7 ms·

That struck me too: Are there leading modern entrepreneurs who are as non-materialistic? I recall hearing of several in prior generations. (Also, sometimes tho

That struck me too: Are there leading modern entrepreneurs who are as non-materialistic? I recall hearing of several in prior generations. (Also, sometimes those stories are merely marketing, and they have a personal chef and private jet too.)

mc32 10y ago
It's not like was the only car he owned. I mean, one could say Jay Leno drives some very old cars, and someone not knowing he's a car enthusiast collector could think he's frugal.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > It's not like was the only car he owned Is that known?
  - mc32 10y ago
    At one point in his life he drove a Porsche[1]. In fairness, he did drive the Volvo nearly 20 years --before he was advised to replace it because it was "dangerous" as he put it. [1]http://blog.trejdify.com/2012/08/lessons-learned-ikea-startup.html http://blog.trejdify.com/2012/08/lessons-learned-ikea-startu...
headmelted 10y ago
It's fairly well known that Warren Buffet still lives in the house he bought in the fifties before he got ultra wealthy, but I was watching a documentary a couple of weeks back where he was explaining that his choice of breakfast at the McDonald's drive-thru window is dictated by the market closing price the day before. That's hardcore... and a little eccentric probably. Found it: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/becoming-warren-buffett http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/becoming-warren-buffett
- dingdongding 10y ago
  It was not dictated by the market closing price the day before. His breakfast was dictated by how market opened in the morning.
  - headmelted 10y ago
    Eh.. OK? I guess I must have remembered it wrong but the point was a billionaire orders his mcmuffin based on the day-to-day of the indexes.
- tekklloneer 10y ago
  That's not really that eccentric. If I lost a few million dollars on opening, I'd probably want hashbrowns with my mcmuffin.
  - headmelted 10y ago
    Your logic is faultless. Good point!
  - paublyrne 10y ago
    I'd probably skip McDonalds and find an early house.
    - jacobush 10y ago
      what's an early house?
      - simonswords82 10y ago
        It's a pub
      - ajayh 10y ago
        It's a pub with a special alcohol serving licence that allows it to open earlier than normal pubs.
- pg314 10y ago
  In [1], Bill Gates recounts an anecdote about Buffett (with a picture): Remember the laugh we had when we traveled together to Hong Kong and decided to get lunch at McDonald’s? You offered to pay, dug into your pocket, and pulled out…coupons! [1] https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter
- lostapathy 10y ago
  Living in the same house is a popular fact, but it might be a little dishonest. It's a big house, with a lot of space around it, and it's obviously been kept up to date with somebody who has money. It's not at all like the 50 year old house my grandparents have.
  - headmelted 10y ago
    I'm not sure how dishonest it is, as I can't imagine he stays put in the house for PR value. Beyond that, I wouldn't assume that he's had an incredibly out-of-the-ordinary level of work done on the house. It's time-consuming, disruptive and messy. Adjusting for his budget, I can only imagine this would all be made worse if the upgrades include holodecks, teleporters and a subterranean command center.
tyre 10y ago
The founder of Patagonia is a great example http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-philosopher-king http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-phil...
- js2 10y ago
  Recommended: http://www.patagonia.com/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-paperback-book/BK501.html http://www.patagonia.com/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-pa...
henrikschroder 10y ago
In the case of Kamprad, it is definitely merely marketing. He hates paying taxes, and used the same passion for optimizing furniture to optimize his company structure. IKEA is one of the most complicated legal tax-evasion structures around. It is believed that a few percent of the worldwide revenue - not profits! - are going straight into Ingvar's pockets, tax-free. That's quite a feat.
- joelrunyon 10y ago
  "tax evasion" = illegal. I think you mean tax avoidance.
  - jacobush 10y ago
    True technically but he is in dark grays - only a handful "national treasure" Swedish companies can make the Swedish state sometimes, not exactly look the other way, but not look very HARD. (This was a long time ago of course, nowadays, IKEA is not very Swedish at all. It's not very particular anything. It's only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-national.)
- kalleboo 10y ago
  Part of the reason the IKEA structure is so complicated is that it's engineered in a way to keep the both the tax benefits that everyone else also has (see Apple, Google, etc), and also keep the company in strict private Kamprad family control. Public companies like Apple don't need that extra complexity and get away with your standard Dutch-Irish sandwich
megablast 10y ago
This is a bad thing. He is keeping some other family out of a house, when he can afford a much pricier place.
- seppin 10y ago
  that's not how that works

mc32 10y ago

It's not like was the only car he owned. I mean, one could say Jay Leno drives some very old cars, and someone not knowing he's a car enthusiast collector could think he's frugal.

