4 ms·

I'm sure there are a number of old money families that control wealth of at least an order of magnitude higher. They are powerful enough to not make it visible

by rapsey 10y ago

I'm sure there are a number of old money families that control wealth of at least an order of magnitude higher. They are powerful enough to not make it visible and directly tied to them. Rothchilds are most likely effectively trillioners.

matthewbauer 10y ago
That seems hard to believe. I suppose if you start counting families you can get some pretty big numbers but trillions definitely is too high.
- mehwoot 10y ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20060115031554/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article56239.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20060115031554/http://news.indep... "...to sustain their secretive fortune, which industry insiders count not in billions but in trillions, and keep it within the family." Definitely unfair to count families though. The rothschild family has hundreds (if not thousands??) of members now.
charlesdm 10y ago
Do you have your tin foil hat on? Intergenerational wealth breaks down relatively quickly when dealing with significant numbers of heirs to a family fortune. Most will probably still be UHNWIs, but that's it.
- rapsey 10y ago
  A family whose wealth was built by their knowledge of how to manage wealth let their fortune dwindle? If I'm a crazy conspiracy theorist for finding that hard to believe I guess I am.
  - charlesdm 10y ago
    As a family, they'll be worth a lot. But not that much. We're probably talking 100-200+ descendants over the centuries. Some will have done well in life (e.g. doubled / tripled / quadrupled their inheritances), others will have wasted it all.
    - rapsey 10y ago
      You are speaking in certainties and making baseless assumptions to come to your conclusion.
      - charlesdm 10y ago
        So are you? The things I brought up are relatively common sense. Common sense aside, I also know several old money families (some 3rd generation entrepreneurial, some old 12th century EU aristocracy) and I'm partially basing my assumptions based on what I've noticed and what they've told me about similar families they know. If you feel the need to prove the Rothschild family are trillionaires, go ahead + best of luck.
        rapsey 10y ago
        > So are you? What certainty am I speaking in? I'm making a clearly expressed assumption that they are using their family core competency of managing wealth and not pissing it away. > The things I brought up are relatively common sense. If you mean common sense as in having no sense how to properly manage wealth. Which is what very few people on average understand.
        tunap 10y ago
        House of Saud seems to have a pretty good grip on retaining wealth. Did someone say "trillions"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saud#Wealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saud#Wealth
melling 10y ago
Yes, but simple math comes into play again. You've got to keep splitting the money among all those kids, and before you know it, each is only worth tens of millions.
- rapsey 10y ago
  House of Saud way of managing wealth is not the only option.

by rapsey 10y ago

matthewbauer 10y ago

That seems hard to believe. I suppose if you start counting families you can get some pretty big numbers but trillions definitely is too high.

mehwoot 10y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20060115031554/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article56239.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20060115031554/http://news.indep... "...to sustain their secretive fortune, which industry insiders count not in billions but in trillions, and keep it within the family." Definitely unfair to count families though. The rothschild family has hundreds (if not thousands??) of members now.

charlesdm 10y ago

Do you have your tin foil hat on? Intergenerational wealth breaks down relatively quickly when dealing with significant numbers of heirs to a family fortune. Most will probably still be UHNWIs, but that's it.

rapsey 10y ago
A family whose wealth was built by their knowledge of how to manage wealth let their fortune dwindle? If I'm a crazy conspiracy theorist for finding that hard to believe I guess I am.
- charlesdm 10y ago
  As a family, they'll be worth a lot. But not that much. We're probably talking 100-200+ descendants over the centuries. Some will have done well in life (e.g. doubled / tripled / quadrupled their inheritances), others will have wasted it all.
  - rapsey 10y ago
    You are speaking in certainties and making baseless assumptions to come to your conclusion.
    - charlesdm 10y ago
      So are you? The things I brought up are relatively common sense. Common sense aside, I also know several old money families (some 3rd generation entrepreneurial, some old 12th century EU aristocracy) and I'm partially basing my assumptions based on what I've noticed and what they've told me about similar families they know. If you feel the need to prove the Rothschild family are trillionaires, go ahead + best of luck.
      - rapsey 10y ago
        > So are you? What certainty am I speaking in? I'm making a clearly expressed assumption that they are using their family core competency of managing wealth and not pissing it away. > The things I brought up are relatively common sense. If you mean common sense as in having no sense how to properly manage wealth. Which is what very few people on average understand.
        tunap 10y ago
        House of Saud seems to have a pretty good grip on retaining wealth. Did someone say "trillions"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saud#Wealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saud#Wealth

melling 10y ago

Yes, but simple math comes into play again. You've got to keep splitting the money among all those kids, and before you know it, each is only worth tens of millions.

rapsey 10y ago
House of Saud way of managing wealth is not the only option.