Rich people

somefeen · 14-04-2013 01:45PM #1

I don't think I've ever met anyone who was really wealthy.
(in before "We are all loaded compared to Ethipoians")

I always wondered if they really were as weird and disconnected from reality as film and tv shows make them out to be?
I'm not talking about people just doing well for themselves, I mean people who could buy your house in the morning no bother. The type of people that have super yachts in monaco and private jets.

I don't really desire all that kind of stuff I'm happy with what I have but always wonder, whats it like to have that much money and if you're born into it do you become weird?

El Guapo! · 14-04-2013 01:48PM

I've met a few people who are worth into the hundreds of millions. And tbh, the majority of them were tossers who loved letting everyone know they had money.
I met one guy worth at least half a billion and he was like a normal joe soap. You'd offer this guy a few quid if you passed him on the street.

becost · 14-04-2013 01:52PM

I currently have 490,000,000 Zimbabwean Dollars in my Bank of Ireland current account (€0.45).

Pinklady11 · 14-04-2013 01:53PM

I know one guy who is a millionaire. He made his fortune by selling loads of land in the good times after his father past away. He has homes all over the world and is regularly seen driving his Lamborghini around the local town.

BUT he is a self obsessed nut job! The last girl he dated dumped him and he stalked her for months after. I always found him to be odd, and difficult to make conversation with on the few occasions I was in his company.

To be honest I'd rather be a poor "normal" person with good friends than a rich nut job who nobody really likes.

con1421 · 14-04-2013 01:53PM

As I have travelled around I have come accross many different people from all walks of life. I have met millionaires and at the same time I have met people who harly had two penny's to rub together. Those with the money become ignorant with little personality and they simply don't look at life in the same way that others would. You are simply worthless in their eyes.

Those who are less fortunate than others always seem to appreciate life more. They have time for almost everyone and respect people in the same way.

For me I prefer to be less well off. I can't stand misers and distance myself from those who judge people based on the size of their wallets

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 14-04-2013 01:55PM

con1421 wrote: »

Those with the money become ignorant with little personality and they simply don't look at life in the same way that others would. You are simply worthless in their eyes.

con1421 wrote: »

I can't stand misers and distance myself from those who judge people based on the size of their wallets

hrm....

becost · 14-04-2013 01:56PM

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

hrm....

Good catch!

mikemac1 · 14-04-2013 01:57PM

I knew JP Ryan and Bernard McNamara from working in their hotels.

Worth tens of millions and the nicest gentlemen you could hope to meet.
Would chat away with you and months later still remember what you were doing in college

Neither are very rich these days!

Rich people are sound OP, people who think they are rich are tossers.
Any retail worker has met the well to do, middle class women out spending her husbands money and sneering at low paid staff

shopaholic01 · 14-04-2013 02:01PM

Pinklady11 wrote: »

I know one guy who is a millionaire. He made his fortune by selling loads of land in the good times after his father past away. He has homes all over the world and is regularly seen driving his Lamborghini around the local town.

BUT he is a self obsessed nut job! The last girl he dated dumped him and he stalked her for months after. I always found him to be odd, and difficult to make conversation with on the few occasions I was in his company.

To be honest I'd rather be a poor "normal" person with good friends than a rich nut job who nobody really likes.

Typical 'new money attitude', people born into wealth are usually much more down to earth and often look and live like they don't have a pot to piss in.

becost · 14-04-2013 02:01PM

I only know one multimillionaire and he's the nicest guy you could meet. It's probably a case that if your a prick, money will make you a bigger prick but if your a decent person, it wont change that.

Jester144 · 14-04-2013 02:01PM

Well my parents are wealthy, and the one thing I can definitely say is that it does not buy you happiness.

I would love the opportunity to have money just to see whether it would make me miserable though! I don't want to be rolling in money but it would be lovely not to have to worry about paying for everything, and I would love to be able to treat my girls to a few nice things.

I know people who are not hard up who are completely normal, and I have also encountered a few that are total c**ks.

orestes · 14-04-2013 02:03PM

I've met quite a few millionaires, they were all nice and normal down to earth people, not flashy with their money and not misers. My benchmark for how someone is with money is if they get their round in when they're supposed to with no fuss.

