Son of a Billionaire Reveals The Truth About the Top 0.01% - (Reddit Ask Me Anything)

our slash ass credit I am the son of a billionaire part of the 1% of the 1% of the 1% ask me anything I am 29 years old my father is worth just shy of billion and he's on a rapid trajectory be worth significantly more I'll leave it to that and provide details as requested I'll try to be as honest as possible but obviously I'll be vague when identifiable details I don't really have anyone to talk to about this because of the uniqueness of the situation so it's cathartic to speak openly about a subject Maps obviously a bit taboo I'd like to talk about it because it helps me feel more connected and hopefully it will offer prospective to anyone who has preconceived notions on the super-rich not that I don't expect to validate some of the stereotypes in sociology class the other day we had an interesting discussion on how everyone seems to want to identify as being middle-class poor people often say lower middle class and people who make 100 600k a year call themselves high middle class it almost appears that there's a stigma to being very wealthy you even said it yourself in the description that it is almost taboo to talk about being wealthy I'm curious what your insights on this matter might be for example why do you think it's taboo to be rich have you experienced any resentment from people because of it what's something about the super-rich that you wish the other classes understood about you as a way to try to make them possibly resent you less I don't like saying I'm rich because there's a huge risk of resentment I feel like I should apologize for being the 1% the sentiment is that the money shouldn't be ours that it's a zero-sum game and were stealing from the poor by being so rich I don't want people hating my dad because of how much money he has he worked his ass off to earn it and it was all to provide for his family as is the goal of most families that he happened to learn a lot more in pursuit of that isn't something I think he should feel guilty for he needed and takes from the poor he just had a lot of success it's jarring for people to vilify him because his career just happened to learn him an extreme amount of wealth the is not to suggest that he's better than those who had less financial success there's obviously luck and good timing contributing to where he is today resenting me I could understand more because I did jack squat on it but by the same token I didn't choose this so I don't think I should be vilified for something I effectively have no control over personally I believe the resentment comes from the mentality that someone sitting at the top of the company is paying their workers much less than they could easily afford to the 1% are sitting at the top of the Walmart chain making billions of dollars while his employees make minimum wage living paycheck to paycheck are struggling to pay for a shitty old car and an apartment when all that could take to throw their lives into chaos is for that car to inevitably break down knowing all the while that the guy sitting at the top could sacrifice a billion dollars and make all their lives much more livable my father's businesses are very small each salaries maybe 20 people I think most of them have found substantial success as part of their work but I don't see the books part of the reason why he has earned so much money is because there are so few people among whom to split the profit my dad doesn't work in the public sector doesn't answer to shareholders and doesn't want to lose what he considers to be an impeccable team so he supports them very well your dad hiring your dad adopting duck that he's single I'll dock your dad Opie I don't give a [ __ ] I'll let him Smith I grant on these two DS drown me in caviar my guy still your nearest and dearest know your worth potential or otherwise money never made the man so describe yourself and your interests do you like toast do you despise cauliflower are you indifferent to scrabble and finally how are you well obviously my wife knows we have one pair of friends who at least know my parents are very wealthy since they've stayed with us at one of their properties everyone else hopefully assumes we have little more than the middle-class lifestyle that we provide for ourselves toast love it cauliflower my wife's good at disguising it love Scrabble but I'm better at the fast paced games I'm about as stereotypical as a redditor comes white male introverted gamer I didn't have much ambition of my own and will almost certainly never match the enormous success that my father has had that leads to a lot of overwhelming guilt in my day-to-day life wait so does your father not share his wealth with you we enjoy their material assets get awesome gifts for Christmas and each have a trust fund of $28 K year but to have a comfortable life and income we have to have our own jobs for now at least why do you think that's the case $28 K per year is less than pennies compared to how much money he has I'm not o P nor rich but from the bits I've heard here and there it's rather common for rich folks to make their children live an ordinary life it's definitely the exception rather than the rule so I wouldn't call it common it isn't unusual for a family with a net worth of two-three million to help their adult children out in a more minimal way but