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The Almighty Buck

Ask Slashdot: What Would You Do If You Were Suddenly Wealthy? 842

Posted by Soulskill from the buy-myself-a-politician dept.
An anonymous reader writes: There are a few articles floating around today about comments from Markus Persson, aka "Notch," the creator of Minecraft. He sold his game studio to Microsoft last year for $2.5 billion, but he seems to be having a hard time adjusting to his newfound fame and wealth. He wrote, "The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance. ... Found a great girl, but she's afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead. I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of a$#@%&*s that made me sell minecraft again." While he later suggests he was just having a bad day, he does seem to be dealing with some isolation issues. Granted, it can be hard to feel sorry for a billionaire, but I've wondered at times how I'd handle sudden wealth like that, and I long ago decided it would make the human relationships I'm accustomed to rather difficult. So, how would you deal with Notch's problem? It seems like one the tech industry should at least be aware of, given the focus on startup culture.
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Ask Slashdot: What Would You Do If You Were Suddenly Wealthy? More

Ask Slashdot: What Would You Do If You Were Suddenly Wealthy?

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  • For starters... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mr D from 63 ( 3395377 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:13PM (#50427965)
    How about volunteering time and money and spend some time helping people in need instead of whining, blaming, and name calling?

    • Re:For starters... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:21PM (#50428029)

      Go talk to Jimmy Carter and see if you can continue some of the great work he did.

    • Re:For starters... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Cow Ward ( 4161549 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:51PM (#50428473)
      Yeah, I was going to say "put aside enough money to live relatively comfortably for the rest of your life, then give most of it away". That way you probably won't have to work if you don't want to, and you aren't isolated.

      Or just do random acts of kindness - pay off a whole neighborhood's mortgages, or something. Help some disadvantaged kids get better teachers, provide clean water or infrastructure in developing countries, donate money to interesting research projects. Help unemployed people learn new trades. There's plenty to do, and it might help with his social isolation as well.

    • Re:For starters... (Score:5, Funny)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:52PM (#50428505) Journal

      Fuck that! I'd track down APK and have him committed!

      • Sounds good to me. That guy has some major mental illnesses.

    • Re:For starters... (Score:5, Funny)

      by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:05PM (#50428723)
      For starters, I could buy the name brand mac and cheese any time I wanted, not just on special occasions.

    • Re:For starters... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Lord Apathy ( 584315 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:46PM (#50429291)

      For starters you would never see my fat ass again. I would never post another thing to /.. My ass would be laying on some beach somewhere with some bronze honey fanning me with one of those palm leaves and other serving me cold drinks out of a coconut cup.

      Some people say, "if I ever get rich I won't quit work." Screw that, may ass would be out of here. It would be the last thing you ever saw of me as I ran out the door.

    • I offer to solve all of Mr Persson's problems caused by excessive money. I can solve them all by tomorrow, for the low low price of 2.5 billion dollars.

  • Better myself (Score:5, Funny)

    by jbeaupre ( 752124 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:13PM (#50427983)

    Step 1: Stop reading Slashdot

    • Re:Better myself (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Frobnicator ( 565869 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @03:23PM (#50429713) Journal

      Your title started out nice enough. But "stop reading slashdot" is not what I would do, it is what I wouldn't do.

      Assuming I were no longer constrained by money, the "suddenly wealthy" mentioned in the headline, bettering myself and others would probably be the next set of goals as I checked off items from my bucket list.

      The daily money earned off $2.5 billion is going to be about $50K-$100K, which would be pretty fun. Every day you can spend what most american families earn as annual income. Personally I wouldn't be throwing out multi-million-dollar grants to organizations, but I would enjoy traveling while trying to spend $50K per day.

      Spending the big money quickly on things would only be fun for a short term. Owning things would help a bit with the comforts of home, being suddenly wealthy means no longer being constrained by financial resources. There would be a few places I'd want to visit -- maybe tour castles and visit a bunch of countries -- but having virtually unlimited funds spread over time could be enjoyed with others who are less fortunate.

      So I think if I was suddenly a multi-billionaire, of course an accountant would be one person I'd hire, and I'd put together a small account for daily spending, say $50K, added daily to an account for everyday spending. Then I would look to spend that much and no more, especially not dropping off millions for an endowment to some organization. At least until I reached old age and was ready to donate large bundles to other groups doing good in the world.

