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That was disappointing. This doesn't tell me what to do with a billion dollars at all, it tells me what not to do for one year. Okay I wait a year... then wha

by dstein 16y ago

That was disappointing. This doesn't tell me what to do with a billion dollars at all, it tells me what not to do for one year. Okay I wait a year... then what? Beyond typical "invest wisely" advice, there might be things you can do with a billion dollars that I can't even conceive of. Buy an island and populate it with beautiful naked women? Fund a nuclear fusion project? Build a high speed Mag-Lev train system between Washington DC and New York? Or do you invest in longevity, brain-scan and cryogenics research in attempt to be the first human to live forever?

redthrowaway 16y ago
You look at what the people who actually have a billion dollars are doing. Gates, Soros, and Buffet are heavily involved in philanthropy. Zuck, Jobs, Larry, and Sergey are mostly sitting tight. Ellison is living the high life, and Trump is being Trump. Branson's doing the closest to what you're talking about, but mostly in money-making ways. The point is, none of them are being stupid, and all of them are doing, for the most part, what they'd be doing if they weren't billionaires. Don't operate under the delusion that fabulous wealth will change who you are as a person. If you aren't happy as a thousandaire, you won't be happy as a billionaire. The one gift that money like that gives you is the time and opportunity to pursue what's important to you, but you've done something wrong if you're not doing that already.
- kooshball 16y ago
  zuck donated 100MM to newark school district. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/education/23newark.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/education/23newark.html also he has signed the "Giving Pledge" started by Gates and Buffet to donate most of his wealth. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703493504576007982500939482.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870349350457600... that's certainly not sitting tight.
  - redthrowaway 16y ago
    That was just recently, though. Also, there's a huge difference between writing a check and being heavily involved in philanthropy. Gates et al pursue philanthropy as they pursued their careers, but Zuck's is more of a fire and forget style of charity. I'm not blaming him for it; he's a busy guy and it'd be stupid for him to adopt the Gates model while facebook places the demands on his time that it does. Were it not for TSN, he likely would have never done either, not because he's Scrooge but because it's just not a big deal to him. Which kind of goes back to my point. He's doing essentially the same thing as a billionaire that he was when he was running facebook from his dorm room.

by dstein 16y ago

redthrowaway 16y ago

You look at what the people who actually have a billion dollars are doing. Gates, Soros, and Buffet are heavily involved in philanthropy. Zuck, Jobs, Larry, and Sergey are mostly sitting tight. Ellison is living the high life, and Trump is being Trump. Branson's doing the closest to what you're talking about, but mostly in money-making ways. The point is, none of them are being stupid, and all of them are doing, for the most part, what they'd be doing if they weren't billionaires. Don't operate under the delusion that fabulous wealth will change who you are as a person. If you aren't happy as a thousandaire, you won't be happy as a billionaire. The one gift that money like that gives you is the time and opportunity to pursue what's important to you, but you've done something wrong if you're not doing that already.

kooshball 16y ago
zuck donated 100MM to newark school district. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/education/23newark.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/education/23newark.html also he has signed the "Giving Pledge" started by Gates and Buffet to donate most of his wealth. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703493504576007982500939482.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870349350457600... that's certainly not sitting tight.
- redthrowaway 16y ago
  That was just recently, though. Also, there's a huge difference between writing a check and being heavily involved in philanthropy. Gates et al pursue philanthropy as they pursued their careers, but Zuck's is more of a fire and forget style of charity. I'm not blaming him for it; he's a busy guy and it'd be stupid for him to adopt the Gates model while facebook places the demands on his time that it does. Were it not for TSN, he likely would have never done either, not because he's Scrooge but because it's just not a big deal to him. Which kind of goes back to my point. He's doing essentially the same thing as a billionaire that he was when he was running facebook from his dorm room.