What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

The Billionaires Thread (1 Viewer)

fatguyinalittlecoat

fatguyinalittlecoat

Footballguy
So I find billionaires to be among the hardest people in the world for me to understand their motivations.  I've always had difficulty with it but I think Bloomberg's Presidential run got me thinking about it more.  And then the attention that Mackenzie Bezos has been getting for giving away like billions of dollars a year.  Like, if you've got billions of dollars in the bank that you're never gonna spend in your lifetime, why wouldn't you give it away quickly?  Wouldn't it be super cool to watch your money make people's lives better?  And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much? These are really irrational people, right?  I will never be a billionaire but I think I'd play it totally different.

Oh yeah, I also read this last month which made me think about this stuff more:  I Was Taught From a Young Age to Protect My Dynastic Wealth

Anyway, if anyone has anything interesting to say about billionaires feel free to share.

Oh yeah, also I'm high right now but I seriously think a cool premise for a screenplay would be some sociopath starts a tech company and gets Zuckerberg rich and then just decides to devote his entire fortune towards making everybody's lives in the entire world worse just for fun.  And some people would be like "maybe we should do something to prevent this guy from just ruining everything for no good reason."  And then other people would be like "I wish we could but it's his money so we're all just gonna have to take it."  If anyone wants to flesh that out a little I think you've got a hit on your hands. 

 
I just commented on @urbanhack's post in the student debt forgiveness that one of our biggest issues in this country is class warfare.  The uber rich run things and have no interest in giving up that control.

I will say this though - most uber rich people do seem to be philanthropic on some level.  Should they be more?  Probably.  Should we have billionaire's?  Probably not but I'm not inherently opposed to it.  My biggest issue is just overall wealth inequality and distribution.  When so many people have so much of the wealth there's a problem in your system, IMO.  And it only seems to be getting worse year by year.

 
AAABatteries said:
When so many people have so much of the wealth there's a problem in your system, IMO.  And it only seems to be getting worse year by year.
Click to expand...
This is a product of ZIRP and globalization.  The government has chosen to spend itself to the point that it has to maintain very low interest rates.  That has enabled cheap money that the already wealthy can multiply.  So blame the US govt. for about half of it.  The other half is that were so interconnected that winners tend to be much bigger winners than previously as the markets are so much bigger.  That part isn't going away.

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much?
Click to expand...


I've often thought about this myself.  I totally don't get it but I'm not wired in the way many of them are - how driven they are.  If you gave me tomorrow the amount of money I would need to retire in the manner I'd like then I wouldn't work another day in my life.  I would do volunteer work, spend time with family and do hobbies/activities I enjoy - and none of those include making more money.

I'm not judging them - they are the successes they are because they are driven (at least the ones that didn't inherit it) but I personally would bow out quickly once I made even a fraction of what those guys have made.

 
AAABatteries said:
I've often thought about this myself.  I totally don't get it but I'm not wired in the way many of them are - how driven they are. 
Click to expand...
People like to chalk it up to luck or inheritance, but the fact is for many of these folks they are the most productive members of our society.  

I wish we had 10 Bill Gates' around.

 
Sand said:
People like to chalk it up to luck or inheritance, but the fact is for many of these folks they are the most productive members of our society.  

I wish we had 10 Bill Gates' around.
Click to expand...


While I do think for some of these folks there's an element of luck I don't really care about that - most are driven, smart and obviously successful.  Bill Gates and his wonderful vaccine are national treasures.

 
Seriously I think the Showtime show Billions does a good job of exploring the psychology of these driven type of people.  

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
 Like, if you've got billions of dollars in the bank that you're never gonna spend in your lifetime, why wouldn't you give it away quickly?  Wouldn't it be super cool to watch your money make people's lives better?  And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much? These are really irrational people, right?  I will never be a billionaire but I think I'd play it totally different
Click to expand...
This has been my fantasy my whole life. I never dreamed of mansions, yachts, luxury automobiles, etc.   Of course it started as millions oh those so many years ago. I fantasized about fixing education and neighborhoods in the inner cities. To inspire or hire people to inspire these kids to try their hardest in school.  Take pride in themselves and their community. The importance of investing, not just saving. Most importantly I would want to be working shoulder to shoulder. Start at one neighborhood at a time.  It's the only way I think this country can unite and advance as a civilization. 

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
Oh yeah, also I'm high right now but I seriously think a cool premise for a screenplay would be some sociopath starts a tech company and gets Zuckerberg rich and then just decides to devote his entire fortune towards making everybody's lives in the entire world worse just for fun.  And some people would be like "maybe we should do something to prevent this guy from just ruining everything for no good reason."  And then other people would be like "I wish we could but it's his money so we're all just gonna have to take it."  If anyone wants to flesh that out a little I think you've got a hit on your hands. 
Click to expand...
I don't think the bold is needed for a screenplan - it's essentially the Rothschild family conspiracy theory. I've had this debate with a few believers in the theory and I've argued - which I obviously find compelling - that there's a point where you just have so much money that one's motivation to obtain more money and power dissipates. They, of course, tell me I'm an idiot and this is some inherently evil family hell bent on worsening the world. 

