Bill Gates: Being a billionaire is overrated

[Rain]

Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated - GeekWire

“I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. Dick’s has not raised their prices enough,†he said, referring to the Seattle-area fast-food chain. “But being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.â€

Thoughts?

 

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[JEdwards]

100% true..

 

[The-J]

Reminds me of that Bruno Mars song "I wanna be a billionaire, so f***ing bad, buy all of the things I've never had". There's practically nothing useful you could buy for a billion dollars. You could buy a spaceship with a billion dollars but you wouldn't be allowed to fly it. You could buy an island for a billion dollars but you couldn't make it into a sovereign country.

The real allure to being a billionaire is being able to help people on an astronomical scale, and you don't need even need a billion dollars to do that! It makes me think, the Facebook billionaires have no idea what they've gotten themselves into.

As for me, my number is $6,000,000, as I've said multiple times. It's good enough for me to live freely and comfortably on interest. $6,000,000 or $60,000,000,000 there's little difference: just more zeroes.

 

[Kak]

Probably true. The world is set up for people who make modest salaries, sure there are great luxury goods I look foreward to owning but it can only go so far. No one would try to build a 10m dollar car, the volume would suck. So typical expensive cars become not so hard to get.

I like that he isnt trying to tell people that miney isnt important and that they shouldnt be ambitous. That would piss me off. For the most part, i think I would agree. Not much difference in lifestyles from lets say 60m bucks to multi billion bucks. At least not a difference worth devoting decades more of my life to.

I want at least 20m but after that it depends on if I like what im doing etc.

 

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[Pinnacle]

Depends on your goals. If you do want to help people on a massive scale and live extremely large at the same time, then more power to you. From a material or investment standpoint, the billionaire level is no longer about buying luxuries, it's about buying companies. You can buy companies as investments with far more ease and leverage. The cool part is that even billionaires bring others into the deal because investing is a team sport. At that level, you could also use billions to build or revitalize entire cities. If you want to be a major player, then there is nothing wrong at all with this aspiration.

 

[bomber694@wp.pl]

I guess it is true because the biggest lifestyle changes are when you transfer from poor to middle class because you can affoard a car better flat/house etc and transfer from middle class to rich has less impact, Therefore we can come to a conclusion that transfer from rich to bilionare has no impact at all. what you are gonna change your Ferrari for Bugatti >?

 

[andviv]

Funny. This sounds really close to "money does not matter" which seems to be a popular saying by those that either have just too much, or have none at all.

Thanks for sharing.

 

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[Likwid24]

I say to Aim for a Billion. Shoot for the stars. If you make 5,10 or 100 million along the way but never reach your billion, I'm sure you'll still be happy. I believe having lower goals sets you up, not for failure, but for far less than you can potentially make if you aim high.

I think most billionaire's just use their money as a status symbol. It makes them more powerful. Most of the money really is useless to them. That's why they give most away.

 

[Darkside]

I say to Aim for a Billion. Shoot for the stars. If you make 5,10 or 100 million along the way but never reach your billion, I'm sure you'll still be happy. I believe having lower goals sets you up, not for failure, but for far less than you can potentially make if you aim high.

I think most billionaire's just use their money as a status symbol. It makes them more powerful. Most of the money really is useless to them. That's why they give most away.

I agree that entrepreneurs should shoot as high as possible. Aim to be a multi-billionaire, since having that as a goal means that you're thinking big. The flip side would be someone who just wants to make enough money from their business to pay their rent, food costs, etc. like a Mom & Pops Diner; that would be aiming too low.

Also, there are some things that being a billionaire enables you to buy that you wouldn't be able to buy if you were just a multi-millionaire, like for instance:


Private Jets






You can buy them for as low as $20 million but the fuel costs and paying for pilots salary are really only affordable for billionaires, millionaires would quickly lose their fortune if they purchased a private jet, especially one of the larger ones that really burn up fuel



Yachts




As with private jets, someone with 100+ million can afford to buy these but they would quickly lose their fortune on the maintenance costs and paying a crew to operate it.

Also, as Pinnacle said, being a billionaire enables you to buy other businesses, hotels, land, etc. that you could then use to make more money, and hopefully donate a lot of it to charity to give back to this country that has given us so much.