Madam_X · 14-04-2013 02:07PM

mikemac1 wrote: »

Any retail worker has met the well to do, middle class women out spending her husbands money and sneering at low paid staff

Yup.
Although rich people can be sound or arseholes or anything. They're peppered with all kinds, like any group.

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Typical 'new money attitude', people born into wealth are usually much more down to earth and often look and live like they don't have a pot to piss in.

I've found the opposite too though. People born into extreme privilege thinking that's the way it is for everyone else and not having a clue. And people who are self-made rich people never forgetting where they came from or the slog it took to get them where they are. They tend to instill that attitude into their kids too.

Lots of money won't buy you happiness, but having enough to live comfortably means a whole heap of stuff not to worry about. Struggling financially is misery.

pragmatic1 · 14-04-2013 02:22PM

Yeah I've met a two uber rich people. From what I could see they were completely dedicated to their businesses and didn't have much of a life outside it. Both were also very introverted from what I seen.

brummytom · 14-04-2013 02:39PM

I was at a family friend's 50th last year, sat in a pub between the CEO of one of Europe's largest companies, and a carpenter from the arse-end of Kerry. World's apart, but just as easy to get along with.

shopaholic01 · 14-04-2013 02:44PM

Madam_X wrote: »

I've found the opposite too though. People born into extreme privilege thinking that's the way it is for everyone else and not having a clue. And people who are self-made rich people never forgetting where they came from or the slog it took to get them where they are. They tend to instill that attitude into their kids too.

If you're born into wealth you will never understand what it's like to struggle financially. What I meant was that they are less likely to advertise their wealth in the same way. Look at the typical Celtic tiger attitude, simply things like 'where did I leave my car keys' became 'where are the keys to my 5 series BMW' etc.

admiralofthefleet · 14-04-2013 02:49PM

i knew a bloke who is worth a fortune but never brags about it. he gambles heavily on the horses and drinks like a fish but is sound as a pound

Three Seasons · 14-04-2013 02:49PM

I know a of one kind of rich person, he is two promotions away from being CEO of a fortune five hundred company. He's fairly sound really, like anyone else.

Arpa · 14-04-2013 02:52PM

I think it tends to be the nouveau riche who are the tossers. People who have worked hard or inherited don't seem to view it as a status thing, to them it's just they can get through the week without having to count pennies. I know quite a few very wealthy people and what I see usually is that they have been instilled with a sense of how to use money wisely and inconspicuously and not to flash it about. One of my mates is in the multi-millionaire category but still uses a nokia 3310 as he sees no need for a flashy iPhone if what he has does the job. It's not about having the best things in life, it's about appreciating what you have and being responsible with it.

FloatingVoter · 14-04-2013 02:52PM

Lots of us know rich people without knowing it. The famously wealthy are only a tiny subset of wealthy people overall. It is possible to have tens of millions and not live an extravagant lifestyle.
As for people with a million or two to hand - the lottery is won by people who choose to remain anonymous on a frequent basis. Its very easy to conceal from all but your nearest and dearest.

Pawwed Rig · 14-04-2013 02:53PM

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Typical 'new money attitude', people born into wealth are usually much more down to earth and often look and live like they don't have a pot to piss in.

Funny how 'new money' is criticised. The person who works and makes a better life for themsleves is less worthy than someone who really never has to make much of an effort in life.

I would argue that the attitude of some of those born into money can be fairly dispicable, I have read articles on students having 'spend off's' in San Moritz, the D4 guys waving €50 notes round on the DORT, KPMG girls attitude etc etc

Cienciano · 14-04-2013 02:54PM

I know a millionaire who was born into money. Sound guy. Good business too, he owns a couple of multi story car parks in central Dublin. Steady income and not a business empire that takes over your life, great way to live

seenitall · 14-04-2013 03:03PM

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Typical 'new money attitude', people born into wealth are usually much more down to earth and often look and live like they don't have a pot to piss in.