      I would look to my own hobbies and activities that bring joy to myself and others. For me, that would mean turning my artistic hobbies of watercolor and photography into bigger parts of my life, not so much as moving on to my next career as it is developing my self. (Of course, I'd similarly pick up some of my wife's hobbies, but we share many of them.) We could enjoy life as a global tourist being generous with funds, buy new clothes and leave old ones to the local donation centers. I'd spend time doing other hobbies that are purely for fun, like kite flying, and with all that money that means visiting assorted beaches and kite festivals around the globe, enjoying the benefits of money while trying to appear as a normal but generous tourist. As I developed myself, I'd look to develop others as well. Why pay a professional to tutor just me when I can help develop the talents of others as well? Pay for classes in the subject and invite a few lucky winners with a similar skill level, and participate as just another person in the class. (I might make it known that I was the one paying for the class, depending on how much one-on-one time I wanted, or maybe just remain an anonymous member.)

      Maybe go spend a few months on the endless beaches of Chile, along with my wife. Hire some people to help learn the language from our current skills into full fluency. Hire some art teachers to teach both myself and a lucky group of a dozen other similarly-skilled natives (where I pay their regular wages so they can attend the class) as we paint on site for a few days at each location, perhaps providing art supplies they could take home at the end of the week paid for by my accumulation fund. For my kite flying hobby, when I wasn't out practicing art, I'd probably have a bunch of various sport kites delivered to that week's hotel (which of course would be directly on the beach), and bring a crate each of solidly-built deltas, some thick-sparred revolutions that will survive the inevitable beginner crashes, and a some single-string kites for the unskilled. The lucky strangers who happened to be at the beach that day could pick one up, enjoy it for the day, and take it home. Maybe enjoy time doing whatever skill building my wife also enjoys, or maybe letting her enjoy her classes without me, both so we can enjoy our own individual interests and also so we have things to talk about. Then maybe move on to mountains and beaches of Peru and Colombia, again spending around $50K/day on grou

  • Buy an island (Score:2, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 )
    I'd buy an island and make a nation out of it. I would live there with the family and my army of 1000 topless female slave-warriors. The island would have a private airstrip and a private jet, piloted by a topless female slave-warrior, that would whisk us around the globe. People would become jealous of my topless female slave-warriors because Grub Island would be the only place on the planet with them.

    I would have a lottery with $1,000,000 ticket prices. The prize would be one week on my island with 10 t

    • I'd buy an island and make a nation out of it. I would live there with the family and my army of 1000 topless female slave-warriors. The island would have a private airstrip and a private jet, piloted by a topless female slave-warrior, that would whisk us around the globe. People would become jealous of my topless female slave-warriors because Grub Island would be the only place on the planet with them. I would have a lottery with $1,000,000 ticket prices. The prize would be one week on my island with 10 topless female slave-warriors to be at the winner's beck and call. After the winner departed Grub Island, the other topless female slave-warriors would destroy the lottery winner's 10 because they would then be soiled and not worthy of me.

      Dude, your island, so lame. I would instead buy an island adjacent to Grub Island and open up Dave's All Nude Badass Island!!! (neon signage mandatory of course). 1000 topless female slave-warriors??? Nope. Too much work. We will limit this to 100, and have some kind of competition from all the disgruntled (read: horny) warriors from Grub Island, and.. oh hell, lunch break is over. Back to my appointed task of wage slavery..

    • You'd get tired of it and have to upgrade to grub2.

    • I find you ideas fascinating, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter....

  • Trading one set of problems for another (Score:5, Insightful)

    by erp_consultant ( 2614861 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:19PM (#50428017)

    Becoming wealthy (whatever "wealthy" is considered these days) comes with its own challenges.

    People with no money have very specific challenges: find food and water and shelter for your family. Everything else is secondary.

    People that have a job and shelter but not enough money have different challenges: Buying a car, paying for school, You have enough for basic necessities but not enough for aspiration items.

    People with lots of money have unique challenges: Who do you trust? Taxes become problematic. Gold diggers. How do you raise kids without spoiling them?

    It seems to me that the sweet spot is around 100K per year. You're not rich but you have enough. In many cities that is enough to buy a nice home and a new car every 4-5 years. It's a nice place to be.

