Just got done looking at mine, one each from Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax. I had a total of six addresses listed, divided equally between the three, and Equifax had the only recent data on me. I really haven’t made a whole lot of purchases and was surprised at some of the stuff that was on there. (I have “excellent” credit thank goodness)
That said, what would Bill Gates’ or other high profilers’ credit reports look like? Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump? Do they even have them? One images entire teams dedicated to keeping track of expenses, and thats just at the credit agency.
It would likely look like anyone else’s credit report. There is a large seperation between Bill Gates and the corporation he happens to work at, Microsoft. Like your credit report, it would probably show credit cards, perhaps property payments, that late payment when his staff forgot to pay his phone bill once two years back, etc.
Just because Bill Gates has more money than you, doesn’t mean he doesn’t do things a normal person would do. I would bet he has at least several credit cards (probably for convenience), and there can be advantages to getting a loan on property rather than paying cash up front, so he likely makes some monthly payments, etc. He probably has phone bills, power bills, gas bills, just like the rest of us, but the scale is probably much different. The credit agencies’ secret formulas probably take into account people like this, and give their score.
Just remember to seperate the man and the corporation - afterall, that’s why it is a corporation to begin with.
What I wonder about is what happens to a person’s credit when
a) they had F credit – recent bankruptcy, consistent slow payer, etc.
b) then they inherit $50 million, most of ehich which goes straight into their bank account(s), and maybe some in CDs and some in a trust.
Does this person still have F credit? Or do potential creditors have the ability to use common sense and take advantage of this person’s $50 million windfall despite a poor credit score?
I have first hand experience with celebrity credit reports.
They are much shorter than the average report. Generally, there is a need for an AMEX account and you don’t see alot of student loans, car leases, mortgage refinances, etc.
There is a disproportionate number of public records, like liens and judgements.
Generally, athletes tend to have 1-3 credit cards, and it’s not unusual to see 75k in credit card debt.
I can’t be specific about who had what on their reports.
I haven’t inherited any large chunks of money lately, but when I’ve looked at my own report it has no mention of my savings or checking account, 401(k), etc. Presumably, however, upon inheriting the money our hypothetical slow payer would pay everything off. My WAG would be that any bank in which he had an enormous chunk of change housed would be willing to issue him a credit card. Were I in this situation I’d just tell the bank either issue me a card or I’ll take my money elsewhere.
How much credit does the man NEED? Bill Gates is probably one of the few people who can simply go out and buy ANYTHING he pretty much wants, 100% down, no payments, no nonsense…
As far as I know (not being one of them, but privy to some of their financial dealings), wealthy people do not like to carry around large sums of cash, so they do tend to purchase items on credit more often than not.
Generally speaking, although this is not a universal rule, of course, wealthy people tend to have poor credit. This is because on the one hand, if they aren’t very well organized, they tend to let unpaid bills pile up despite the fact that they could easily pay them with their cash on hand. On the other hand, if they are detail-oriented to the point of obsession, they may nitpick at every charge and get into disputes over how much money is owed. Either way, this has a negative effect on the credit report.
Also, if you have a lot of money but very poor credit (especially a recent bankruptcy), a bank will consider you a high risk to lend money to, no matter how much money you have in the bank. Your credit report is supposed to be an indicator of how likely you are to pay your debts and pay them on time. The bank depends on your ability to pay on time because it affects their cash flows.
One of the advantages of the higher end credit cards, like American Express, is that summaries of purchases sorted by category (or by other means) are regularly sent out. This makes it much easier to do budgets, track expenses, and prepare for taxes.
These are slowly seeping down to more ordinary credit cards. The AAA card does this, for example.
Much better than paying by cash and having to track receipts yourself. Even if you have a full-time assistant and accountant to do it for you.
Secured credit (auto loans, mortgages) are ridiculously easy for just about anyone to get, and if your credit is bad, they’ll just give you a ridiculosly high interest rate… The longer you take to pay them back, the more money they end up making off of you.
I hear what you say. But on the other hand, someone who’s been busily mis-managing debt who gets a large windfall is probably statistically likely to go buy a yacht or three, and then be as broke as before and start defaulting.
Like Philster I’ve done my share of interesting credit checks.
One that really surprised me was a huge company that, according to our credit criteria using a straight EQ score (Company Index Score), would have failed to secure a cell phone with us! A multi-billion dollar company requiring a security deposit made me laugh.
Of course I got the override to allow it but it was interesting to read. Like Philster said, lots of liens and legal issues (judgements etc). The financial information reads like your standard company quarterly report.
I’ve had plenty of people try to get by me with the “but I make a million dollars a year!” excuse. It doesn’t matter how much you make, it matters how well you pay off your debts.
Who has the worst credit reports? Hands down, it’s Lawyers and Doctors.
Doctors are the worst…with Lawyers a distant second. It starts with student debt and gets worse because doctors simply have no time to administer their lives until they are well established.
Credit reports are not sources of info for checking and other deposit accounts, btw.
After you make your first billion or so, one would think that credit scores really don’t matter that much. I mean, how much would Bill Gates actually NEED to finance?
I think one good reason is cash flow. You might be the richest man on Earth and still come up a dollar short when buying groceries or whatnot. And, also, as has been mentioned it’s easier to keep track of how you spend your money.