Homes Of The Billionaires 2005

[kliljedahl]

How does the other half live? Well, it depends. Try more like how does the other 0.00001% live?

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the median American house size is slightly more than 2,000 square feet. Compare that with the domicile of the world's richest man: As might be expected from one with that sobriquet, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) founder Bill Gates' house is more than 30 times the average size. The NAHB says that most houses have three bedrooms, one fireplace and are sided with vinyl or aluminum. Some billionaires' homes have more than a dozen bedrooms, and the only vinyl is in the rare-record collection housed in the custom-built listening room.

Yet as extravagant as some of their mansions may seem, the homes of the super-rich are not out of proportion to their wealth. In fact, comparatively, they can seem downright modest.

According to the National Association of Realtors, about one-fifth of a household's wealth is composed of home equity. Let's say that held true for Warren Buffett: The mastermind behind holding company Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRK.A - news - people ) is second on our list of the World's Richest People, with an estimated net worth of $44 billion. If he sank the average 20% into his home, the property would have to be worth...oh, approximately $8.8 billion--roughly the gross domestic product of Iceland.

Instead, Buffet lives more like a millionaire than a billionaire

[Missy Vixen]

1. We live just outside of Seattle

If one is crossing Lake Washington back to Seattle's Eastside on the 520 bridge, one will glimpse Bill Gates' home from the bridge deck. I'm sure that their family just loves the incessant tour boat traffic in front of their home, too.

It is amazing to me that anyone could have that much money.

Julie

[Greyhound]

4. That's where capitalism, as we practice it, breaks down. Too much in

too few hands. Plus the Gates, Turners, Bezos, give the others a goal to shoot for. Frequently heard in my neighborhood, "I'm not rich, My net worth is only $2.6 million, Bill Gates is rich"

[tonkatoy57]

2. Isn't it nice of them to show some restraint

"If he (Buffett) sank the average 20% into his home, the property would have to be worth...oh, approximately $8.8 billion--roughly the gross domestic product of Iceland."

Oh hell, I don't know. The rich have always built edifices to their wealth and ego. The problem is, we have to wait until they are dead to use their house for community purposes.

[Pendrench]

3. I wonder if the Gates' house will be open to tourists one day...

...sort of like San Simeon?

Tim

[haydukelives]

5. Why does he have boat docks

and no boats? stupid rich people.

[catnhatnh]

6. On a related note....

Bob Bahr, owner of New Hampshire International Raceway (a nascar track) is currently embroiled in a fight to build an outbuilding at his home in Alton NH....As it sits, it is quite a cheery little place maybe 8000-10,000 square feet with 6 bathrooms and two helipads on the shore of Lake Winnepasaukee....But Mr. Bahr would like an out building to house his automobile collection....about 50,000 sq ft....And Alton says it can not allow a non residential building that large according to zoning laws....Now the building design calls for 19,000ft below ground,19,000ft on the ground floor,and 12'000 ft on the second floor...So Mr Bahr says-right, you misunderstood-the 12,000 ft top floor is to be "the caretakers quarters"....So if you'd like a good job with GREAT digs I suggest you apply soon.....

[MN ChimpH8R]

7. I don't really have a problem with Gates as such

Gates invented/developed a better, or at least more popular, mousetrap. He made his money rather than inheriting it. Now THOSE are the folks I have issues with.

[LSdemocrat]

9. Exactly

And Gates, unlike many of the super-rich, donates a significant amount of his wealth to charity.

[MadHound]

10. Ummm no, Gates ripped off a better mousetrap

Gates stole his GUI for Windoze 3.1 directly from Apple, that is why he settled over a lawsuit brought by Apple. And sadly, in his tender hands, Windoze has become a hack of an operating system, crashing often, vunerable to spyware, viri, and with back doors galore that allow the government to waltz right into your computer.

Gates was a masterful thief and a fine marketeer. However he can't develop anything worth a shit on his own.

[ArmchairMeme]

12. Second that ---

As I understand it he was simply in the right place at the right time to copy a great design and then markets it as innovative. Now that it is a monopoly very few people see there are alternatives that are better.

[ticapnews]

14. "Pirates of Silicon Valley"

A book and TNT movie that shows the relationship between Gates and Jobs and how Gates dropped the bomb on Apple through outright theft. A documentary I saw also detailed how early on Gates was able to corner the market with his Windows OS by forcing distributors to agree to give Microsoft a percentage on every unit sold - not just units with Windows. So even when Apple and others came up with better products, distributors couldn't put them on the machines because they would have essentially been paying for two operating systems.

He really is a snake, but he's got a great marketing campaign and he does a lot of good with his money. There are very few rich people who didn't either inherit it or acquire it in less than honorable ways.

Incidentally, Gates also converted his wealth to Euros. He knows the dollar is sunk. Too bad the rest of us can't do that.

[LSK]

16. yep - Netscape

[indepat]

8. Jesus, let's have another round of tax cuts benefiting the wealthy

;)

[xchrom]

11. personally i think the super rich from the 19th and early 20th

centuries could teach these uber-rich a thing or two about building good looking digs.

[Maestro]

13. My house is even under the median size.

:shrug:

[kliljedahl]

15. Kick

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