    • Yeah I always hear people say "wouldn't it be great to win the lottery?".. Uh, I dont think it would be. Don't get me wrong I would love if all of a sudden 1 mil fell on my lap. Be enough to pay off my house, fill up my retirement account, open up some investment accounts, with plenty of play money left over. But it wouldn't be enough for me to quit my job.

      I second your opinion that 100k/year would be a pretty sweet spot. Plenty to pay all your bills, go on a nice vacation once or twice a year, have some ni

    • Re:Trading one set of problems for another (Score:5, Insightful)

      by leonbev ( 111395 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:44PM (#50428365) Journal

      In coastal Connecticut, $100K a year isn't enough to buy a decent house if you're trying to raise a family at the same time.

      I'd bet that the New Yorkers and Californians in the forum would agree with this statement.

      $200K might be enough to get a nice home around here, but $100K a year here is like making $40K a year in a rural area. The taxes and real estate prices are a killer.

    • Re:Trading one set of problems for another (Score:4, Interesting)

      by bluefoxlucid ( 723572 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @03:41PM (#50429945) Homepage Journal

      The first thing you do is hire manservants.

      If I had $250,000/year income, I could do my own dishes, tend my own yard, and so forth. I probably would tend the bees; but I'd get out of gardening. I'd have a gardener. Someone else would clean my house.

      There is no faster way to create jobs with some $200k/year of disposable income than by paying some teenage wench to clean your house, and some old fuck to tend your trees. There just isn't.

      If you have millions of dollars, that's great! You can start businesses; but can you create jobs? Well, kind of. If you find a way to produce something currently in production, but with *less* labor, you can produce that product more cheaply. That means you can undersell your competition, outcompeting them, and *eliminate* jobs. More unemployed.

      With more unemployed, but cheaper common goods, people generally have more money after buying all the shit they need (except the unemployed, who are struggling to get by). That means you can now spend your millions to expand some niche market--say, smart phones, which still cost $600 and bump your bill by $30/month, but now everyone has more than $600 on hand, whereas before they had the ability to spend an extra $50 on shit they wanted--and make a shitton of profit. That, of course, requires workers--this is why it costs money--so you wind up creating jobs, although only about the amount you displaced in the first place.

      This is why we always have unemployment, and why population tends to expand: you create wealth by making things cheaper to produce; you make things cheaper to produce by reducing the total invested labor-hours in production. All those layers of profits added on every good (coal to make steel, steel to make bolts, bolts to make cars) are just aggregate price; bulk purchase can negotiate that down, and direct competition can force it down, but only to the aggregate human labor costs of everything put together. When you reduce the labor cost, you wind up increasing the total buying power--same number of humans produce more things, thus the same percentage of the total income (of everyone and every business) purchases more--which means you can re-employ the same amount of displaced labor (not necessarily the same people) elsewhere, and everyone can buy more shit.

      It also means the cost of high amounts of production drops. Producing 10 things costs $100 per unit because of inefficient methods (you wouldn't open a million-dollar production facility to make ten chairs; you'd do it in a slow, inefficient manner that costs less than a million dollars in labor); producing producing 10 million costs $10 per unit, because you can use better methods; and then producing 10 billion starts relying on things like fertilizer and artificial irrigation to grow trees for wood, which is more expensive than simple tree farming, and so it costs $50 per unit. You can actually support a bigger population as you raise wealth in this way, because suddenly everyone can afford that $50 per unit good, since they're spending $50 less elsewhere on other goods; of course, then the population grows and keeps its 4%-8% unemployment, because low unemployment is restrictive on total population wealth and weird shit happens.

      So yeah. I'd have tutors, manservants, and landscapers. I might have a purser, but uh... look, my finances are better than yours. Financial management is a side hobby that's reached such a point of acuity for me that I scare bankers and accountants. Their balls shrivel up and die when we talk. I'm hoping our interest rates will go up to 14% median on mortgages so I can start an information campaign to eliminate the 30-year mortgage, since high interest rates make 10-year mortgages accessible for most people who can afford a 30-year mortgage (you wind up only having to tip in $100-$200 more per payment, instead of $2,000+ more; and you pay overall less for the same house). I was going to kill my mortgage in three years, but decided to stretch it to four or five so I cou

  • Do something money can't solve (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:19PM (#50428019)

    Buy land and start a small hobby farm (very small). Animals and crops require constant attention, you can't ignore them for even a day. Keeps you busy, keeps you grounded, even if you do still get most of your food from a grocery store. He's got enough to bring internet access out from nearby town or city, so he can stay up to date and work for fun instead of a living, until he figures out what he'd rather do instead.