 
Walking thru a mall, saw a popcorn shop with a table and a tub of popcorn in the window. Their shtick is putting cardboard cutouts around the table, usually political/social adversaries. Today it was Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.  "Anything can be solved over a tub of popcorn " 

 
billionaires are not like you and me

they can wake up in the morning in $5000 sheets, put on $500 lounge clothes to eat a $150 fresh breakfast that their personal chef's made them before starting the day being driven around in cars worth more than your house is

their mind's work differently too - that's one of the reason's they have such massive wealth - and wealth is very very valuable to most of them I think. Its their purpose, and having more of it and elevating their wealth status is very important

how many elected officials to Congress have less money when they get out than when they went in ?   money is a yuge motivator

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
 And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much? These are really irrational people, right? 
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say irrational -- a lot of these people are obviously motivated by stuff other money.  But yeah one reason among many why I would never reach billionaire status is because I'm risk averse and work averse.  If I had started Amazon, I would have cashed out and retired after my first $10 million or so.  

It's like those people who get rich speculating on crypto currencies.  In the incredibly implausible scenario in which I invest serious money into Bitcoin, which would never happen because I don't invest in stuff like that, I would instantly sell as soon as I realized a 20% return or something.  I would never just sit there and watch my portfolio blow up and be like "yeah I'll just let this ride and see where it goes because yolo."  I'm just wired like that.

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
So I find billionaires to be among the hardest people in the world for me to understand their motivations.  I've always had difficulty with it but I think Bloomberg's Presidential run got me thinking about it more.  And then the attention that Mackenzie Bezos has been getting for giving away like billions of dollars a year.  Like, if you've got billions of dollars in the bank that you're never gonna spend in your lifetime, why wouldn't you give it away quickly?  Wouldn't it be super cool to watch your money make people's lives better?  And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much? These are really irrational people, right?  I will never be a billionaire but I think I'd play it totally different.

Oh yeah, I also read this last month which made me think about this stuff more:  I Was Taught From a Young Age to Protect My Dynastic Wealth

Anyway, if anyone has anything interesting to say about billionaires feel free to share.

Oh yeah, also I'm high right now but I seriously think a cool premise for a screenplay would be some sociopath starts a tech company and gets Zuckerberg rich and then just decides to devote his entire fortune towards making everybody's lives in the entire world worse just for fun.  And some people would be like "maybe we should do something to prevent this guy from just ruining everything for no good reason."  And then other people would be like "I wish we could but it's his money so we're all just gonna have to take it."  If anyone wants to flesh that out a little I think you've got a hit on your hands. 
Click to expand...
Need to find you a strain that doesn't make you type - like - a 16 year old California gurl. 5 'likes', Kyliegh?

 
IvanKaramazov said:
I wouldn't say irrational -- a lot of these people are obviously motivated by stuff other money.  But yeah one reason among many why I would never reach billionaire status is because I'm risk averse and work averse.  If I had started Amazon, I would have cashed out and retired after my first $10 million or so.  
Click to expand...
Agreed.  They are just flat wired different.  In the very early days of Facebook Zuckerberg, still in his early 20’s, turned down a offer from Yahoo to buy FB for 1 billion.  99.9% of the population jumps on that.  1 billion is a staggering amount of money.  Turning that down is mind-boggling to me. 

 
dkp993 said:
Agreed.  They are just flat wired different.  In the very early days of Facebook Zuckerberg, still in his early 20’s, turned down a offer from Yahoo to buy FB for 1 billion.  99.9% of the population jumps on that.  1 billion is a staggering amount of money.  Turning that down is mind-boggling to me. 
Click to expand...
Yeah like @IvanKaramazov I would have jumped out* and considered it a huge "win" once I had an offer for seven figures. I'm just not open to risk like that and would be content at a number that would allow me to live in a nice home on a private golf course and have some travel money. Honestly I'd probably then work a part time public service job. 

*I assume I'd also negotiate some nice consulting salary not necessarily contingent on ebitda. 

