The Billionaire Craze
Ok, I know rich guys have always inspired fantasies, but having been asked to review a fair number of billionaire fantasy stories, I have to say:
a) Billionaires don't behave that way. Scratch that, really wealthy people don't behave that way, that includes multimillionaires and those just shy of billionaire status
b) The median age of billionaires does not correspond with those in fantasies, apart from the tech boom guys, most billionaires are the age of one of my ex-employers
I guess the reason why I speak with confidence on the genre is because I've worked for a couple of those monied slimeballs and they are nasty pieces of work.
Take for instance the most recent example: a self-made billionaire, at that point 40 years old though frankly he looked 50+. I was shocked that he was the age of one of my best friends but looked like an older uncle. He was pretty much the usual slimebag, made his fortune, cashed out, decide to be man of the world/investor, leaves his wife of almost 20 years (and by then at least 2 kids) who saw him through his tough start up years. Was openly with his "girlfriend" before the divorce was finalised. And still perving at almost every female employee in his various "investment" companies. Thinks money is the answer to everything, and once asked me when I'd successfully arranged a publicity media gig how much I had to bribe the other party to set it up - I was so aghast I looked at him and shook my head.
And while he didn't hesitate to spend on himself, he was penny-pinching when it came to employees and even more so when it came to the divorce, think he spent more time trying to protect his assets than he did with his kids. Of course, that could just be prejudice but boy, did he go flat out to ensure his wife got as little as possible. Seriously, that was a woman who helped him build his fortune and he was busy doing her in in the last stages of their marriage.
It's slimebags like these that make me snort at most billionaire fantasies. Believe me, the Fifty Shades movie caught more cheap sleaze than wealthy predilection. Many of these guys (and yes, guys, they outnumber the women by at least 5 to 1) have more money than taste or sense, if you see the decor they prefer for their mansions and yachts, you'd agree too. Shockingly bad. Kitsch is the kindest word I'd use.
So, while I appreciate the fantasy, because I know the reality, I guess the fantasy is hollow for me. I recognise the attraction of these characters but as a cynical private banker (he liked to refer to himself as a service provider though frankly I thought of him as a facilitator or enabler) once noted, "when you're that rich, it's no longer about what's attractive about you, you define attractiveness and people naturally flock towards you even if you're butt ugly". And that is the reality behind the fantasy.
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