Billionaires, Are They Mad, Bad, Psychos, Narcissistic Etc?

martinlufc5637 well just another example that rather proves my point. Either they are born with these traits and are suited to making money, or they have too much money and it sends them that way. I tend to favour the opinion that it is in their genes.

martinlufc5637 That sounds like money well spent to me. Elon Musk has got his $50 billion payout for Tesla it seems, that will surely mean he stays at the top of the money pile internationally. He is worth just over a quarter of a trillion dollars now. About the same as the GDP of Greece for a year. In fact only about the top 50 countries in the world have a yearly GDP more than Musk's overall wealth. About 140 countries in the world have a GDP less than Musk's wealth. A staggering amount of money for one individual although admittedly its all tied up in assets, it probably only has usable capital of a few billion for day to day expenses.

BonzoBanana I just don't know how these people live with themselves. He can have another 12 kids now and have a nanny for each one. Another bunch of kids who will grow up with a sense of entitlement and no humility, empathy or any sense of care for others who are poverty stricken.

Lynibis I see also Space X has won the contract for demolishing/destroying the international space station now that it is at the end of its life so that should throw a few million his way.

Ultimately most of his money is tied up in assets and shares etc and I'm sure he pays his full tax on his income where ever his tax base is which is likely the USA now that he is a USA citizen. He could start selling assets to help the poor but then maybe those companies would fail under different management and many people would lose their jobs. I seem to remember Anna Roddick (not sure I have the name right) of the Bodyshop sold her business to L'Oréal and gave some some of the money to good causes but the company went down the pan and many lost their jobs under new ownership. What was a successful British company became an unsuccessful French company and then the remains was bought by another investor.

BonzoBanana I am sure the ultra rich also have a few million stashed away earning huge interest which would easily pay for running a hostel or two. Surely if he bought a couple of rundown hotels it would be counted for tax relief and he could house a dozen homeless and only lose staff to natural wastage. After all he can afford to spend a lot more to keep a dozen kids

BonzoBanana I am always reading and watching TV documentaries about the plight of the poor South Africans still living in the same poverty today as they were living in before 1990. I am fuming Elon Musk has so much money and will not spend or invest it in his country of birth.

jam45 I think his family have a long history of being against apartheid even his rather nasty part British father. South African politics of today are just as corrupt and incompetent as other African countries. As soon as they get in power they just take as much money for themselves as they can. There are lots of documentaries about it. Jacob Zuma is an absolutely vile human being sadly who did so much damage to South Africa. It's a shame all the amazing work of Nelson Mandela didn't create a more fair and prosperous nation but it seems once people get power they get paranoid about returning to poverty later in life and just end up taking as much as they can.

BonzoBanana I wasn't aware of some of the things you have said regarding several African despots. I take it back regarding Elon Musk giving his country of birth any of his hard-earned cash or attempting to invest any of his own cash in it. I now realize why South Africans are so, so poor.

Leannexxx oh very true, you can have poor, ordinary ones too, my ex husband had 8 out of 10 psycho traits. I was just making the point that everything I read and hear about the super rich tends to prove they are all a bit unhinged to say the least.

Lynibis definitely agree money can send people mad

Lynibis I think they are a bit isolated due to their wealth. They know they have to have high security as criminals may want to kidnap them or kill them. They can't just walk amongst us as normal people, as normal people would prevent that. They probably get 100s of begging letters a day many might be threatening. This isolation and environment perhaps means they don't feel a common bond with poorer people. Ultimately these people are motivated by their businesses and success. Most of them do charitable work or have charitable foundations etc. Ultimately poorer people are the most charitable in that they spend more of their income as a percentage on charity. The richer you get the lower that percentage seems to get.

BonzoBanana obviously I don't know any super rich but I have definitely noticed less well off people seem to be far more charitable, not just with money but also time and devotion.

BonzoBanana I think this is part of the reason people who win large amounts on the lottery don't want to advertise it , because of criminals and the begging letters , so in a similar situation to the billionaires

telmel Some advertise it but that feels like a huge mistake to me. They might get a few extra thousand from the lottery company for promotional work but then they put themselves and their families at risk.

Pjran I agree but it's really my last paragraph that I feel strongly about