 

[The-J]

I wouldn't buy a private jet, I'd buy an airline.

I wouldn't buy a yacht, I'd buy a cruise line.

Hm, maybe I should shoot for billionaire level instead of a measly $6 mill.

I agree that entrepreneurs should shoot as high as possible. Aim to be a multi-billionaire, since having that as a goal means that you're thinking big. The flip side would be someone who just wants to make enough money from their business to pay their rent, food costs, etc. like a Mom & Pops Diner; that would be aiming too low.

Also, there are some things that being a billionaire enables you to buy that you wouldn't be able to buy if you were just a multi-millionaire, like for instance:


Private Jets


View attachment 3086 View attachment 3087



You can buy them for as low as $20 million but the fuel costs and paying for pilots salary are really only affordable for billionaires, millionaires would quickly lose their fortune if they purchased a private jet, especially one of the larger ones that really burn up fuel



Yachts

View attachment 3088 View attachment 3089


As with private jets, someone with 100+ million can afford to buy these but they would quickly lose their fortune on the maintenance costs and paying a crew to operate it.

Also, as Pinnacle said, being a billionaire enables you to buy other businesses, hotels, land, etc. that you could then use to make more money, and hopefully donate a lot of it to charity to give back to this country that has given us so much.

 

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[Kak]

J

6 million bucks in 20 years will be about a million now. Assuming you think you have more than 20 more years left to your life

 

[The-J]

J

6 million bucks in 20 years will be about a million now. Assuming you think you have more than 20 more years left to your life

You're probably right. That's why I want to hit that number in seven years $6 million can't buy the huge things. It can, however, buy a Lamborghini, a house, and an investment portfolio with a nice stream of passive income.

 

[Darkside]

You're probably right. That's why I want to hit that number in seven years $6 million can't buy the huge things. It can, however, buy a Lamborghini, a house, and an investment portfolio with a nice stream of passive income.

You should definitely think/dream bigger. Aim for billions and lower your time frame. Groupon went from $0 to over a billion in revenues in less than 2 years; becoming the fastest growing company ever.

The founders of Instagram sold their company for $1 billion less than two years after they founded it with no revenue.

You likely won't create the next Groupon or Instagram but shoot for that level of success and you might create a company that earns you $100 million.

 

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[Pete799p]

As with private jets, someone with 100+ million can afford to buy these but they would quickly lose their fortune on the maintenance costs and paying a crew to operate it.

This is not really true if you look at it right. I know a few millionaires, not sure exactly, but I would peg them in the deci category that own private jets. They actually turned it into a charter company and now make money off them. There are also people who flip yahts and make 3mil-9mil easy on the small one and I imagine more on the big ones. But if purchased as a toy or from a slowlane perspective then you are very correct.

 

[PopEmersen]

Sounds about right, think about it, after about 3-4 years, you could have gone to every club in the world, every continent, visited every great vacation spot, every world wonder, every beach. After a while, it seems like the same ol hamburger. Raise your kids, speak to friends, love your wife, etc. You just have more resources.

 

[Rain]

Depends on your goals. If you do want to help people on a massive scale and live extremely large at the same time, then more power to you. From a material or investment standpoint, the billionaire level is no longer about buying luxuries, it's about buying companies. You can buy companies as investments with far more ease and leverage. The cool part is that even billionaires bring others into the deal because investing is a team sport. At that level, you could also use billions to build or revitalize entire cities. If you want to be a major player, then there is nothing wrong at all with this aspiration.

Agreed--this is exactly the case.

Being a multi-millionaire allows you a newfound freedom in life. You may not have to work any longer, can afford an enviable house, possibly a mansion, a handful of supercars, a vacation home, all the travel you desire, plus the "little" luxuries like a daily massage and a personal chef. (Clearly this depends on how many millions one has exactly, but assuming it's a decent amount.)

Being a multi-billionaire can potentially upgrade your lifestyle, but not necessarily in a significant way (if at all). For example, here is a billion-dollar yacht:

(literally - http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoc...the-worlds-first-billion-dollar-yacht-photos/)

If you're a multi-billionaire, you may have the ability to purchase this mega-luxury, where as a multi-millionaire wouldn't have a chance in hell. With that being said, however, I'm sure a multi-millionaire could rent some space in it fairly easily, which is arguably just as good in most cases, and possibly even preferable (maintenance costs, anyone?).

