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Most people don’t know what it’s like to be a billionaire, let alone a billionaire. Have you ever wondered how the ultra-rich behave in their day-to-day lives? A recent message board discussion revealed the top things that billionaires do differently, according to real people who have worked and interacted closely with the super-wealthy.
Work Non-stop
The number one quality mentioned by people was the workaholic nature of the ultra-rich. One user said, “I work with lots of millionaires and a few billionaires. Most work nonstop. There’s no boundary between workday, holiday, weekend, etc., but there is also no boundary between friend, family, coworker lots of times.”
No Driving
“Years ago, a friend of mine’s dad was trying to sell his start-up company and picked up an investor at the airport. He was proud of his classic Rolls Royce and noticed the investor looking around, playing with the air vents. So he said, ‘Is this your first time in a Rolls Royce?’ The guy said no, but it was his first time in the front seat,” recalled one commenter. Many other users who worked for billionaires also confirmed that most of them don’t drive themselves around when they could be escorted by a driver while getting work done in the back seat of a town car.
Manage Time Precisely
Lots of comments mentioned that extremely wealthy people are very meticulous about time. Any meetings would be scheduled down to the minute and free of any small talk. One commenter said, “They view life through the lens of time, over essentially anything else. Time is their most valuable resource and anything that saves them time or unnecessary effort is worth whatever the price.”
Hire a Private Chef
Hiring a private chef sounds like an unimaginable luxury to most of us. Knowing the time limits that most billionaires have makes more sense. Why waste your time cooking mediocre food if you could pay someone a small fraction of what you make in an hour to make amazing food for you?
Fly on Their Private Jet
There were a myriad of stories from employees of ultra-rich bosses who mentioned that many of their bosses had never even flown commercial before. When you hire your own pilot, you can leave whenever you want—no waiting hours getting through security lines, baggage claim, and airport traffic!
Ask For Exactly What They Want
When talking about having lunch with their billionaire boss, one employee said, “She wanted x dish that they didn’t make that day and they made it. The one that stuck with me was at the end when she said, ‘I want a cappuccino with (something). I want them to put a design on it like I’ve gotten cute cappuccinos in my life, it doesn’t even cost extra, it never occurred to me to just ask for everything I want all the time.”
No Fear Talking to People
Several people mentioned that the billionaires they had met had unshakable confidence. The everyday person might be shy or fearful to walk up and talk to a stranger or start chatting with a celebrity, but these wealthy individuals didn’t seem to have that problem.
Ask a Lot of Questions
“They ask a million questions. About every detail. This is the number one personality trait I’ve noticed – the critical thinking is to the point where if you misspeak one word that is easily well understood, they will question you to be certain. I do think this is one (of many) factors that have made them successful,” said one person who had worked with several wealthy bosses.
Utilize Legal Help
With all that extra money, it’s much easier to use it to make everyday nuisances disappear. When talking about their wealthy relative, one user said, “Neighbours being pains in the backside? Send in the solicitor. Trying to organize a purchase or sale is taking too long? Pay the solicitor to fast-track. Local council leaving traffic lights up for over a week after work has been completed? Cry havoc and let slip the solicitors of war.”
Take Risks
“Worked with many millionaires in my time in security and what surprised me is how not smart they are. Most of them are just people who took a risk by starting a business or making the right investment and it paid off,” recalled one user.
Constantly Travel
That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re always on vacation, although they certainly take frequent luxury trips. Billionaires often travel continuously for business to close deals, meet with investors, etc. Many commenters also mentioned that even during family trips, high-level CEOs don’t take time off and continue to work while on vacation.
Prioritize Money
Although not necessarily true of every super-rich person, it was mentioned that many prioritize money over everything, including children, family, health, and relationships. One commenter talked about their billionaire friend, “…they said money is like a plant; it needs to be constantly nurtured and taken care of. I feel like it’s always on their mind. This person’s son would tell me that the business is the true firstborn, that he comes after.”
Spend Extra for Expert Opinions
One commenter worked for a billionaire for seven years and revealed how much value he put into expert opinions. They said, “He placed 0 emphasis on anything reported by media, social media, Google, Wikipedia or anything on the internet. If he wanted real information, he’d think nothing about dropping $250,000 to get access to real researchers, engineers, or experts for a consultation to seek their opinion. Sometimes, it was related to investments. Other times, he just wanted to settle who was ‘right’.”
Lack of Personal Friendships
When most of your waking hours are spent working, it doesn’t leave much room to foster close personal relationships with friends, family, children, or spouses. Because of this, it was reported that often, the closest people to billionaires are actually the people who work with them since they spend most of their time with employees.
Focus on the Long Term
“They play the long game. They don’t really think about what will happen short term as much. They ignore monthly costs but pay attention to costs over 5-10 years. Same with income. The short term is viewed as if they’re on track for the long term,” one user noticed.
Just Get It Done
“This is the #1 trait I have seen that sometimes reveals the ultra-wealthy. Normal people think about things in terms of cost (capital, people needed, skills, time, etc.) whereas the rich just want a clear path to ‘It’s done.’ They aren’t used to hearing why something can’t be done. Like it is inconceivable that you would explain the challenges associated with doing something or any obstacles they might encounter. The attitude is very much ‘Okay, so what is it going to cost for that to not be a problem anymore?’,” said one commenter who worked with many ultra-rich clients.
Source: Reddit
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