Have you ever known any kind and decent rich people ?

[steve2470]

"Rich people" = net worth north of $10,000,000. Maybe that's too low these days, but a starting point for chatting. Yes, I realize one does not demand financial statements from people unless you're a CPA/auditor/SEC/etc

Hosts, if this gets too contentious, feel free to lock this or I'll self-delete. I'm NOT trying to stick up for or advocate for the 1%. God knows there's many assholes among those ranks. I'm just simply curious. Personally, I've known a few decent ones, but then again, I don't know how they got their money. I always find it strange when billionaires (who probably fucked over many people) suddenly donate millions to children's charities or other worthy causes. Makes you go hmmmm.

Steve

[Aristus]

1. Not personally.

My wife's step-father is a wealthy contractor. He and his wife, my mother-in-law, were very generous to me and my wife as we were getting started after our wedding, and in getting our careers off the ground.

But from a business standpoint, he is pretty cut-throat. He's an ultra-right-wing Obama-hater, and virulently anti-union. Every one of his former employees that I've spoken with says he's a bastard to work for, and cheap as hell.

[elleng]

2. Yes,

friends of my folks. DID, I think, vote for their pocketbook/tax protection, but otherwise, pretty kind and generous. And both had serious, on-going maladies. so were due our sympathy.

[UTUSN]

3. O.K., not in that range but far from hurting

A totally hardworking, totally "clean" life (not priggish but teetotaling/devout), self-effacing man who turned everything over to wife/kids who never had to work and ended up sponging off him for life.

A couple with a crackerjack business, who hung out as regulars at a VFW and related dive, never with a hint of airs, maintaining a stable of hangers-on I mean employees, bailing out (in the financial sense) who knows how many in dire straits, and if the wife found out it was your birthday she would run out to bring a cake.

A restaurateur who would walk in with platters for whomever.

A lady managing some kind of estate, donating on request, for emergencies.

[cyberswede]

4. Not sure if he qualifies...

but Cornell University President David Skorton is a kind and decent person. I think his salary is around $1 million/year.

He's going to the the director of the Smithsonian next year.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/03/president-skorton-lead-smithsonian-institution

[dr.strangelove]

5. Yes

I have a good friend from college who has done very well for himself and falls into that category. He earned his money the old fashion way, with hard work. He and I both went to a very good colelge on scholarships. He went into the technical side of finance (the operations side, computers, copliance, form filing ...) and has made a lot of money. He works 10-12 hour days every day, but is a great guy. I have never known him to be mean to anyone. I also know a guy who was president of a university. He is also a very nice man. I think there are far more kind and decent people in all level of finance, but the bad ones speak the loudest with words and actions.

[woodsprite]

6. Yes, I have.

Off the top of my head -- I worked with one, then one of the people that used to work for me became a millionaire though his dad's gift of his share of their PC repair business he had sold.

I had no idea the guy I worked with (he was faculty, I ran a computer lab) was well off until he started dropping a million here and there as gifts to the school.

The kid that worked for me was just born into the right family I guess. I'm still friends with him on FB. He helped fill in for me while I was on maternity leave with my daughter and son. Definitely knew his stuff where computers were concerned.

Not surprising, both are pretty much die-hard repubs.

[Major Nikon]

7. Yes

When you hang around airports long enough you meet an interesting mix of everyone from middle class to the super rich. One that comes to mind is Roger Hardesty who at one time had a net worth of $500 million (probably more by now). He had his own private air force which consisted of 2 F-5s and a T-38 (I think it's grown since then). I haven't seen him in over 15 years so I don't know if he still owns one of the skyscrapers in downtown Tulsa, but he once let our little aviation group use the penthouse suite of the building for a tribute we had for one of our members. He even had the event catered at his expense.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0518/6110045a.html

[Wait Wut]

8. Yes, my family.

Though the money had been dispersed throughout long before I got my hands on any.

My grandmother was very wealthy and very much a Democrat, as was her father and all the rest on my dad's side on down.

I was also raised in a wealthy suburb of Chicago and had a lot of friends that came from money. One of my closest friends got a brand new Jag for his 16th birthday. He was an extremely good kid, wicked smart and very generous. His family was not only respected, but loved throughout the community.

Money doesn't make you indecent. You had to be born with the predisposition for indecency.

[steve2470]

10. I think large amounts of money makes it much easier to be indecent

If you had good values, sensitivity, empathy and a conscience before you acquired wealth, I do think you tend to retain those. I think the "decent wealthy" don't want publicity in general and I think it's easy to take for granted that decent behavior, because that's what we expect from civilized human beings.

If you did not possess one or more of those above qualities before you become wealthy, then the indecency comes out in full. Justin Bieber's only excuse is that he's young. Hopefully he will become more decent over time. If not, then that's his true character.

[AnneD]

9. You don't have to be rich to be an asshole....

but it sure seems that many of them seem to be rich. I have know some mega rich. Some that are self made remember what it was like and are kind to the less fortunate. Some think they are morally superior and act like turds. Some inherited their good fortune and are ambivalent or conflicted about it. The multi generational wealthy is always the most fascinating to me. They truly are a different breed.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

11. Yes, one person.

An heir of a very large and well known corporation. She may be one of the exceptions. She isn't really the business type. She does do a lot of good things for less fortunate people and she really enjoys what she is able do to with her money for others. She is very different I suspect from the ownership class with active involvement in business and politics.

[applegrove]

12. Yes. Many. It depends on what culture they are surrounded by.

[Paladin]

13. Decent rich people: I've known some. Kind rich people: no, not that many. (nt)

[femmocrat]

14. Nope.

Grew up solidly middle class. The rich people lived up on a hill and looked down their noses at us valley people. LOL

[dipsydoodle]

15. Yes

.

[840high]

16. Yes.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. Yep.

Both liberals. Lived in a 2-bedroom house in the foothills, maybe 1000 square feet but owned thousands of acres he inherited from his family. Both liberals, both the sweetest people you'd ever want to meet. He worked for the government in a position he could never talk about. She was an artist. Two of the coolest people I ever knew and VERY generous. You'd never know by talking to them that they were worth several million dollars.