    Stop "solving" all your problems with money and pick up a few that require attention and care instead of cash. You can buy the animals, buildings, and tools, but YOU still have to use them or you fail and things die.

  • First things first. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bistromath007 ( 1253428 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:21PM (#50428031)
    The first thing I need to do is hire an accountant so I know how much I actually have. If I do anything else first, I have a feeling a significant portion of the fortune would be gone before I have any kind of understanding of what my tax burden is, and I'd fuck myself right back to poverty.

    Next thing I do (after buying a house, of course) is start studying accountancy, because if I've learned anything from reading the news the past several years, it's that NOBODY can be trusted with that many zeroes.

    After that, I've got friends who need help, and who deserve it much more than I do. I want to see them happy. Then I can start worrying about businesses and philanthropy and shit like that.

    • Re:First things first. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Dzimas ( 547818 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:15PM (#50428863)

      Next thing I do (after buying a house, of course) is start studying accountancy, because if I've learned anything from reading the news the past several years, it's that NOBODY can be trusted with that many zeroes.

      After that, I've got friends who need help, and who deserve it much more than I do. I want to see them happy. Then I can start worrying about businesses and philanthropy and shit like that.

      You're overthinking this. Read The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein. Invest your money sensibly. Make sure that all your eggs aren't in one basket - invest with a number of different firms and with a broad portfolio. Pay attention to annual performance and ask questions.

      Then look after your friends, although you'll discover that everyone looks at you in a different way.

      Even when you're wearing your old comfy jeans, they'll look at your feet and see the $800 shoes that you bought because they're the most freakishly comfortable things you've ever put on your feet. Your Aston Martin key fob will start unwanted conversations with TSA screeners every time you pass through security (they all seem to think that a Ferrari 458 would be a much more sensible choice than a 4-door sedan).

      Meeting people gets a bit awkward. They'll ask where you live and you'll tell them, "Just out of town, near the river," hoping that they won't ask the next question, which is, "Oh! How many acres? Three? Four?" You'll lower your voice as you start apologetically - "A hundred and sixty. But we have horses..." It's not the sort of attention an introvert enjoys.

      • They'll ask where you live and you'll tell them, "Just out of town, near the river," hoping that they won't ask the next question, which is, "Oh! How many acres? Three? Four?" You'll lower your voice as you start apologetically - "A hundred and sixty. But we have horses..." It's not the sort of attention an introvert enjoys.

        It's easy. Have you seen the movie "Ex Machina"? Just do what that guy did: build a really nice house on some island which is only accessible by helicopter, and live there by yourself.

  • Batman (Score:3)

    by Intrepid imaginaut ( 1970940 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:21PM (#50428033)

    I would be Batman.

    • Re:Batman (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Fire_Wraith ( 1460385 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:55PM (#50428575)
      Actually, this would be a perfect idea. There used to be a guy in Maryland known as the "Route 29 Batman" who would dress up in a (really nice) Batman costume, and would go to hospitals to visit sick children and entertain them.

      And sadly, he was killed in a car accident just a few weeks ago, so there's certainly an opening for it:
      http://www.washingtonpost.com/... [washingtonpost.com]

      • Damn it, I get misty every time I think about that guy dying.

        When he died, he showed up so much on my Facebook feed, not from news reports, but because of how many things I follow that he ended up doing events with (like the 501st Legion).

        Solid guy. Went too soon.

  • give $100 million each to best friends & famil (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ionized ( 170001 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:21PM (#50428037) Journal

    then we could all still hang on roughly equal levels.

    i'd ONLY have $1.5 billion left to myself, oh noes :-(

  • For others, I would create two charities: 1) Art foundation that provides housing to artists in a major city (probably Detroit, for various reasons), in exchange for art. Ideally, 10 years from now the foundation will be self-supporting by selling some of the art from the artists that happen to become famous. 2) Education foundation that provides free BOARDING school to children of high risk adults - i.e. homeless, drug addicted, criminal convictions. Because normal public school can't help the kids if

  • Bond villain (Score:5, Funny)

    by HornWumpus ( 783565 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:25PM (#50428081)

    I'd have to go Musk and start building my Bond villain infrastructure.