hackuser 10y ago
> It's not like was the only car he owned Is that known?
- mc32 10y ago
  At one point in his life he drove a Porsche[1]. In fairness, he did drive the Volvo nearly 20 years --before he was advised to replace it because it was "dangerous" as he put it. [1]http://blog.trejdify.com/2012/08/lessons-learned-ikea-startup.html http://blog.trejdify.com/2012/08/lessons-learned-ikea-startu...

headmelted 10y ago

It's fairly well known that Warren Buffet still lives in the house he bought in the fifties before he got ultra wealthy, but I was watching a documentary a couple of weeks back where he was explaining that his choice of breakfast at the McDonald's drive-thru window is dictated by the market closing price the day before. That's hardcore... and a little eccentric probably. Found it: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/becoming-warren-buffett http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/becoming-warren-buffett

dingdongding 10y ago
It was not dictated by the market closing price the day before. His breakfast was dictated by how market opened in the morning.
- headmelted 10y ago
  Eh.. OK? I guess I must have remembered it wrong but the point was a billionaire orders his mcmuffin based on the day-to-day of the indexes.
tekklloneer 10y ago
That's not really that eccentric. If I lost a few million dollars on opening, I'd probably want hashbrowns with my mcmuffin.
- headmelted 10y ago
  Your logic is faultless. Good point!
- paublyrne 10y ago
  I'd probably skip McDonalds and find an early house.
  - jacobush 10y ago
    what's an early house?
    - simonswords82 10y ago
      It's a pub
    - ajayh 10y ago
      It's a pub with a special alcohol serving licence that allows it to open earlier than normal pubs.
pg314 10y ago
In [1], Bill Gates recounts an anecdote about Buffett (with a picture): Remember the laugh we had when we traveled together to Hong Kong and decided to get lunch at McDonald’s? You offered to pay, dug into your pocket, and pulled out…coupons! [1] https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter
lostapathy 10y ago
Living in the same house is a popular fact, but it might be a little dishonest. It's a big house, with a lot of space around it, and it's obviously been kept up to date with somebody who has money. It's not at all like the 50 year old house my grandparents have.
- headmelted 10y ago
  I'm not sure how dishonest it is, as I can't imagine he stays put in the house for PR value. Beyond that, I wouldn't assume that he's had an incredibly out-of-the-ordinary level of work done on the house. It's time-consuming, disruptive and messy. Adjusting for his budget, I can only imagine this would all be made worse if the upgrades include holodecks, teleporters and a subterranean command center.

tyre 10y ago

The founder of Patagonia is a great example http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-philosopher-king http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-phil...

js2 10y ago
Recommended: http://www.patagonia.com/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-paperback-book/BK501.html http://www.patagonia.com/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-pa...

henrikschroder 10y ago

In the case of Kamprad, it is definitely merely marketing. He hates paying taxes, and used the same passion for optimizing furniture to optimize his company structure. IKEA is one of the most complicated legal tax-evasion structures around. It is believed that a few percent of the worldwide revenue - not profits! - are going straight into Ingvar's pockets, tax-free. That's quite a feat.

joelrunyon 10y ago
"tax evasion" = illegal. I think you mean tax avoidance.
- jacobush 10y ago
  True technically but he is in dark grays - only a handful "national treasure" Swedish companies can make the Swedish state sometimes, not exactly look the other way, but not look very HARD. (This was a long time ago of course, nowadays, IKEA is not very Swedish at all. It's not very particular anything. It's only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-national.)
kalleboo 10y ago
Part of the reason the IKEA structure is so complicated is that it's engineered in a way to keep the both the tax benefits that everyone else also has (see Apple, Google, etc), and also keep the company in strict private Kamprad family control. Public companies like Apple don't need that extra complexity and get away with your standard Dutch-Irish sandwich

megablast 10y ago

This is a bad thing. He is keeping some other family out of a house, when he can afford a much pricier place.

seppin 10y ago
that's not how that works