 
Great article in Wired magazine a couple years ago on billionaire Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, but any link I find is locked under subscription and, hey, I'm just a thousandaire. Here is an alternate but related piece. One bit from the Wired article that I liked and even shared with my math students is how fragile it must be to be a millionaire. A downturn here, a bad investment there and before you know it, you really are just like one of us. But for a billionaire, the calculus is far different. If a billionaire can secure, let's say, a 4% return on their money in a given year, that gain amounts to $40 million annually. Granted, taxes will eat away at that, yadda yadda yadda, but they're still in the ballpark of $2 to $3 million per month. That's just the gains and that's just at 4%. One would almost have to systematically squander money in order to cease being a billionaire. Thankfully, Benioff's message is just that--give away your money, for pete's sake. But the difference between $1 million and $1 billion is staggering and takes concerted thought to really internalize just how much of a leap that is. 

 
woodstock said:
Why did God make the universe so big? 
Click to expand...
Doesn't really change your point, but since I think you are a big on details a point of correction-

"Around 13.7 billion years ago, everything we know of was an infinitesimally small singularity, a point of infinite denseness and infinite heat. Then, explosive expansion began, ballooning our universe outwards..."

 
pecorino said:
But the difference between $1 million and $1 billion is staggering and takes concerted thought to really internalize just how much of a leap that is. 
Click to expand...
This is an excellent point and one I was discussing with my wife a few months back.  A “Billion” gets thrown around so much these days it’s commonplace but it’s a number that’s hard to comprehend honestly.  

A fun stat, to count to 1 million at a pace of 1 number per second would take you about 11 and a half days.  A billion? Close to 32 years!!!

 
General Malaise said:
Need to find you a strain that doesn't make you type - like - a 16 year old California gurl. 5 'likes', Kyliegh?
Click to expand...
POTD

 
Last edited by a moderator:
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
So I find billionaires to be among the hardest people in the world for me to understand their motivations.  I've always had difficulty with it but I think Bloomberg's Presidential run got me thinking about it more.  And then the attention that Mackenzie Bezos has been getting for giving away like billions of dollars a year.  Like, if you've got billions of dollars in the bank that you're never gonna spend in your lifetime, why wouldn't you give it away quickly?  Wouldn't it be super cool to watch your money make people's lives better?  And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much? These are really irrational people, right?  I will never be a billionaire but I think I'd play it totally different.

Oh yeah, I also read this last month which made me think about this stuff more:  I Was Taught From a Young Age to Protect My Dynastic Wealth

Anyway, if anyone has anything interesting to say about billionaires feel free to share.

Oh yeah, also I'm high right now but I seriously think a cool premise for a screenplay would be some sociopath starts a tech company and gets Zuckerberg rich and then just decides to devote his entire fortune towards making everybody's lives in the entire world worse just for fun.  And some people would be like "maybe we should do something to prevent this guy from just ruining everything for no good reason."  And then other people would be like "I wish we could but it's his money so we're all just gonna have to take it."  If anyone wants to flesh that out a little I think you've got a hit on your hands. 
Click to expand...


Huh, I think Facebook pretty much made everybody's life worse in the world, so he might have beaten you to the punch.  ;)  

 
IvanKaramazov said:
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
And like, what motivates a lot of them to keep working so much? These are really irrational people, right? 
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say irrational -- a lot of these people are obviously motivated by stuff other money.
Click to expand...
If I were rich, I'd stop working so I could spend more time doing stuff I like, such as napping.

But many rich founders or CEOs are already doing what they like. Some people really like business the way others like fantasy football -- it's fun even apart from any monetary reward.

I think it's really weird when people say stuff like, "Everyone needs a job in order to keep from getting bored." That's crazy to me because, in my head, I translate it as "Everyone needs to do something really boring in order to keep from getting bored." It's self-refuting. But for other people, it works in reverse. When they hear, "Everyone would be happier if they could stop working and do what they love," they translate it as "Everyone would be happier if they would stop doing the thing they love that makes them happy." Working is what makes Elon Musk happy, so retiring early would be inimical to his version of the good life.

Different strokes are what make the world go around.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maurile Tremblay said:
If I were rich, I'd stop working so I could spend more time doing stuff I like, such as napping.

But many rich founders or CEOs are already doing what they like. Some people really like business the way others like fantasy football -- it's fun even apart from any monetary reward.

I think it's really weird when people say stuff like, "Everyone needs a job in order to keep from getting bored." That's crazy to me because, in my head, I translate it as "Everyone needs to do something really boring in order to keep from getting bored." It's self-refuting. But for other people, it works in reverse. When they hear, "Everyone would be happier if they could stop working and do what they love," they translate it as "Everyone would be happier if they would stop doing the thing they love that makes them happy." Working is what makes Elon Musk happy, so retiring early would be inimical to his version of the good life.

Different strokes are what make the world go around.
Click to expand...
This is why taxing billionaires more will not cause them to become unproductive.

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
Well this is the billionaires thread I’m sure we can accommodate whatever you guys are into.  I can have a bunch of naked homos here in twenty minutes.
Click to expand...
Man, 15 years ago you had to move mountains to source a joint and now within the half hour you can provide us a plethora of nekid homos?  You've come a long way, baby.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Memphis Foundry
  • Locked
  • Sticky
The Politics Forum Is CLOSED.
Replies
0
Views
8K
Memphis Foundry
Memphis Foundry
A
Biden pardons those with federal convictions for possessing marijuana
2 3
Replies
122
Views
6K
Sand
Sand
ren hoek
I think voters are worse than nonvoters
Replies
22
Views
2K
ren hoek
ren hoek

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top