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Part (and I do mean part) of the explanation is that people’s expectations around peer group and lifestyle changes. He’s probabaly looking at Larry Ellison and

Part (and I do mean part) of the explanation is that people’s expectations around peer group and lifestyle changes. He’s probabaly looking at Larry Ellison and feeling poor, and that he needs to have (make up a number) $1b in the bank to support his lifestyle (planes, houses, hobbies, philanthropic giving, etc.). I bet if you asked in 2004 (pre-google) what the comparable number was, it was like $20-40m…

Wowfunhappy 3y ago
What type of lifestyle does $1 billion make available that is not already affordable with $200 million?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
  Mega-yachts and associated maintenance, larger private jets and associated maintenance, naming any given building or school etc. in the world after yourself
  - Wowfunhappy 3y ago
    I'd classify those things as ways of showing off your reputation, not improving your quality of life. Once your yacht is of a certain size, the only reason to make it bigger is to demonstrate how much wealthier you are than other yacht owners. And that's fine, but I wish we lived in a society where "runs a company that doesn't mistreat users" (or treats employees well, or helps the planet, etc) was clearly more important to someone's reputation than the size of their yacht.
    - ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
      > Once your yacht is of a certain size, the only reason to make it bigger is to demonstrate how much wealthier you are than other yacht owners. This may or may not be the opinion of people in the position to actually assess it. It can be the difference between being able to go to a place you want to go or not, based on range or seaworthiness. It can be the difference between having an amenity on the craft or not.
- spitfire 3y ago
  A few divorces. Or a mistress or three.
  - denton-scratch 3y ago
    A big yacht with a helipad in the Seychelles, and another in the Bahamas. And you have to crew the yachts - usually more crew than passengers. And a helicopter, and a private jet. Those'll chew up 300 mill easily.
- balderdash 3y ago
  You’ve already missed the point - it doesn’t matter. It’s that peoples’ expectations change. (Yes there are diminishing marginal returns etc., but once you’re used to X, 50% of X feels painful, even if 50% of X is still an extremely luxurious lifestyle)
  - Wowfunhappy 3y ago
    > but once you’re used to X, 50% of X feels painful, even if 50% of X is still an extremely luxurious lifestyle Let's say that X is your favorite food. If you already have 100x the amount you could ever eat, a 50% reduction won't feel painful at all, because you'll still have far more than you could ever eat. I'd posit that at a certain point, you have more of everything than you could ever use, except for things that demonstrate your wealth to others. The naming rights to buildings are one example—they don't actually increase your quality of life in any way, they just show how wealthy you are. Maybe I was wrong about the threshold for this, and it's actually higher than $200 million dollars, but it can't be that far off...

Wowfunhappy 3y ago

What type of lifestyle does $1 billion make available that is not already affordable with $200 million?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
Mega-yachts and associated maintenance, larger private jets and associated maintenance, naming any given building or school etc. in the world after yourself
- Wowfunhappy 3y ago
  I'd classify those things as ways of showing off your reputation, not improving your quality of life. Once your yacht is of a certain size, the only reason to make it bigger is to demonstrate how much wealthier you are than other yacht owners. And that's fine, but I wish we lived in a society where "runs a company that doesn't mistreat users" (or treats employees well, or helps the planet, etc) was clearly more important to someone's reputation than the size of their yacht.
  - ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
    > Once your yacht is of a certain size, the only reason to make it bigger is to demonstrate how much wealthier you are than other yacht owners. This may or may not be the opinion of people in the position to actually assess it. It can be the difference between being able to go to a place you want to go or not, based on range or seaworthiness. It can be the difference between having an amenity on the craft or not.
spitfire 3y ago
A few divorces. Or a mistress or three.
- denton-scratch 3y ago
  A big yacht with a helipad in the Seychelles, and another in the Bahamas. And you have to crew the yachts - usually more crew than passengers. And a helicopter, and a private jet. Those'll chew up 300 mill easily.
balderdash 3y ago
You’ve already missed the point - it doesn’t matter. It’s that peoples’ expectations change. (Yes there are diminishing marginal returns etc., but once you’re used to X, 50% of X feels painful, even if 50% of X is still an extremely luxurious lifestyle)
- Wowfunhappy 3y ago
  > but once you’re used to X, 50% of X feels painful, even if 50% of X is still an extremely luxurious lifestyle Let's say that X is your favorite food. If you already have 100x the amount you could ever eat, a 50% reduction won't feel painful at all, because you'll still have far more than you could ever eat. I'd posit that at a certain point, you have more of everything than you could ever use, except for things that demonstrate your wealth to others. The naming rights to buildings are one example—they don't actually increase your quality of life in any way, they just show how wealthy you are. Maybe I was wrong about the threshold for this, and it's actually higher than $200 million dollars, but it can't be that far off...