the highest level - self actualization. They have achieved a lot, people respect them and their accomplishments speaks for itself. So therefore they have nothing to gain through status symbols and in fact the possession of such symbols might become an impediment on their progression forward. Its easier to stay focused and driven while living in a 1 bedroom apartment than it is when you have a 20k sq ft mansion, a garage full of exotics, 100 ft yacht and a private jet.

Totally gay...

Doesn't Warren Bufferr still drive a Camry or something like that?

Doesn't Warren Bufferr still drive a Camry or something like that?

 

I've read that the founder of IKEA drives a Volvo from the '80s or rides in a bus.

Doesn't Warren Bufferr still drive a Camry or something like that?

 

A Lincoln towncar and lives in a house he bought 40-50 years ago.

 

There's some truth to the general point of this article regarding (some) successful people in the valley, however a few of the details in this article are pure fiction. Someone is lying to someone or perhaps it's just that particular variety of embellishment known as journalism.

 

the guys who fly coach are obviously all under 5' tall. Believe me, these guys get off on living like this. Yeah look at me I can wear grungy clothes and live in a dingy apartment because I'm holier than thou and I dont need to buy nice things to make me feel better about myself.

If I had massive amounts of money, there is no way in hell I would fly coach. I may not fly private, but I sure as hell am going to fly first class. I have made the 13 hours direct flight from Rome to L.A. for work 5 times in the last 7 months in coach, and it f'ing sucks. Company I work for won't pay for business class, and it's triple the price, and since my family goes with me every time, I can't afford it. If I had stupid money, I am not going to lie, I would probably fly Private, but if I was just worth a lot of money and had a significant amount in the bank, I would fly first class.

It's not only gay but stupid.

 

If I had a 100 million, and I chose to stay in my crappy studio apartment. What would stop all the poor criminals that lives close by to get to me??

 

That sounds like an excellent way to get killed or robbed!!

It's not only gay but stupid.

 

If I had a 100 million, and I chose to stay in my crappy studio apartment. What would stop all the poor criminals that lives close by to get to me??

 

That sounds like an excellent way to get killed or robbed!!

 

But with the exception of guys like Zuckerberg and a couple of others, their neighbors probably have no idea who they are, and because they don't do or have anything flashy, their neighbors are none the wiser. I bet that is why Zuckerberg recently bought the house that he did. With Social Network making him a very recognizable person, he probably needs more privacy now.

the guys who fly coach are obviously all under 5' tall. Believe me, these guys get off on living like this. Yeah look at me I can wear grungy clothes and live in a dingy apartment because I'm holier than thou and I dont need to buy nice things to make me feel better about myself.

 

well jeez, from your view rich people are damned if they do and damned if they don't then, huh?

 

if they buy the nice goodies, then they are just showboating their wealth.

 

if they don't buy the nice goodies then they are being "holier than thou".

 

tell me, oh wise one, what COULD they do to not score a negative in your book??

I've read that the founder of IKEA drives a Volvo from the '80s or rides in a bus.

 

 

That's because he's hidden his billions ( 10's and 10's of ) in Switzerland in some sort of trust/ charity thingamajig.

That's because he's hidden his billions ( 10's and 10's of ) in Switzerland in some sort of trust/ charity thingamajig.

That's not really the reason why, he can surly afford any car on the planet. But he is a very conservative guy.

 

You are right though, he is most likely hiding a lot of money, some say his real worth is close to $100 billions!

That's not really the reason why, he can surly afford any car on the planet. But he is a very conservative guy.

 

You are right though, he is most likely hiding a lot of money, some say his real worth is close to $100 billions!

 

Of course he could afford any car he wants.

 

I guess my point was that he lives that way ( frugally ) to portray a certain image, yet the whole time he has been avoiding massive amounts of tax and been incredibly clever with it all.

 

Good on him.

Of course he could afford any car he wants.

 

I guess my point was that he lives that way ( frugally ) to portray a certain image, yet the whole time he has been avoiding massive amounts of tax and been incredibly clever with it all.

 

Good on him.

 

 

What are you talking about? Everyone knows he is worth a lot of money, who is being fooled by a shitty Volvo???

What are you talking about? Everyone knows he is worth a lot of money, who is being fooled by a shitty Volvo???

 

Everyone thought he was a saint. Before they found the trusts and foundations in Liechtenstein.

 

And you are talking Kr, not USD Placid.