    Fleet of cars who's 'owners' don't know are autonomous-check.

    Fleet of rocket ships-check.

    Doomsday device-check

    The question is: Where is Musk's secret lair?

  • 1 Make sure I'll never run out of money by doing basic investments.
    2 Found my own research lab using the ROI of 1 and have fun doing research without the burden of finding funds for it.
    3 No need for 3.

    Notch, if you want to try, send a PM ;)

  • Fame is the real problem ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MacTO ( 1161105 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:26PM (#50428101)

    Money is money. It can't treat a person well and it can't treat a person poorly. People on the other hand is another issue, especially people who you don't know yet who know you (or think they know you).

    Money can be buried in investments, or dispersed if you want to go to the trouble too. Bury a person though, that will get you in trouble with the law. Disperse people, and they will think you're antisocial.

    I can't honestly say what I would do if I had that much money. I would like to think that I'd bury it in investments, skimming just enough off the top to behave like a typical person. Yet I would do my best to avoid the fame bit. Relationships are awkward enough when you know them and they know you. Having the imbalance where people know you, but not the other way around, is something to be avoided.

  • Obligatory "Office Space" Reference (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:27PM (#50428111)

    Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?

    Lawrence: I'll tell you what I'd do, man: two chicks at the same time, man.

    Peter Gibbons: That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?

    Lawrence: Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; 'cause chicks dig dudes with money.

    Peter Gibbons: Well, not all chicks.

    Lawrence: Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do.

    Peter Gibbons: Good point.

    Lawrence: Well, what about you now? What would you do?

    Peter Gibbons: Besides two chicks at the same time?

    Lawrence: Well, yeah.

    Peter Gibbons: Nothing.

    Lawrence: Nothing, huh?

    Peter Gibbons: I would relax... I would sit on my ass all day... I would do nothing.

    Lawrence: Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shit.

  • Piss people off by spending it, or not spending it, the way I want. Since I'll be dead and have no heirs there's no reason to spend it on others, especially when no one bothered to spend their money on me during my lifetime.

    Screw people. We're supposed to be the smart ones. If you want to spend a fortune, make your own. Don't expect someone else to spend their money the way you want.

  • It's all a matter of perspective (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It really is difficult to feel for Notch when, by his own admission in that series of tweets, he shows that having the material possessions and lavish experiences that is typical of filthy rich people has been his primary focus. It's myopic, depressing to the point of repulsion, and all-too-typical of the rich.

    As for the human interaction element, that's of his own doing and merely an extension of the HAVING ALL THE RICH DUDE THINGS mentality. I wouldn't really care to hang around someone regularly who has

    • Re:It's all a matter of perspective (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SpectreBlofeld ( 886224 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:39PM (#50428295)

      I agree. He bought a bunch of shit and found out that it doesn't bring happiness.

      Personally, I'd own less 'stuff' than I do now, and live out of a suitcase. With 1.5 billion dollars, I'd travel the world and probably never stop. Buy an unassuming-looking car in Europe or the UK and drive all over, meeting new and interesting people and exploring new places. Hike the West Highland Trail in Scotland; ski the Alps in Switzerland; explore the catacombs of France, rent a speedboat and putter around on Lake Como in Italy, etc.

      That, to me, is being rich - it means being free to go anywhere and do anything. I don't need a lavish life of luxury; I just want to be free of the shackles that keep me from seeing the world.

      • Re:It's all a matter of perspective (Score:5, Insightful)

        by chipschap ( 1444407 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:02PM (#50428681)

        Down to a certain point, I've also learned that "less is more" when it comes to material possessions. The posessions can start to own you instead of the reverse.

  • I would just enjoy your life. So he says he found somebody who was afraid of his lifestyle. Find somebody else who isn't. Don't waste your time moping about other people. Find something to do with your life that makes you happy without requiring other people. Somebody like Notch, although rich, isn't a huge face in the media, and can probably stay under the radar in most circumstances. Very few people are actually going to recognize him unless he wants to be recognized.