for a billionaire to give his son only $28 K per year as very unusual making money takes the risk learning to manage money and take the right risk is better done with money you earned yourself giving lots of money to someone that didn't earn it robs them of the chance to make that money themselves what's that one thing you never got as a kid a gaming console or as my dad affectionately referred to it the super no friend oh somehow computer games didn't fall into that purview though so I had a top-end desktop and laptop anyway didn't stop me from being obsessed with gaming the ps2 was the first purchase I made when I started getting my own paycheck seems like even though you had connections to wealth it wasn't used as a magic wand to get you shiny things all the time did you learn the value of money and earning over just having money sawed off we my siblings and I certainly didn't have carte blanche and I'm self-sufficient currently outside of a growing and accessible trust fund but they have a what's mine is yours mentality when it comes to enjoying their homes and possessions which are plentiful as we speak my wife and I are staying in one of their massive homes for a stress free weekend and everything from the cars to the cook is at our disposal these days I've never asked for something that they've said no to but I've never tried to push the limits what are your thoughts in the Syria conflict I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to form a strong opinion oil prices did go up as a consequence though so that's something oil prices did go up as a consequence though so that's something is that a good thing or a bad thing for you good thing it's such an enormous business that I think I can safely reveal that one do you have any regular friends now what's a Friday night like for you my wife and I are shut-ins and we'll spend most evenings just watching shows and playing video games together when we meet up with friends we meet at the pub we'll go to one of each other's houses a couple times we have taken some friends up to one of my parents properties but only after we've come to know them quite well but generally unless I'm with my parents at the time I live a very standard middle-class lifestyle how did you two meet high school sweethearts how did you know that she was the one you were going to marry I've never felt more comfortable being open and honest with anyone else than I do with her I feel wholly and happily myself with her which is a remarkable feeling first time I am jealous in this thread some things are worth more than money something I've always wondered if your internet or cable or phone or whatever ever goes down do you all who ever would do that for you call the regular helpline at whatever company services your connection or is there a special super-secret high priority line you would have access to I work for andalusite nice running phone support and I'm curious as to whether I may inadvertently get someone famous on the line one of these days I actually wouldn't know because almost all of those things are handled by one person who is directly employed by my parents we tell him what he wants or what's wrong and he makes it happen my parents don't need to know how I figured it would be something along those lines but I also figured it may be a chance to find out oh well thanks for responding and I do hope you find some semblance of normalcy or whatever else you may be looking for now we need a lie and the modern Butler to a billionaire family what kind of schools did you go to were your peers wealthy what do you do for a living I went to a private school full grade school a boarding school for high school and then private university which I eventually dropped out off since the familiar wealth grew as I did the peer group evolved over time but I never understood the extent of their aura worth until recently my prospective was more than a bit off growing up as for my current job I work a generic IT position with a standard salary nothing that will produce the kind of fortune my father's work has I have to say fantastic ask me anything your answers are breaking the stereotype you mentioned I really like your lifestyle your parents didn't give you a free pass with their money and the pressure to make as much money as them it seems it's only you not em telling you to have more ambition you look down to earth my question do your parents pressure you to want more make more money in my situation my father worked his ass off to have as much money as he does I am ambitious not as much as him yet but I do get just a little tiny bit of pressure from him well I do think that my anxiety comes from my dad wanting me to do better in part as I mentioned elsewhere I dropped out of college I did terribly in school had high overall intelligence and tested well but just failed to put in the necessary sustained effort I've recently been diagnosed with ADHD and the difference in starting treatment has been profound but I wouldn't dare tell my father that because uh he's convinced that it's a fake condition and B I doubt the diagnosis myself because it just feels like too convenient of an excuse I've been taught that there's no excuse from not succeeding other than not working hard enough and by that metric I've largely been a failure my dad success and his hope for my success has been an enormous burden but I