Does anybody know who the richest person is in the world who lives the least extravagent life and owns the least amount of material goods?
I thnh Mr. Sam Walton would be up there. He was once THE richest and only get passed by Bill Gates because he split the fortune within the family. Some of the living family members might qualify too. They aren’t known for extravance.
Then again, Bill Gates doesn’t really roll around in his that much all things considered.
If you want historical examples, I think Hetty Green takes the cake.
Loaded question!
Richest in what? Gold, silver, stocks, bonds, etc?
Richest as usually understood is at odds living the least extravagent life and owning the least amount of material goods
Perhaps you are looking for a person who is at peace with himself, his neighbors, and his God.
A person who is satified with what he has in material possessions however meagre and willing to share them with others in need.
I’m talking about someone who has (or had, as in the case of Ms. Hetty Green) the most assets and cash without demonstrating it. For example, someone who is very wealthy but lives a meager life. Imagine Bill Gates living in the South Side of Chicago.
Warren Buffett is the second richest American and still lives in the same house in Omaha, Nebraska that he bought in the '60s. He wears cheap clothes, drives his own car and has few extravagances. He doesn’t live like Hetty Green, but he has a lot more money, even in adjusted dollars.
There is a book reprinted in pb in 1988 titled “The Millionaire Next Door.”
There are more than a few of them.
Honest, hard workers, saved all they could over current expenses, invested wisely, and lived a modest existence, NOT excessive nor extravagant!
From time to time a lottery winner shows SOME of the signs as he plans to continue working etc.
Most lottery winners, reinvest their winnings thus converting their winnings into loosing worthless tickets following the next drawing.
I still would say that the Walton’s win both because they are the richest family in the world and Sam and his wife Helen always lived a rather frugal lifestyle. Sam drove an old pickup truck until the day he died and loved hunting at one of his primitive, run-down camps. They live(d) in rural Arkansas in a rather unassuming house. My grandmother and brother live in the same area and say their lifestyle and shopping habits are famously frugal around there.
His widow, Helen, #7 richest person in the world may top the analysis.
Correct, Sir. Mr. Buffett’s license plate reads “Thrifty” and he is notoriously parsimonious. His one extravagance that he is very self deprecating over is his private jet going so far as to name it “The Indefensible”. He lives very modestly, and his children will be getting only a small sliver of his $40 billion (+/- a few billion) fortune.
You are correct about that. Everyday rich people are usually not the ones flashing things around. I happen to know some incredibly wealthy people by family association and they are not the ones people point at when they walk buy. One has over $100,000,000 and still buys used cars. Some people that you think are rich are just drowning in debt behind the scenes.
Still, the OP asked about people at the very high end. There are a definable number of those and while I don’t know if there is a factual answer to this, we can produce a list of good candidates.
The Pope is in control of one of the largest, richest organisations in the worlrd, but personally owns nothing.
- He has a gigantic house
- He is surrounded by gold and precious stones
- He has a great car and driver
- he has staff and servants galore
- He comes out lto crowds ike a rock star and flaunts it for all it is worth
Someone who fits your description perfectly in my opinion is Ingvar Kamprad
The family that runs the privately held Mars Inc. candy/food brands company are billionares and are reputed to be very low key and relatively unassuming,
I once read an article about Sam Walton in which the author asked a long-time employee to remember an example of Walton taking advantage of his vast wealth and power.
He said the closest he could think of was when Sam came to Wal-Mart to buy some fishing gear. As he usually did when shopping at Wal-Mart, Sam got in line. Only this time, the line was long, and Sam wanted to get to his fishing spot. So he called over the employee and almost embarrassedly asked him to put his purchases on the books.
What I find notable about this incident (if true) is that it shows Walton was humble not just regarding material desires, but his status with respect to others, which would seem to be even more rare among the rich and powerful.
Since there is not likely to be an answer to the second part of the OP, let’s move this to IMHO.
samclem GQ moderator
I remember reading years ago that Paul and Linda McCartney lead a very ordinary, frugal life because they didn’t want their wealth to stuff up the kids. Apparently the locals considered them so much like them that they wouldn’t even hint that they lived locally.