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Reticent rich: Preferred style in Silicon Valley
- lhnz 14y agoI reckon this is counter-signalling that they are 'above' caring about money.
- alexgartrell 14y agoThe "zuckerberg's underlings" thing was a load of bullshit. I've seen a corvette, an r8, a lotus, and various other really nice cars at work. You can drive whatever you want, just don't be an asshole about it.
- joshu 14y agoFWIW Lotuses aren't very expensive cars.
- heretohelp 14y agoBetter value than a Lexus if you're a "driver" anyway.
- joshu 14y agoYeah. They are for people that hate driving, I think. I've been looking for a used Elise for a while.
- heretohelp 14y agoThe fact that you can't find a used Elise says loads. I'm more of a motorcycles guy though.
- joshu 14y agoOh, they're out there, I just refuse to pay 10k over what I think is fair.
- bmelton 14y agoThat depends on your net worth, your definition of 'expensive', and which Lotus you're talking about. The Elise is on the high side of 'normally priced', but as commuters they're great because they get decent gas mileage. A well-appointed Exige is close to $80k I think, and cuts the mileage in half. It's a track car, really, so anybody driving it on the streets is probably 'doing it wrong', but I've driven more serious cars as daily drivers so I'm not one to judge. I can't really comment on the Evora because it's 'new tech', and is supposed to be expensive as such. They're expensive compared to the Prius, but they aren't really comparable either. Edit: s/Elan/Elise/g. Memories.
- joshu 14y agoMy point is that none of these are even $100k cars, and if you wanted one you could save for one. They're not Ferraris or otherwise requiring IPO money. Exige is basically the same as an Elise. Sometimes they have superchargers. An Evora is similarly priced to a decked-out Cayman. I mean, we're not talking Expensive for any of these. (I've driven all of these, and much higher-end stuff, too.)
- rdl 14y agoYeah -- nice/hot cars are relatively common in Silicon Valley, just not in SF. (like, color alone isn't enough to identify Roadsters in the parking lot, and the same is almost true of F430s. I've never seen a 911 which wasn't the top of the line Turbo).
- tlrobinson 14y agoAnd I'm sure it was just a coincidence a McLaren dealership just opened up in Palo Alto.
- mahyarm 14y agoWith no McLarens.
- lmm 14y agoThat story makes google suddenly seem a lot less cool to me. If I've made a million because they value the work I do for them, I'll spend it however I damn well please, and I'm pretty sure one of the ways I'd enjoy it would be a nice car.
- olalonde 14y agoAs someone else said here: counter-signaling. One of my first job was to be a valet at high-end events and clubs. I would often see people driving Ferraris while dressed with shorts and flip flops. Or I would see a guy driving a dirty old car while wearing a 30K$ watch. I can't say this is what's really happening here but it seems like a probable hypothesis.
- toadi 14y agoI ride a lot with my bikes and do triathlons but can't imagine spending 20k on a bike. Something between 3 and 5k is enough to have a superbike. A lamborghini I can understand, a boat I can understand but a bike. This coming from a bike nut.
- Super_luigi 14y agoday after the GOOG IPO there were lotuses and Maseratis galore (OK, mostly from sales, but still). And Larry and Sergey bought a jet for chrissakes. Besides; the way to flaunt money now is to spread it all over Angel List
- mixitup12 14y agoThey spend so much time and effort proving that they are not affected by their wealth it's embarrassing. Just goes to show that the industry is made up of some very immature people who care far too much what other people think of them. Naturally this doesn't apply to everyone and the story needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
- drtse4 14y agoI just hope that some of that money will help to build at least a few startups that are actually useful (i know, usefulness is subjective but i'm sure you get what i mean).
- irreverentbits 14y agoAnd so the Valley demonstrates its fixation on wealth through deliberate contrast to "those other places". Just demonstrates that pressure to conform to behavioral expectations associated with financial status affects everyone, even if in different ways.
- mahyarm 14y agoUh what? Palo Alto does look like a sleepy suburb for a billionaire town, but you see 911 turbos parked in a row beside each other like nothing. People aren't conceited about it.
- gaius 14y agoThe funny thing is, there was a time when this article could have been written about Goldman Sachs employees.
- cageface 14y agoI was thinking exactly the same thing. This is why I'm annoyed by this new bubble. When it pops its going to stigmatize the entire profession again, just like last time.
- abcd_f 14y ago> Palo Alto, a suburb so expensive that even a small, no-frills house easily goes for $1.5 million these days Still remarkably affordable compared to Vancouver, Canada.
- jarek 14y agoProportional to the sight-line distance to the closest mountains ;)
- Eeko 14y ago> "It’s almost an unspoken rule: spend your money, but do it privately," So... Facebook applies the Jantelagen?
- andyjohnson0 14y agoThank you for introducing me to a new word! http://wwword.com/79/words/untranslatable/jantelagen/ http://wwword.com/79/words/untranslatable/jantelagen/
- jasonkester 14y agoI can empathize with this, but for reasons the author doesn't mention. You don't suppress your outward signs of wealth for the sake of your millionaire co-workers. You do it so that you can keep your non-millionaire friends. You know, those fun people you hang out with and have for the last dozen years. The ones you have barbecues with on the roof of their (and until recently, your) shabby apartment building. The ones you rope into dirtbag backpacking trips, hopping chicken buses through Central America. And the ones who, through accident of fortune, now make roughly 15% of your currently inflated salary. We say that money doesn't matter. But try buying that house you can now afford in that neighborhood with the gate and watch how it affects your friends the first time you invite them over for drinks by the pool. I don't know what the solution for this is. But lying low seems to be a good plan until somebody comes up with a better idea.