think at this point he's generally given up on me having the same drive as him thoughts on economics and or politics libertarian free-market radical socialism social democracy liberal welfare state I generally lean conservative libertarian on fiscal issues which probably isn't surprising what kind of car do you drive a 2014 Subaru Outback prior to that a very used 98 outback probably not the answer you were expecting as for my parents the primary cars at each property are a Mercedes GLS and SL roadster they have lots of others but nothing too fancy mostly old Chevy and Ford cars primarily driven by the various employees they have did your father insist on a printout for your wife to sign before marriage how often do you speak to your mom which parents are you closer to they suggested a prenup but it didn't happen my wife hates their wealth and wants no part in it so I'm not concerned about her trying to run away with it my relationship with N is complicated I appreciate what they've provided but the emotional connection has been poor I wish I could feel closer to them but I just don't think they're wired for that kind of relationship dad's a workaholic mum's a socialite I'm the kid who didn't do everything perfectly and felt like the Perai for a decade things are better now but conversations are rarely more than business and small talk I'm sorry to hear that you mentioned that you're doing this to feel more connected from what do you feel disconnected and in what way as I don't want to tell anyone what my family is worth and what I will eventually have I'm afraid of the dynamic that will result with friends and it can go many different ways on my part I don't want to come across as braggy or entitled and on their end I'm afraid that friends could respond with awkwardness resentment expectation etc it sounds cynical but I've seen it myself with my parents and some of their friends so I generally don't tell anyone but at the same time it's becoming such a monumental part of my life and my future that I want to talk about it with whomever will listen if only to use them as a sounding board as selfish as that sounds so these facts and feelings are bottled up and holding it back creates a divide I want to talk freely about it but I don't want anyone I'm actually close with to know about it got any rich friends that's the only outlet you have for that don't have to be billionaires but enough to understand the consequences and issues of money I had a lot of friends in high school who I only realized later were very rich I didn't keep in touch with them but I could probably relate better to them at the same time though I don't want to isolate myself to that circle I don't want to lose perspective of a normal lifestyle what type of hobbies do you have I like audio related stuff you need to be a billionaire to afford some of the top-of-the-line things and growing plants technology media games I have an awesome home theater which is my biggest piece of personal extravagance so my great great grandparents were very wealthy they were in the coal business I believe so their children my great-grandparents grew up wealthy and never did anything and by the time my grandparents were adults all the money was gone is this something you're worried about or have thought about I cited a study in another comment that found that 70% of wealthy families lose that status within one generation 90% into so it seems pretty common and it makes sense not only are you dispersing it across more airs over each generation but you're also raising children who are increasingly unaware of the value of hard work and only know the luxury lifestyle it's easy to see how it can be squandered are you any less miserable than we are I have emotional problems like everyone else but I don't have to worry about my paycheck I don't have to worry about my retirement I don't have to worry about supporting my child financially I don't have to worry about a medical crisis ruining our family there are so many burdens that I simply won't know I wouldn't dare make a claim to the same sadness and difficulties that many people deal with I don't have to worry about a medical crisis ruining our family are the joys of living in the UK where the supplies to all of us can I borrow five bucks might have said yes but you didn't use the magic word can I borrow $5,000 bucks please Pia actually I think the words are tax-deductible what would you do if your dad pulls out of your inheritance as in he donates all the money you're expecting and you get nothing you get no stock options or whatever absolutely nothing zero flow you made it to the end you're ducking beasts thanks for watching mate make sure to smash that like button and subscribe for more high quality content

Channel: Sir Reddit

Views: 1,660,413

Rating: 4.9017386 out of 5

Keywords: reddit, askreddit, askreddit funny, top posts, top posts of r/, r/, r/askreddit, reddit top posts, reddit compilation, top posts of all time, askreddit question, askreddit top posts, ask reddit, askreddit reading, subreddit, reddit stories, best of r/askreddit, funny reddit, best reddit posts, best of reddit, reddit ama, ask me anything, reddit ask me anything, r/IAmA, billionaire, son of billionaire, rich gang lifestyle, why u looking here buddy

Id: cH9xFJFCu_M

Length: 16min 17sec (977 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 10 2019