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> 84 Lumber’s owner, Maggie Hardy Magerko, has something in common with the president. Both inherited businesses from their fathers that have made them fabulous

> 84 Lumber’s owner, Maggie Hardy Magerko, has something in common with the president. Both inherited businesses from their fathers that have made them fabulously rich. Magerko owns almost all of closely held 84 Lumber, whose stores cater primarily to residential builders and contractors. She is worth $2.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. > Magerko, 51, is not afraid to flaunt her wealth, sending a message to her workers that they too can get rich working construction. Wearing a diamond cross necklace, a Gucci belt, and a white shirt emblazoned with the company logo, she visited a rural Pennsylvania store recently in a white Mercedes. “I want people who work for me to retire in their 50s and own their own boats,” she says. So essentially, the best way to achieve the American Dream is to inherit a successful business from your parents. Capitalism is sort of like a pyramid scheme - The owner(s) at the top reaping all the benefits, while everyone else is plumbing away in hope of the "American Dream".

mgummelt 9y ago
Most of the Forbes 400 are self-made: https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/03/there-are-more-self-made-billionaires-in-the-forbes-400-than-ever-before https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/03/there-...
- extra88 9y ago
  Yes, but their definition of self-made to include people who "got a head start from wealthy parents and moneyed background," like Rupert Murdoch. I think most people would consider the next level on their scale, "came from a middle- or upper-middle-class background" (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg) to be a more appropriate cut-off. Not for nothing, but the Forbes 400 list that year included Elizabeth Holmes because of her 50% stake in Theranos, valued at $9 billion; last year it was valued at $800 million. This is not the only example of wealth being more made-up than self-made.
AndrewKemendo 9y ago
“I want people who work for me to retire in their 50s and own their own boats,” she says. God that sounds terrible anyway. Do that many people want to retire - literally have nothing greater than themselves that requires their input on a daily basis - and go sit on a boat? What a waste.
- bitwize 9y ago
  Ever own a boat? Believe me, it's not something you just sit on. Maintaining a boat can be hard, and fulfilling, work for a retiree.
  - DrScump 9y ago
    Having a large boat for recreation (rather than work, like fishing) is sort of a cultural symbol for wealth (in the USA, anyway). The California Lottery's current TV spot shows a youngish guy on a yacht, with a pony. It's perhaps inspired by the old Lyle Lovett song, "If I Had a Boat", which says: "If I had a boat I'd sail across the ocean and if I had a pony I'd ride him on my boat."
- gorkonsine 9y ago
  >God that sounds terrible anyway. Do that many people want to retire - literally have nothing greater than themselves that requires their input on a daily basis - and go sit on a boat? What a waste. I do! Not necessarily a boat, though; I'd rather have a nice house in the woods, and spend a lot of time traveling the world. But you seem to think it's a "waste" if someone doesn't want to spend their whole life working. For what? So I can spend most of my waking hours in the sheer hell which is the modern open-plan office? Why TF would I want to do that if I didn't have to? The sooner I don't have to put up with open-plan offices, the better. And what are you contributing to the world while you're working anyway? You really think that working on yet another Javascript framework, or building yet another re-spin of some website is improving the world in a substantive way? Out of all the HN readership, I'd guess that less than 5% actually does anything that's lasting and useful to society.
  - AndrewKemendo 9y ago
    Who said anything about working in an office? Out of all the HN readership, I'd guess that less than 5% actually does anything that's lasting and useful to society. I'd put it at closer to 1% - and that's the point. You have the causation backward though. If the purported goal is this mundane, hedonistic "retirement," then nobody will ever do anything lasting and useful because you can find an easy niche to fall into that lets you maximize your "leisure time."
EADGBE 9y ago
The American dream sounds a lot like retiring in one's 50's and owning a boat (to her). I'd say I agree, minus the boat part. Her's might be different from our American Dream; but if she's setting up her employees to do this, then both sides are #winning.

mgummelt 9y ago

Most of the Forbes 400 are self-made: https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/03/there-are-more-self-made-billionaires-in-the-forbes-400-than-ever-before https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/03/there-...

extra88 9y ago
Yes, but their definition of self-made to include people who "got a head start from wealthy parents and moneyed background," like Rupert Murdoch. I think most people would consider the next level on their scale, "came from a middle- or upper-middle-class background" (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg) to be a more appropriate cut-off. Not for nothing, but the Forbes 400 list that year included Elizabeth Holmes because of her 50% stake in Theranos, valued at $9 billion; last year it was valued at $800 million. This is not the only example of wealth being more made-up than self-made.

AndrewKemendo 9y ago

“I want people who work for me to retire in their 50s and own their own boats,” she says. God that sounds terrible anyway. Do that many people want to retire - literally have nothing greater than themselves that requires their input on a daily basis - and go sit on a boat? What a waste.

bitwize 9y ago
Ever own a boat? Believe me, it's not something you just sit on. Maintaining a boat can be hard, and fulfilling, work for a retiree.
- DrScump 9y ago
  Having a large boat for recreation (rather than work, like fishing) is sort of a cultural symbol for wealth (in the USA, anyway). The California Lottery's current TV spot shows a youngish guy on a yacht, with a pony. It's perhaps inspired by the old Lyle Lovett song, "If I Had a Boat", which says: "If I had a boat I'd sail across the ocean and if I had a pony I'd ride him on my boat."
gorkonsine 9y ago
>God that sounds terrible anyway. Do that many people want to retire - literally have nothing greater than themselves that requires their input on a daily basis - and go sit on a boat? What a waste. I do! Not necessarily a boat, though; I'd rather have a nice house in the woods, and spend a lot of time traveling the world. But you seem to think it's a "waste" if someone doesn't want to spend their whole life working. For what? So I can spend most of my waking hours in the sheer hell which is the modern open-plan office? Why TF would I want to do that if I didn't have to? The sooner I don't have to put up with open-plan offices, the better. And what are you contributing to the world while you're working anyway? You really think that working on yet another Javascript framework, or building yet another re-spin of some website is improving the world in a substantive way? Out of all the HN readership, I'd guess that less than 5% actually does anything that's lasting and useful to society.
- AndrewKemendo 9y ago
  Who said anything about working in an office? Out of all the HN readership, I'd guess that less than 5% actually does anything that's lasting and useful to society. I'd put it at closer to 1% - and that's the point. You have the causation backward though. If the purported goal is this mundane, hedonistic "retirement," then nobody will ever do anything lasting and useful because you can find an easy niche to fall into that lets you maximize your "leisure time."

EADGBE 9y ago

The American dream sounds a lot like retiring in one's 50's and owning a boat (to her). I'd say I agree, minus the boat part. Her's might be different from our American Dream; but if she's setting up her employees to do this, then both sides are #winning.