  • Stamp out kitten juggling!

  • Unless you mean "those seeking to enter", then this is yet another call on an "industry" to solve the problems of individuals. Notch can't deal -- Notch's problem, mot "the industry's".

  • #1 setup an annuity for FSF

    #2 look for software projects begging for $ to get going.

    #3 look on Kickstarter for projects begging for $ to get going.

    #4 become a prophet!

  • Shut down my business, buy a winter home, hire a maid. Tell people I'd inherited about 1% of the wealth I had and set up an anonymous non-profit to parse out most the money for education and arts projects I like.

    Then go do everything I'm already already doing, except I'd never bother to look for sales. 'Cause, really, I kind of like my life.

  • People can be leeches (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Morpeth ( 577066 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:35PM (#50428233)

    When I was in college, there was a guy who was really wealthy (no idea how much, not billions, but millions I'm sure) --- his parents died young, I think it was an accident of sorts, and he inherited a fortune, or got a settlement.

    Anyway... people used him for free beer, parties, food, anything they could get from him. I knew him tangentially because he was a pen and paper gamer, and ran some D&D sessions so we had some common friends.

    The poor guy seemed miserable, knowing most people were only hanging out with him for his money, etc. Seriously, he was just a sad sack, seemed depressed and lonely in that existential kind of way. I know people say 'aw.... poor little rich boy', but I really felt bad for the guy. He seemed like a decent enough person, but the money didn't seem to make his life really that much better. Sure he didn't have student loans like I did, didn't have to work like I did -- but I had some good friends, who certainly didn't hang out with me for money (or lack thereof)

  • Fund a political campaign (Score:3)

    by sfcat ( 872532 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:35PM (#50428243)
    Right now every US presidential candidate needs a billionaire backer to run. That usually means bad things. Maybe Notch and his $$ can balance the scales a bit and back Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren? But then again, I don't know his politics and perhaps this is a terrible suggestion.

  • Take over a small southern town (Score:5, Funny)

    by butchersong ( 1222796 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:35PM (#50428247)
    Buy every industry in said town. Give loans to desperate people that you know they can't pay back. Buy up all the politicians and the realestate. Become sheriff because that is where the real local power is. Make subtle changes to the town and architecture giving everything a creepy southern gothic kind of feel. Slowly tighten your grip year after year. Ah, it would be heaven.
  • invest it all in VA Linux Systems [wikipedia.org].

  • Easy (Score:2)

    by Gestahl ( 64158 )
    1) Buy nice house. 2) Buy nice car. 3) Set up a trust for my nephew. 4) Setup an investment account that will payout a few hundred thousand every year for me personally on an average year. 5) Setup a non-profit with the rest, and setup computer labs in high schools and colleges. 6) Teach.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • A couple ideas (Score:3)

    by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:39PM (#50428299)
    - Buy Slashdot: so that they don't need the extra money that have them publish ad-oriented stories, sometimes
    - Pay competent consultants and developers to "help" Gnome, xOffice, and a mega bunch of other OSS projects to get managed efficiently/properly
    - run for president, as a lot of wealthy people do, I guess

  • It's a hard problem ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:39PM (#50428301) Homepage

    Suddenly everybody wants a piece of you and you have to distrust their motivations. Because the amount of people looking to sink in their teeth isn't going to be small.

    Conversely, how do you expect to have a normal relationship with a non-wealthy person? Suddenly they're trying to keep up with a zillionaire and haven't got the means ... which means they're living on the charity of rich people and whatever their mood does. That tends to be present no matter how much you want it to not be. Get into a fight in some faraway location you can't afford to be in on your own, and you're a nobody.

    Get rich over time, and you can build up some friends in the same situation. Get rick quickly and you can't. In which case you better hope your family and your existing friends can cope with it.

    I've seen TV shows with some lottery winners ... and they constantly get letters from random people looking to get handouts, or people trying to scam them. Because people are greedy bastards. Oh, and the other rich people want nothing to do with you because you're new money.

    I've always said I have no interest in being rich and famous ... I want to be rich and anonymous, precisely because I don't want to deal with this bullshit.