- __alexs 14y agoPut a couple of million in a long term saving account, hide a couple of years living expenses in a shoe box and get rid of the rest of it in other ways your friends won't notice. Done. Get back to living your life instead of worrying about money.
- adventureful 14y agoYou can never actually stop worrying about money if you have millions. Short of not caring about what happens to it. The FDIC covers $250k per savings account. Is US Government paper safe? I wouldn't bet everything on it. Will the Euro be around in ten years? I wouldn't bet much on it. Could gold crash if the Euro vaporizes and money is forced into the dollar? Are equities at a decade high courtesy of Fed POMO shots and low interest rates chasing capital toward risk? Let's say you want to give most of your wealth away and make a difference through charity. I don't see how you could not worry about that, it's important, and you can lose millions as fast as you can lose a few dollars.
- __alexs 14y agoNo amount of being rich is going to make that stuff not happen. > Short of not caring about what happens to it. How about doing that then?
- rdl 14y agoI do predict a lot of new "max out" contributions to political candidates this fall, and a bunch of $5k fundraising dinners held here.
- barredo 14y agoI have a question: What are the best and most expensive things/services you can buy to improve your life that are not noticeable by your friends?
- adventureful 14y agoRegular checkups by the best doctors on earth, making it more likely that you catch something before it goes very wrong. Stem cell therapies from Germany / Europe that stimulate adult stem cells to heal damaged joints / tendons / ligaments (Kobe Bryant used this in the off-season, and claims it worked wonders on his rapidly aging body (by athlete standards)). Great for someone over the age of 30 or 40 with some wear & tear to their body. Financial security - socking away physical gold and silver in Switzerland (or whatever your value preference is). Dual / multi citizenship. It's very hard to acquire citizenship in most of the preferable countries. The nicer European countries let very few immigrants in, ditto New Zealand, and so on. You can almost always buy your way in however, granted your character is up to par. Great option for escaping America if it keeps heading toward being a police state. Use bulk leverage to get discounts on everything you would normally be purchasing. Pay cash for your car, whatever the type you buy, and save on interest. Call up the top insurance firms, they almost always have millionaire packages, pay 10 years out on your insurance coverages (home owners, car, health) and save. Also, buy the best insurance possible, including having a hefty life insurance policy for your loves ones. Pay off all your debt, and never carry debt again (except for purposes of credit building). These days a lot of people are carrying $50k, $100k, etc. in student debt or debt in general (including vehicle debt, mortgage debt, student loans, credit cards). Buying time is the real kicker, whenever you can manage to. Hire a personal assistant that works from a distance, but helps organize your life virtually. Your friends would never need to know the assistant exists.
- PGenes 14y agoYou sound like you really know what to do with money. Thanks for the tips!
- kristofferR 14y agoGetting a virtual personal assistant isn't very expensive, most SF/SV engineers could probably afford it if they wanted to (whether they would need it is another question though..) The really expensive thing is getting a local person who can do "real" tasks for you in your area, there's a lot that can't be done on the net yet. BTW, it seems like you are hellbanned PGenes. Contact an admin to fix it?
- bootload 14y ago"... Cycling and kite-boarding are preferred over golf. ..." Cycling is the new golf: James Cockington, "Come in spinners" ~ http://www.theage.com.au/money/investing/come-in-spinners-20120501-1xvkz.html http://www.theage.com.au/money/investing/come-in-spinners-20...
- gavanwoolery 14y agoI'm all for living well when you are wealthy, but somebody please kill me when I start spending $1200 on jeans.
- jarek 14y ago$200k on a car and $7M on a house is all fine and dandy, but man, the $1.2k jeans is just way over the top. It's like you can get a perfectly serviceable equivalent for a quarter of the price.
- gavanwoolery 14y agoI get where you are going, but... $200k on a car is probably too much (once the novelty wears off) - you can get a nice luxury car with more performance than you can handle for $50k. As for housing, it depends on the location. Zuckerberg's $7M house is actually relatively modest. You can buy the same house in the midwest for probably under $500k. Even still, those things are relatively justifiable. You can't measure denim jeans worth by square footage or horse-power. I understand the difference between a $30 pair of jeans and a $200 pair (having been stupid enough to shell out that much myself), but beyond that I cannot really justify the cost.
- dsolomon 14y agoIf someone for "senior company management" is going to show up with baseball bat telling me what car I can or cannot drive should be prepared for a response they may not appreciate.
- carguy1983 14y agoThis entire article is nonsense. People in SV buy expensive cars, boats, planes, flashy watches/jewelry, and all the other shiny things that rich people in LA, NY, and Florida/Texas buy. There's also a very poor underclass and a shrinking middle class - just like everywhere else. It's suburban America with boring office parks and shitty chain restaurants and Target stores and burrito stands just like the other 95% of the state/region. Everything is just way more expensive because there's so much money floating around here.