I have a friend who is a trust fund "baby" (not really a baby!:D). Millions in the bank, never worked a day in his life, just dabbles in property speculation as the mood strikes. He's very on-alert about money, though. You wouldn't have thought it from his circumstances, but I think that he does to some extent measure his worth by his money.

I think he's improved over the years, though.

Travels for fun a lot, spends his winters wherever the climate is warmer, takes self-improvement courses and similar all the time.

Dresses normally, really down-to-earth etc, but he does have a very care-free, extremely relaxed attitude to most things (other than money!). Which is refreshing in a friend.

There is a boyishness to him, understandable in someone who never faced the responsibilities most people face in their lifetime (jobs, marriages, mortgages, kids). But overall, a good friend.

A self-made millionaire I used to know, though, was a different story. Inflexible, authoritarian, insecure, immature control freak. A thoroughly perplexing and unpleasant individual. Issues. I wonder if any of his 'difficult' traits have helped him in business?

shopaholic01 · 14-04-2013 03:07PM

seenitall wrote: »

I have a friend who is a trust fund "baby" (not really a baby!:D). Millions on the bank, never worked a day in his life, just dabbles in property speculation as the mood strikes. He's very on-alert about money, though. You wouldn't have thought it from his circumstances, but I think that he does to some extent measure his worth by his money. I think he's improved over the years, though.

Travels for fun a lot, spends his winters wherever the climate is warmer, takes self-improvement courses and similar all the time.

Dresses normally, really down-to-earth etc, but he does have a very care-free, extremely relaxed attitude to most things (other than money!). Which is refreshing in a friend. There is an a boyishness to him, understandable in someone who never faced the responsibilities most people face in their lifetime (jobs, marriages, mortgages, kids). But overall, a good friend.

Is he single?

seenitall wrote: »

A self-made millionaire I used to know, though, was a different story. Inflexible, authoritarian, insecure, immature control freak. A thoroughly perplexing and unpleasant individual. Issues. I wonder if any of his 'difficult' traits have helped him in business?

No doubt the traits did help. It takes a certain individual to amass wealth from nothing. Having said that, I don't think all self-made people would share the exact traits. People skills would be needed to succeed in a lot of cases.

Czarcasm · 14-04-2013 03:14PM

So...

People can be dicks for all sorts of reasons, and people can be decent people, regardless of their financial status...

Clear as mud then.

seenitall · 14-04-2013 03:17PM

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Is he single?

He is.

I'm afraid though, that his boyishness extends to being very picky about women, although he's no Brad Pitt himself, ya know (hopefully he'll never read this!

), which may account for his single status as well... that's all I'm gonna say, not fair to 'advertise' him like this!

shopaholic01 · 14-04-2013 03:18PM

seenitall wrote: »

He is. I'm afraid though, that his boyishness extends to being very picky about women, although he's no Brad Pitt himself, ya know (hopefully he'll never read this! ), which may account for his single status as well... that's all I'm gonna say, not fair to 'advertise' him like this!

Well I'm gorgeous, so no problem there! :cool::p

FloatingVoter · 14-04-2013 03:20PM

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Well I'm gorgeous, so no problem there! :cool::p

Girl called Shopaholic meets rich guy - I can see how this ends....:p

sock puppet · 14-04-2013 03:20PM

Arpa wrote: »

I think it tends to be the nouveau riche who are the tossers. People who have worked hard or inherited don't seem to view it as a status thing

This makes absolutely no sense. The "nouveau riche", whether they're tossers or not, are the people who'e worked hard to make their money.

Plumpynutt · 14-04-2013 03:23PM

Was p1ssing beside Dennis O Brien at a urinal one time when I was 17 locked out of my head, pretty sure i asked him for some money

hatrickpatrick · 14-04-2013 03:30PM

Friend of mine knows the U2 lads since childhood and always says they're some of the nicest people you'd ever meet.
Why would being rich change your personality necessarily anyway? If you're going to become an arrogant douche or whatever once you're loaded, it means you always had it in you but nothing to back it up with. If you're a nice person before you make your millions there's no reason whatsoever to say you'd become any less of a nice person.

Rich people

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