    The real question is ... as tragic as this is, how much sympathy do recent billionaires expect from the rest of us? The whole "I'm a billionaire, now what?" is one of those questions which you can't expect a serious or helpful answer from anybody who hasn't done it.

  • The solution is easy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:39PM (#50428305)

    Realize that your life is yours to live. You choose your lifestyle, not the other way around.

    I've been my own boss for a while and I've grown a successful company. I'm a millionaire many dozens of times over. I drive an old Volvo wagon I bought used for $2500. I live in a 1500 square foot house. I buy clothes at Kohls. Only a very small handful of people know what I'm worth, and they are sworn to secrecy.

    I chose to life the lifestyle of a regular Joe. Here's a step-by-step guide to coming into a lot of money quickly:

    1) SHUT THE FUCK UP. Keep it secret to the best of your ability. If you can't, come up with a plan for that. But, do the best you can.

    2) Decide NOW what kind of lifestyle you want to live. Think 5 years down the road about the company you will want to keep. Birds of a feather flock together. White people hang out with white people. Rich people hang out with rich people. It sucks, but you have to decide now.

    3) Put the principal away, and pay yourself what it takes to live the lifestyle you decided to live in Step 2.

    4) Finally, and most important, change NOTHING right away (except, paying off debt is perfectly okay). Stay at your job. Don't run away. Don't take a vacation. Don't throw a party for all of your close friends unless you want to find out how many of them actually aren't your close friends. Just maintain the status quo and make decisions SLOWLY.

    That is the best advice I can give, from one rich guy to another.

  • (1) Buy/build a super-yacht big enough to live on as your home.
    (2) Travel the world, taking your home with you.

    Requires 'only' a few hundred million to really make it work.

    -Matt

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      You think way too small. You can buy decommissioned aircraft carriers for cheap.

      Time to go all snowcrash and build a floating nation.

  • On misery (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:41PM (#50428327) Journal

    A successful celebrity was once asked if money buys happiness.

    Her reply was, "I'd rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable."

  • Buy /. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jimbolauski ( 882977 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:45PM (#50428407) Journal
    I would buy /. and make sure questions like these would be relegated to reddit & digg.

  • First (Score:3)

    by sims 2 ( 994794 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:55PM (#50428573)

    I would have a broadband connection installed at home.

  • His first mistake was changing his lifestyle (Score:4, Insightful)

    by goathumper ( 1284632 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:57PM (#50428603)

    Hindsight is 20/20, but I've always thought that were I to come upon a windfall of some large(ish) caliber, I'd likely not tell a soul, and not change my lifestyle significantly and suddenly. Sure it's tempting to run out and buy a Ferrari, but if one thinks about it, those are childish wishes and whims - a lack of self-control, if you will. The first things I'd do is settle all my debts (house, car, etc.), which aren't as visible to others. I'd also start winding down my employment (i.e. 1-month or even 2-month notice).

    By simply slowing the transition down significantly, perhaps even "embellishing" the nature of the windfall (i.e. "I just closed a deal that's going to do very well for me over the next 2 years") such that the changes are logical and incremental vs. sudden and drastic, one can avoid such "acclimation pains" in one's social circle.

    In the end, if you change your life drastically there's a very good chance you'll run into the same isolation issues - windfall or no. So it's about the (perceived) speed of the climb, not the steepness.

    Besides, if you make the change slow it's easier for people to see that you're not changing - just your lifestyle and economic conditions. Less scary that way I think.

    PS/ what's he bitching and whining about women for? he can afford any (set of) pornstar(s) he wants now!! :D

  • Run my mouth (Score:3)

    by Bob the Super Hamste ( 1152367 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:01PM (#50428659) Homepage
    First I would keep my pie hole shut about coming into a massive pile of money. Then since I wouldn't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from I would start running my mouth at work and let people know what I really thing of some of their ideas. There are a couple of people who I think just like to hear their own voice and when you are in a meeting with them they give the impression that you are there to bask in their glory and genius even if they say some of the stupidest shit ever to be utter.

    Apart from that get a new car (I'm thinking an M4), get a new truck like vehicle (can't take an M4 out hunting in remote areas), put up a cabin on my recreational property. Although I would like a nice custom made leather trench coat made from that nice thick cow hide that they make motorcycle safety jackets out of. Apart from that I would probably quietly give to various charities, ensure that my children will be well off, and that any of my relatives won't have to worry about school if they apply themselves.

