Nowhere to park the jet: Unique troubles faced by the ultra rich
Billionaires might not have to worry about covering the mortgage, but a 10-figure net worth comes with its own set of unique troubles
Personal cheques don’t have enough space. As recent divorcé Harold Hamm learned when he forked over his ex-wife’s settlement, it’s tough to fit 11 digits—and the 13 words required to name the sum— into the confines of an old-school paper cheque. Next time send it Western Union, sir.
It’s hard to give away money fast enough. Warren buffett has pledged to donate virtually his entire fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—and he’s doing so in regular chunks. The problem is that his grants can’t keep pace with his Berkshire Hathaway gains. Even after unloading $2.8 billion in 2014, his net worth increased by $14.5 billion.
Traffic on the tarmac is frequently jammed. Flying commercial is too horrible to contemplate, but private flights have their drawbacks as well. Consider parking. Aviation lots are always full—and then some—at popular billionaire ports of call: The Super Bowl, Nantucket over the 4th and, of course, Davos, where the Swiss army typically has to open a military airport (jimmying the gates with a knife corkscrew, we assume) to accommodate all the Gulfstreams belonging to the globe’s preeminent pooh-bahs.
(This story appears in the 17 April, 2015 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
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