Regarding the private jet example, consider this:

"Bill Gates and Warren Buffet on a Boeing Business Jet
Bill Gates became a NetJets Owner in 1999
Warren Buffet became a NetJets Owner in 1995
(and bought the entire company in 1998)"

A multi-millionaire could possibly be able to become a NetJets owner himself; he just simply would not be buying the company anytime soon... which wouldn't make much overall difference anyway, since you can only ride in one jet at a time. Owning the company just puts more zeros behind an arbitrarily large number in an account on some computer.

Ultimately, being a billionaire certainly has benefits, but the lifestyle upgrade is arguably negligible. As Pinnacle stated, you will basically be buying companies and other paper assets that you couldn't afford otherwise, and probably become a bigger player in philanthropy. Essentially, you will be working to own more numbers on a screen, pay more taxes (unless, of course, you are sleeping with the government and/or making significant earnings from capital gains), and eventually give a huge chunk of your money away to charity (does being a slave to business really excite you if you are going to donate your profits anyway?--if wealth distribution is your goal, then join the government instead, as it has access to more wealth than you could ever generate personally; the government shits on a billion dollars).

So is shooting for billionaire status worth it?

Earning $1 billion (or more) is significantly harder than earning $50 million (which is also an extremely daunting task). Yes, we have anomalies like Facebook and Instagram, but you can't realistically make plans to create the next revenue-less billion-dollar startup. I'm not saying it's impossible or that you shouldn't try, but to have that as one's primary plan is... a little naive.

While there is definitely a "cool" factor to having the title of billionaire, I can't help but think that it's (for the most part) working just to work at that point. Your lifestyle is no longer improving, yet you continue to spend your time--truly your most valuable asset--working for more money that will have no substantial impact on you.

Of course, one could always state that they do it for fun--with money being used as nothing but a tool to keep score--and it's hard to argue with that. Under this premise, business is just the game of choice, out of the million different activities one can engage in for entertainment and/or mental stimulation. And unlike many other hobbies, this "hobby" just so happens to include making lots and lots of money.

 

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[Fermovian]

If you have a billion dollars and the best thing you can think of doing with it is getting a hamburger, then the problem is that you lack imagination, not that you can't buy a hamburger that tastes like a billion dollars.

 

[Rain]

If you have a billion dollars and the best thing you can think of doing with it is getting a hamburger, then the problem is that you lack imagination, not that you can't buy a hamburger that tastes like a billion dollars.

I'm sure the hamburger thing was a joke, created to lighten the mood while talking about how much richer he is than everyone else (a subject that is generally considered to be very uncomfortable to discuss).

As you can see in this video (https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/mi...6-fabulous-life-filthy-rich-billionaires.html), it's a tough job spending all that money--even if your goal is to purchase the greatest luxuries on earth. Multiple mansions, private Gulfstream and Boeing jets, personal mega-yachts, supercars, million-dollar parties, a space ship... and still, the principal billions can remain virtually untouched.

 

[The-J]

If you have a billion dollars and the best thing you can think of doing with it is getting a hamburger, then the problem is that you lack imagination, not that you can't buy a hamburger that tastes like a billion dollars.

I can make a hamburger that tastes like a billion dollars. It's not what you put into the burger, it's what you leave out: very lightly seasoned with a little bit of Lawry's with chopped onions and garlic mixed into the ground beef, cooked well but not quite burnt. With cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw red onions and a spat of ketchup on a kaiser roll or sesame seed bun, garlic-buttered and toasted on the grill.

Been eating that burger for as long as I can remember. I'm broke today and I eat that burger. And guess what? I'll be eating that burger when I have millions. Why? Cuz it's a damn good burger and money doesn't change a damn good burger.

 

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[theag]

I can make a hamburger that tastes like a billion dollars. It's not what you put into the burger, it's what you leave out: very lightly seasoned with a little bit of Lawry's with chopped onions and garlic mixed into the ground beef, cooked well but not quite burnt. With cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw red onions and a spat of ketchup on a kaiser roll or sesame seed bun, garlic-buttered and toasted on the grill.

