Ask HN: What does the richest person you know do? - putnam
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zapperdapper
I'm guessing you mean know personally?

It also depends what you mean by rich - I'll assume you mean monetarily.

I know several who have inherited great wealth - so I won't count them.

1) One guy I know very well left school at 16 and became a carpenter. He
bought a run down house and did it up on evenings and weekends - sold for a
profit, bought a bigger house, did it up on the side etc. He later partnered
with his friend who was an estate agent and they worked very successfully
buying, doing up, and selling properties together. Net worth around £5
million. He's still working.

2) Another guy, a friend of my Dad's, bummed around after leaving school at
14, worked as a tram driver and taught himself plumbing on the side, basically
worked 7 days a week. Then got a job at Heathrow loading bags on planes. He
worked every shift he could and continued plumbing on the side. Bought a run
down house, filled it with lodgers (mostly Irish navvies). Bought another run
down house, filled it with lodgers. etc. Grafted like this into his 70s. Now
retired. Net worth around £10 million.

3) Another guy I know was especially bright. Did a degree in Economics and
German. Became an accountant. After a period doing auditing he moved into
small company analysis, specializing in small German companies. Twenty years
ago his bonus alone was more than a million a year. He bought a million+ pound
house without a mortgage - then bought one that was probably three times the
size of that. In the end he cut back on work, and now only works from home,
and only does work that interests him. He pays his daughter to pretend to be
him on Skype, so he can go off and play golf. Net worth, around £20+ million.

Couple of interesting points - the first guy never got married, never had
kids, never really had a serious girlfriend for more than a few months - and
is not particularly happy. Second guy was completely obsessive about not
spending money, he drove around in a clapped out van, which he fixed himself,
and never really enjoyed his money. Third guy was a real family man and met
his wife (who is gorgeous) when he was a student with no money, and she was a
nurse (with probably even less money!). All their happiness comes from each
other and their three beautiful kids. But yes, they do live in a big house -
but I suspect they would have been just as happy in a semi.

Funnily enough, none of the software engineers I know are particularly well
off (financially)!

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freestockoption
Real estate seems to be a common theme amongst people generating wealth.

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zapperdapper
In the UK it can be a very tax efficient way to build wealth. You pay stamp
duty when you buy a home, but there are no taxes when you sell if you are
selling your main home. So you can build your wealth tax-free in your main
home. A lot of people build wealth here this way. Not saying that's good or
not, just that is indeed a common theme.

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spoonie
You usually can’t build wealth or increase the value of a single home much.
The physical house depreciates, but the land it sits on increases in value due
to factors outside of the owner’s control. You are right though, that it’s a
tax-free way of saving, and you can keep trading up using the gains and the
leverage you have.

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papermule
I’m not sure about that. A lot of people purchase run down homes and renovate
them, often selling these homes for good profit. That’s not due to the
increasing value of land?

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zapperdapper
Yes you are right. What my mate often does is add value through renovation
and/or extension. For example, one house was very run down and was on a large
plot of land. He renovated the main house, and extended it, building an extra
bedroom and detached garage. He then divided the land and built a new house on
a separate plot. Then sold both houses. His net profit was around £150K I
believe. Other projects are smaller, such as just a straight renovation. On
his current personal house he bought it for around £350K - it was very run
down. He lived in a caravan on site for 18 months while he renovated and
extended. He has since extended twice, and converted the barns into living
accommodation. Estimated value now is around £2million. He owns another
property outright that he rents out. Rental income around £1,400 a month net.
That property is worth around £500K I would say.

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mindcrime
I rarely talk about finances, so I'm not even sure who the richest person I
know _is_. It also depends on how tightly you define "know". Like, I've met
Mark Cuban and exchanged a few words with him, so by that standard, the
richest person I know runs a basketball team. But in terms of people I know on
a more personal level... I used to work for Bob Young at Lulu and while we're
hardly buddies, I can legitimately say I "know" him. So by that standard, the
richest person I know does whatever it is that Bob is doing these days.

Outside of that, I know a few VC's and a few founders who have had successful
exits. Of the ones who fall in the "founder" camp, I think they've all gone on
to founding new companies since their exits. The VC guys are all still VC's as
far as I know, although I haven't talked to most of those guys in a while.

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Sevii
He recently sold his consulting company of 15 years and is in the process of
retiring. He was a sales guy with a little technical know how and worked hard
into his 60s. Net worth 10mil++, wouldn’t be suprised if the company went for
100mil+.

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greenyoda
He founded a hedge fund, became a billionaire, and now pursues other
interests.

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matchmike1313
Runs a B2C SaaS company for photo manipulation / editing.

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joeblow9999
The richest person I know works very very hard and is still going.

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partisan
Medical sales

