Your Rich friend?
Discussion
From an idea in the Euromillions thread 
I don't know any bonafide millionaires. A guy I used to work with, his family had a farm and were doing OK. But probably property value rather than cash in the bank. He still had to work, though he lived relatively rent free and used his money on a fast car and holidays to Dubai instead
So, lets see how many people know the properly wealthy. As in have over £1M cash in the bank they could withdraw if a rainy day hit. Elaborate if you can without naming them or giving away info they'd probably rather you didn't.
1) Old or New Money, and how acquired? (eg Lottery or business )
2) If you met them in the street would you guess?
3) Do they have the classic large house, multiple fast/luxury cars, fancy watches?
4) Do they work or are they a Gentleman / Lady of Leisure?
5) What do they do with their free time?
Any anecdotes that made you think "wow!" (good or bad)
I don't know any bonafide millionaires. A guy I used to work with, his family had a farm and were doing OK. But probably property value rather than cash in the bank. He still had to work, though he lived relatively rent free and used his money on a fast car and holidays to Dubai instead
So, lets see how many people know the properly wealthy. As in have over £1M cash in the bank they could withdraw if a rainy day hit. Elaborate if you can without naming them or giving away info they'd probably rather you didn't.
1) Old or New Money, and how acquired? (eg Lottery or business )
2) If you met them in the street would you guess?
3) Do they have the classic large house, multiple fast/luxury cars, fancy watches?
4) Do they work or are they a Gentleman / Lady of Leisure?
5) What do they do with their free time?
Any anecdotes that made you think "wow!" (good or bad)
I used to work with the son of a Russian billionaire, who was doing a year's internship as part of his preparations for running his dad's company one day (following his Eton education).
He wasn't overtly flash about it, but it made me laugh when he dropped certain things into conversation without realising that they weren't reality for 99% of people. Be it using his dad's plane one weekend which turned out to be a jumbo jet or his dad ordering a new yacht (which you can hire for 360,000 euros a week) etc.
He's a really nice lad, can put away lots of vodka, worked very hard, and still owes me £20.
He wasn't overtly flash about it, but it made me laugh when he dropped certain things into conversation without realising that they weren't reality for 99% of people. Be it using his dad's plane one weekend which turned out to be a jumbo jet or his dad ordering a new yacht (which you can hire for 360,000 euros a week) etc.
He's a really nice lad, can put away lots of vodka, worked very hard, and still owes me £20.
An old friend of mine made a fortune on tech (8 figs). Whilst they live comfortably, what I massively admire about him is how unflashy his lifestyle is:
- drives a new Boxster S (wife has a Japanese 4x4)
- nice 5 bed house in a nice village, but not acres or anything
- still works, helping small firms as an investor (a la Dragons Den).
Here’s a great example of how unpretentious he is: we were out once and got chatting to an American, when the conversation turned to the cost of living in the UK. “So how much is a smart work shirt?” he asked. My entrepreneur friend and I answered at the same time: “£25” he said, “£50” I said. Says it all really.
- drives a new Boxster S (wife has a Japanese 4x4)
- nice 5 bed house in a nice village, but not acres or anything
- still works, helping small firms as an investor (a la Dragons Den).
Here’s a great example of how unpretentious he is: we were out once and got chatting to an American, when the conversation turned to the cost of living in the UK. “So how much is a smart work shirt?” he asked. My entrepreneur friend and I answered at the same time: “£25” he said, “£50” I said. Says it all really.
I know a reasonably wealthy aristocratic Scottish family in the borders, they own a few castles, couple of hundred farms and small holidays, etc... proper lord and lady of the manor.
I used to drink with the son, very spoon in mouth - loved his beer, coke and women. Used to regularly get his Labrador pissed.
Drove an old 1988 RR in 2001ish, looked like a farmer and other than his very well educated speech you’d not guess
Nice guy and family.
I used to drink with the son, very spoon in mouth - loved his beer, coke and women. Used to regularly get his Labrador pissed.
Drove an old 1988 RR in 2001ish, looked like a farmer and other than his very well educated speech you’d not guess
Nice guy and family.
Edited by alorotom on Sunday 22 September 20:07
Yup a couple of friends could write a cheque for over a million and it would not bounce. But you would not know it to talk to them or even look at them, they are not the "Armani" set...
I trained with some people who were the offspring of the loaded, in that their idea of the Easter Holiday was to go Skiing and stay at the family chalet whilst the Christmas break was the time to head to the South African property etc.. And whilst training in London they had a Knightsbridge/Kensington flat (and by that I mean they generally had the top floor)....
I trained with some people who were the offspring of the loaded, in that their idea of the Easter Holiday was to go Skiing and stay at the family chalet whilst the Christmas break was the time to head to the South African property etc.. And whilst training in London they had a Knightsbridge/Kensington flat (and by that I mean they generally had the top floor)....