Been eating that burger for as long as I can remember. I'm broke today and I eat that burger. And guess what? I'll be eating that burger when I have millions. Why? Cuz it's a damn good burger and money doesn't change a damn good burger.

Damn, I like your style. This burger sounds just as good as my personal creation!

 

[hedgehog757]

Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated - GeekWire

“I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. Dick’s has not raised their prices enough,” he said, referring to the Seattle-area fast-food chain. “But being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.”

Thoughts?

When I become a billionaire, then and only then will I truly know if being a billionaire in overrated. Until then, I will not take a billionaire's word for it!

 

[Money mania]

Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated - GeekWire

“I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. Dick’s has not raised their prices enough,†he said, referring to the Seattle-area fast-food chain. “But being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.â€

Thoughts?

My number is $100MM, of which give back 90% of it and live life to its fullest. My one item I want is the BMW 5 series, besides that travel and enjoy philanthropy.

 

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[Kak]

My number is $100MM, of which give back 90% of it and live life to its fullest. My one item I want is the BMW 5 series, besides that travel and enjoy philanthropy.

Jeez man, you can get a nice used 550 for under 20k. Go get one now! Thats less than a camry.

X2 on the giving back part!

 

[The-J]

Jeez man, you can get a nice used 550 for under 20k. Go get one now! Thats less than a camry.

Please excuse my mistakes, Im using tapatalk and a mobile device.

I think he means he wants the entire 5 series. Like, every model, every year, ever made.

All joking aside, why not simply make $10M and give away your time to philanthropic endeavors instead of your money?

 

[futhey]

I'm glad this turned into a thread about hamburgers, otherwise I fear I would have nothing to contribute!

Seriously though, many wealthy people seem to come to this conclusion, or at least that the benefit of being wealthy is not what you can do, but what you don't have to do. Usually something like "If time is money, then money is time, or it at least buys the freedom to own 100% of your time- the most finite resource we have".

This is what Sam Walton is reported to have discovered all too late while lying on his deathbed, right?

 

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[EastWind]

Jeez man, you can get a nice used 550 for under 20k. Go get one now! Thats less than a camry.

X2 on the giving back part!

He wants the 5 series, the 5 series He gets. That's his dream car.
Everyone has cars that tickle their bones without having to be top of the line car.

At $100MM, I will pick the Lexus LS, A8, 7 series or S class over a Rolls Royce any day! In that order by the way.

 

[MooreMillions]

Did not read the entire thread but skimmed enough answers to get a gist and offer a substantive opinion.

I did my first speech on Bill Gates in my Public Speaking class in college. Followed him rather closely in the mid to late 90's, so I may be a bit biased.

For the most part he is right. This is coming from someone who has never been a millionaire, but have six figured it before and legitimately am friends with millionaires.

I tell people all the time, humans needs have not changed for centuries: you want the ability to have food, shelter, clothing, and do what you want to do...without having to think about it!

Trust me, I am a frugal individual by nature, but have expensive taste, if that makes sense. Honestly, I ended up splurging on others before myself. As long as I could drive what I wanted, live where I wanted, eat where/what I wanted, wear what I wanted, and date who I wanted, WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT, I was happy. And it does not take a billion to do that. It does not take $100 million to do that.

There are exceptions, but, one has the ability to make between 5 and 15 million in a 4 year period, the wants and needs of the majority of human beings is covered.

 

[Kuz]

Yeah i'd agree with him. You don't need to be a billionaire to own a private jet, a cool $100m will do, or even less, i don't know.

Actually know TWO people who have private jets and are certainly NOT billionaires.

Same with Yachts. Though you'll need decidedly more than $10m. But for that i can go on any cruise i ever want and fly any flight first class - and flights and cruises are so regular, like why even bother.

Some Arab princes, though, don't get bored of ridiculously extravagant luxuries.

 

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[yahdmon]

I am really loving all these private jets and so pics.

Aiming for the private jet for sure and will be satisfy with nothing less than 100 million -- and in fact, if anyone reading this post has a private jet and wants to fly me to the Jamaica, in the Caribbean, next Monday evening and bring me back on Tuesday evening please send me a pm. It would be your charity work to me in support of a friend's event... thanks in advance.

And I am not joking on this one.

 

[Rawr]

Do you see that these threads are a waste of time, this is mental masturbation.