My mother-in-law’s cousin started a trading firm (acted as a specialist) on the Philadelphia stock exchange that focused on derivatives. He owned and operated for about 20 years before selling the whole thing to GS. No idea how much he was making while working nor do I know how much he sold for (despite my best efforts to dig up any deal info).
He’s definitely worth more than I can ever dream of having, he owns 7 houses throughout the country, including one he bought for his ex-wife (AFTER they were divorced). His one house is on the ocean, and every summer he hosts a few hundred of his closest friends to a catered party on the water (fresh seafood, fully stocked bar, cigars). Buys his mom a new Mercedes every year, etc. Really one of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve ever met.
Probably the richest person I’ve ever met was the father of a girl I was dating in college. He founded a company in the 70s and he’s still chairman of the board. It’s listed on Nasdaq with a market cap above $3 billion, and of course he’s got a huge net worth now.
His daughter was pretty, smart, had good skin and D cups… but she was bat$hit crazy. So it didn’t last, and I don’t really regret that part. If some other girls I’d dated had that kind of money, I might have been inclined to settle down then and there.
One of my friends had a HS education. Became a partner in a hotel brokerage firm. I looked him up the other day (we’d lost touch when I moved across the country). Turns out he’s been involved in more hotel sales than anyone else in the country over the last 20 years. He’s gotta be worth north of a half-billion. And while he dresses nice, he’s generally pretty laid back and humble - two adopted kids from Peru, big contributer to charity and his church, etc…
I have a very close friend, who is from Hong Kong, she comes from a huge (and rich) family but her relatives and family friends in China are all multi-billionaires.
One time, i went travelling with her to vegas, we stayed at presidential suites and all of course, but her family/ relatives (i can’t tell at that point) basically had private rooms in the casinos and they were offered $20,000 wines… ^_^"
I don’t know exactly how rich they are, i can only assume by all the bodyguards/ assistants/ secretaries/ helpers/ maids they have 24-7.
I think my company’s ceo and cfo are worth a couple mil, and the previous chairman was probably worth north of a billion. I got a buddy who’s made a couple mil. That’s about it.
I’m definitely not running in the same circles as you guys.
Been invited to the house of two guys over $1B (current and former employer, none of them my direct boss). Had periodic meetings with one, and only sporadic presentations with the other. One of them is among the richest men who have ever existed. The other guy’s company is destined to fail in the next ten years tops, but he’ll retire filthy rich anyway.
Briefly talked with other very rich people when I was in strategy consulting, but I’m pretty sure most of them wouldn’t remember me.
Every week during our invited speaker’s season in business school I was always there to see a few oh-sh!t, iconic guys, but that doesn’t even count.
Peter Thiel. Sat next to him at dinner once when he came to speak at our business club as an undergraduate. It was a pretty incredible experience. There was no special reason for this, other than that there was an open seat and I grabbed it.
I’ve also met a few of the private equity / investment management guys in the Forbes 100 through industry events, but didn’t have any elaborate interactions with them.