I’d take the 100 million. Then I would disappear for a least a couple of years and then come back to the US silently and then buy a bunch of land out in the country and then get back in contact with my family and give them some money.
I’ll take the $110 million. Then I’d use a small portion of it to hire people to deal with people who bother me. Then I’d spend another portion on high-powered lawyers to ruin the lives of anybody who couldn’t take a hint.
I’ll take the $100 million. And then buy a town. And put a fence around it.
I’d take the 100 million. There’s more I could do to make an actual difference if I’m so inclined, there’s a lot more room for me to make newbie-rich-guy mistakes without losing everything, and I can hire large unpleasant people to keep anyone from harassing me.
As for people spying on me, I don’t make the kind of spectacles that sell papers. They’d get bored and go away. As for people hitting me up for money; I’m very good at saying “no”, and I’d have all those large unpleasant people to make it stick. Any money I decided to give away would because I looked them up, not the other way around.
I, like UncleRojelio, won’t be bothered too much in the middle of the ocean on my sailboat. Bring on the 100 million.
I’d take the 100 and do as much good as I could with it. That would be an honor.
The $100 million, in a heartbeat. I’m surprised that so many folks feel that $10 million would be easily enough to do anything and everything they’d ever want or need. I’d love to finance the creation of a brand new, state-of-the-art nonprofessional theatre in my area, an endeavor that might consume all $10 million in one shot. The sheer volume of interesting and/or societally valuable things that there are in the world to do… yeah, I’d take the $100 million. Rich people don’t have privacy issues - famous people do.
$10 million, here. I like being under the radar.
I was going to post the same thing, nearly word for word. The newspaper out here mentions executives cashing out millions/tens of millions in stock options on a daily/weekly basis – it’s not like you’d be a huge celebrity if you came into $100 million bucks.
I’ve always stated that any lottery win I might claim* would be under the most clandestine and secretive of conditions.
That said, I’d go for the $100M. Heck, for that much, I can always relocate somewhere where nobody knows me.
*I don’t play the lottery, so the point’s somewhat moot
Does “no one” include the IRS? Because that makes a difference. If not, give me the $100 mil. Privacy is mostly a big deal to famous people, IMHO. They seek out attention but complain when the receive it.
$100,000,000… “Enrico, make those people go away.”
I know myself well enough to say I’d take the $100 million and regret it later.
You have a lot more flexibility and choice with $100 million than $10 million. You also have a lot more power to get things done if you want, and I would want. Ten million is enough for me to live comfortably, though not extravagantly, for the rest of my expected life span (if the usual killer in my family, cancer, doesn’t get me earlier than the rest of my relatives) but one hundred million is enough to use for other things than myself.
You can fund programs, invest in businesses and startups, start charities and trusts, all kinds of things that would be either impossible or much, much smaller scale if you only had $10 million to start with. That way, you can be selfish and selfless at the same time. After all, if you choose the right small guys to help out, start effective programs and charities, things tend to grow and get better for everyone involved, including yourself. That’s the kind of investment that makes a difference.
$100 mil! I’d invest it wisely, buy real estate, make a hell of a lot of donations to worthy causes, fund some technology, and settle down with my remaining millions and not give a damn what anyone thinks. Plus, lots of really rich people do just fine in the public eye. Don’t do anything stupid or weird or bitchy for a while and people forget about you.
100mil. I have already learned how to say no, so who cares who knows.