I know a multimillionaire, recently acquired money as he owned a small percentage of a very large company that was sold. I've never asked the amount (I'm British) but using the figures that were published in the press at the time and using a guesstimate on the percentage he owned left him with around £10m-£15m. He also got around £3m-£5m a few years ago.
Between £13m and £20m. He has had the same new build house and also has a country holiday home all in worth around £1.3m or so(?). Car is a new BMW 440i (no, not even an M4) and guess what, he leases it!!!!! I know, PH's mind blown. Wife drives a Jaguar E-Pace diesel, yes, diesel. I've noticed he now has a chunky Rolex not sure on model.
Now spends time investing in local companies as part of a consortium, uses a pool of cash and has fingers in many pies.
Between £13m and £20m. He has had the same new build house and also has a country holiday home all in worth around £1.3m or so(?). Car is a new BMW 440i (no, not even an M4) and guess what, he leases it!!!!! I know, PH's mind blown. Wife drives a Jaguar E-Pace diesel, yes, diesel. I've noticed he now has a chunky Rolex not sure on model.
Now spends time investing in local companies as part of a consortium, uses a pool of cash and has fingers in many pies.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
So said:
S1KRR said:
I don't know any bonafide millionaires.
I bet you do. Being a millionaire means nothing these days. Or it gets you a flat in London.
So said:
S1KRR said:
I don't know any bonafide millionaires.
I bet you do. Being a millionaire means nothing these days. Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
Also depends on what line of work you're in and who you mix with on a professional basis. I'm an Accountant - quite a few Accountants I know are equity partners in large firms. I also know a few Doctors (family friends) and at least two close family members easily have over £1m in property assets.
So said:
I bet you do. Being a millionaire means nothing these days.
Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
He clarified it to be fair,Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
S1KRR said:
As in have over £1M cash in the bank they could withdraw if a rainy day hit.
Having said that, you have to be very wealthy to have £1mil in the bank. I wouldn't expect anyone with a personal wealth of less than £20mil (probably more) to have £1mil in the bank.A few years back I bought a mini cooper on the scrappage scheme and for one reason or another sold it privately after 3 months. Bloke phoned up and we agreed a price (car was a few weeks old and still forecourt fresh) he told me on the phone he'd bring a bankers draft, but rang me on the way to say he'd been too busy to get to the bank and said we could go down the nearest branch if Nationwide together. He was travelling over 150 miles to buy the thing and didn't arrive till after 5. Alarm bells. At this point I'm incredulous he has the money.
He turns up in a FFRR vogue, car is for daughter, lovely shoes on, I say sorry mate back is closed there's no way I'm taking a normal cheque, he says I'll do a BACS transfer on your computer, you can watch the whole thing, his wife is saying all the right things to my wife, I'm trying to work out Wtf the scam is but give him my laptop.
He logs into his nationwide wide account, seemingly making no effort to disguise his passwords or anything from me and allows me to see his balance before taking down my account and sort code and doing the BACS there and then. He had £2.1million in his instant access savings account and was not at all phased by showing me.
I'm guessing he's the richest fella I've ever met in person.
He turns up in a FFRR vogue, car is for daughter, lovely shoes on, I say sorry mate back is closed there's no way I'm taking a normal cheque, he says I'll do a BACS transfer on your computer, you can watch the whole thing, his wife is saying all the right things to my wife, I'm trying to work out Wtf the scam is but give him my laptop.
He logs into his nationwide wide account, seemingly making no effort to disguise his passwords or anything from me and allows me to see his balance before taking down my account and sort code and doing the BACS there and then. He had £2.1million in his instant access savings account and was not at all phased by showing me.
I'm guessing he's the richest fella I've ever met in person.
Connectors said:
So said:
I bet you do. Being a millionaire means nothing these days.
Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
He clarified it to be fair,Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
S1KRR said:
As in have over £1M cash in the bank they could withdraw if a rainy day hit.
Having said that, you have to be very wealthy to have £1mil in the bank. I wouldn't expect anyone with a personal wealth of less than £20mil (probably more) to have £1mil in the bank.sparks_190e said:
Connectors said:
So said:
I bet you do. Being a millionaire means nothing these days.
Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
He clarified it to be fair,Being a millionaire just means you have a net worth of £1m or more, not that you have a million in the bank.
S1KRR said:
As in have over £1M cash in the bank they could withdraw if a rainy day hit.
Having said that, you have to be very wealthy to have £1mil in the bank. I wouldn't expect anyone with a personal wealth of less than £20mil (probably more) to have £1mil in the bank.Most people with enough in their current account to write a 1m cheque will have the current account linked to a higher interest feeder account. The balance in the current account will read an arbitrary number like £1,000 regardless of expenditure. Your bank would do this as a matter of course the moment they upgraded you to private banking, which happens pretty much automatically in any high street bank.
So anyone with 1m in their current account is being let down badly by their bank.
So anyone with 1m in their current account is being let down badly by their bank.
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