  • Low maintanence (Score:3)

    by T.E.D. ( 34228 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:04PM (#50428705)

    Interestingly, it seems he's already tried what I probably would have gone for at his age: Buying a ginormous house and trying to act like a hedonistic big shot.

    As a ... more experienced person nearing 50, I think my priorities would be different. Big houses suck. They require continual maintenance, and who's going to be wasting their time shepherding all that? Having to deal with stupid BS little issues all day is precisely what he sold to MS to avoid. The more big expensive crap you acquire, the more effort has to be expended to maintain it all. No wonder he's made himself miserable. I can always trade time for money, and that certainly goes moreso for someone with his new financial resources. Its TIME that is precious.

    Today, I'd find a fun interesting place to live, and *rent* myself a place there. Preferably somewhere walkable, so I wouldn't have to maintain a car (gawd, what a time and money sink those things are). I'd probably approach a local charity (like the food bank) and offer to do some free computer work for them. Knowing myself (and as a developer he's probably similar), it wouldn't take long to find some really interesting problem in there that could have wide application.

    As for meeting people, how is he going to meet cool new people while locked behind gates in that mansion? Blah.

  • Money (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DNS-and-BIND ( 461968 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:08PM (#50428781) Homepage

    "Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping."
    -- Bo Derek

  • Don't Musk. Invest in Musk (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lazarus ( 2879 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:14PM (#50428851) Journal

    "I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of a$#@%&*s that made me sell minecraft again."

    You don't have to try to be Musk. If you don't feel the need to get into that or be that sort of creative, at least you can recognize the people who do/are. Call him. You don't need to buy public shares when you have that kind of money. You invest in other people who are trying to change the world.

    Keep some for yourself and enjoy your life while knowing that your money is helping to change the world. Don't like what Musk is doing? He's just an example. Fine something you believe in and invest.

    I would blow it on something I found ridiculously cool. Like hardened, high-speed em-drive interstellar probes or something. But to each his own.

  • Buy three more wishes (Score:3)

    by Overzeetop ( 214511 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:19PM (#50428957) Journal

    Wait...what was the question again?

  • Money can in fact buy happiness (Score:5, Insightful)

    by seebs ( 15766 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:43PM (#50429243) Homepage

    Anyone who thinks money can't buy happiness has never bought a week's groceries for a poor person.

  • hire two ninjas (Score:4, Funny)

    by clovis ( 4684 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @02:53PM (#50429369)

    Persson also began hosting wild parties where guests like Skrillex, Selena Gomez, and Tony Hawk would sometimes make appearances.

    I'd hire a ninja keep those people out.
    And another ninja to beat my ass if I had actually invited them.

    • Persson also began hosting wild parties where guests like Skrillex, Selena Gomez, and Tony Hawk would sometimes make appearances.

      I'd hire a ninja keep those people out.
      And another ninja to beat my ass if I had actually invited them.

      Those people? Those people are precisely the kind of people who would show up to a Notch party. They were all raised middle class, at best, and I'd be shocked if any of them are more than double digit millionaires.

      ...

      Yeah, I looked it up. Skrillex is worth an estimated $36 million, Selena Gomez is worth $20 million, and, surprise, surprise, Tony Hawk is worth $140 million. Still, none of them came from even big money, let alone old money.

      With the exception of 2 or 3 posts here, Notch probably got bett

  • Make someone's day, every day. Or be a dick. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Pascoea ( 968200 ) on Monday August 31, 2015 @03:27PM (#50429775)

    With 2.5 Billion Dollars? I'm too lazy to do the real math, but im guessing you could pick one random person and give them $100,000 every day for the rest of your life and still have enough money to live comfortably.

    OR you could hire enough people to completely buy out the next iDevice release on opening day, and light the whole batch on fire, just to watch the hipsters cry about it. 453 retail Apple stores, 100 people per store, 20 devices per person, $700 average retail would cost you just over $634M. You wouldn't completely buy them out, but it'd be enough to make a pretty little dent. (This seems to be an XKCD "What if" submission waiting to happen... "What would it take to buy every iPhone available on release day? And what could I do with them once I bought them")

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