35 Strange Jobs That Only Exist Because Ultra-Wealthy People Can Afford Them
InterviewMoney can buy you almost anything. But it’s only when you become truly rich that you begin to realize the breadth and depth of the products and services you can spend your cash on. Entire swathes of jobs exist solely to service the ultra-wealthy.
In a captivating thread on AskReddit, people shared the industries that revolve entirely around catering to the whims of the rich. We’ve collected some of their most intriguing insights to share with you. Scroll down below to take a peek at what life as one of the elite looks like.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the intriguing thread, and they were kind enough to share their thoughts on wealth and other priorities with us. You'll find our full interview with them below!
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This is a sort of related story.
When I worked at Home Depot, two men came in looking for a jigsaw. The one guy looked like he probably had money, but had worked his way up the blue collar ladder to get there. The other guy, really had money, Rolex watch, expensive suit, shoes that cost more than I made in a month, etc. it seemed to me like they had been friends for a long time or maybe they were brothers. And guy one was taking guy two out shopping for a tool as a new, lets me show you how regular people do things, type of experience.
They came and asked me about the different jigsaws, guy one didn't really need my help, but all this was new to guy two. So he let it play out and was kind of coaching guy two. It was interesting to watch, almost like a father teaching a young kid how to shop, and get help from the employee.
Anyway at the end of all this guy two pick the jigsaw he wants, and says. "Okay, I'll take this one, can you wrap it up and have it taken out to my car?"
I look at him for a second, and then look at his friend, who is trying not to laugh, he says "no, no, no, that's not how it works, we just take it off the shelf and go to the register and buy it." He takes one and hands it to him, then says, "let me show you how to pay for this up front" and they walk away.
What's super crazy is about 10 minutes later they come back and I ask them if there is anything else they need, and the rich guy reaches into is pocket and pull out a money clip, peels off a twenty and starts to hand it to me, saying "thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it"
His buddy is like "dude no, he probably can't take a tip, that's not how this works" and looks at me with a bit of awkward panic on his face. I said, no, I'm not allowed to take tips, but if you want, you can put that twenty in a donation jar somewhere. And I was happy to help"
It was one of the weirdest interactions I ever had at Home Depot.
I like everyone in this post. OP, who was helpful, the friend, who was patiently teaching his friend something he didn't know, and most of all the guy who was willing to learn.
I read this and wondered why Home Depot was selling jigsaw puzzles. Only when I got to the 3rd paragraph did it twig.
You could say the entire story was a jigsaw puzzle 🙂
Load More Replies...Maybe off the topic a bit but I lived by a high end ski resort area. One day i was killing time and wandered into a jewelers. It was slow so we just chatted. One thing they said that stuck with me was that the people who show up in expensive looking clothes and attitude quite often were not that rich. it was the people who came in dressed 'normally' who would buy the $30K ring or whatnot.
Bored Panda asked the author for their thoughts about the most important things to focus on in life, aside from finances.
"I think the two things that everybody should try harder to focus on are to learn more and to try to live with more compassion for everybody. We're all just out here doing our best, and everything you learn (whether it seems relevant at the time or not) helps you do even better," they told us.
"And if we remember that even people who might hurt us are trying their hardest, based on how they understand the world and what they know to do about it, we can make it less about fighting with one another and more about figuring out how to play better together."
I learned recently that there is a mattress that costs $600k and there is a person whose is to come over and fluff the horse hair filling of the mattress for the lifespan of the mattress. So I guess mattress fluffer.
Again, girls without great father figures, end up in dirty movies
Load More Replies...Here's a link to the mattress. It's made in Sweden. https://www.hastens.com
I know someone who designs the IT and security systems for mega yachts. Not those piddly 100-foot yachts, the $300 Million+ yachts. I found out that one of the contracts he won was like a $10 Million contract. I'm in IT so I had to ask how that much IT can go into yacht. He said it's not the quantity, but the quality. For example, the electronic door strike for card access isnt the off-the-shelf model. It's custom made with 316 stainless steel that gets milled by hand and fitted perfectly to a door that's made out of mahogany.
there are only 10 known Yachts in the whole world valued currently over $300million. To understand Yachs, 28 Meters and longer is a super yacht, 50m/60m (depending on which registry) and longer is a mega yachts, 75m/90m (depending on registry) and longer is a giga yacht. There are only 45 Yachts in the world of over 90 meters long, Of the 10 over 300m, all are between 139m and 180m long. All of those boats are 100% Custom except the engines and the navigation and control systems. There isnt a market for so few items, so everything is customized bc of how rare they are.
It's not only disgusting that people can afford them, but they can actually spend that kind of money that way by choice.
Load More Replies...We were also curious about the inspiration behind the interesting thread. "I asked the question because I thought that generating a conversation about how much of our society is dedicated exclusively to this small group of people and how different their world is, would be useful," the redditor opened up Bored Panda.
"I think that people resonated with it because it's something that they see every day and live alongside, and I think that people are thinking about these things more than they have before."
There are lots of services focused on elite luxury and vast wealth that you might not even realize are there. That is, until you stumble upon them by accident or finally make it big and start splurging.
“The wealthy have long been the ones to enjoy luxurious lifestyles and exclusive services that cater to their specific needs. However, there are many expensive services for the wealthy that most people don’t even know exist,” trial attorney Andrew Pickett, the founder of Andrew Pickett Law, told GOBankingRates.
One of these services is having access to fractional ownership of experiences, such as private jet travel, rare collectibles, and luxury vacations. Another is hiring experts to manage and curate your wine collections.
My dad used to work on cranes, and one time he, he crew, and his crane were shipped out to an island for a couple of days to move an old-growth tree a couple hundred feet to improve the oceanfront view of a private residence.
Not *remove* the tree - literally move and replant it.
So probably that.
Happens all the time. PBS documented moving a lighthouse. Old Queen Anne style houses and historic trees are moved like this everyday
Concierge Medicine. They get picked up in a chauffeured car (provided by the health system) and taken to the hospital. Front line to get labs and tests, results ready as soon as it is read (which takes priority of everyone else). They meet with the doctor the same day to go over the results. Meanwhile, you get a catered lunch while you wait... but not with the poors. You get to wait in your very own waiting room.
I hate our healthcare system. And I am a nurse!
For some weird reason I'm imagining this to be the US...
Luxury villa rentals....think Airbnb for the wealthy. I worked in the space for 5 yrs.
These mansions are owned by the ultra wealthy and rented to the ultra wealthy. 500k/wk for a Christmas villa rentals. Private islands for 60k a night.
And, full concierge service for the guests. Want unlimited jetskis, no problem. Stocked fridge with booze and food on arrival, check. Want to butcher a goat on the beach according to your religious practices....no problem.
To spare the BP censorbot from burning out,my answer to this can only be expressed thus: ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************!
Load More Replies...Meanwhile, the ultra-wealthy also contract art authentication services, not just art advisors, to verify how legitimate certain works of art are.
Other luxury services, according to GOBankingRates, include:
- Private medical concierge services, which include entire personal healthcare teams
- Crypto asset estate planning
- Tailoring and fashion design professionals who create and adjust personalized garments
- Experiential travel planning that focuses on personalized, designed trips that match your wants
Those people who are paid to travel with luggage ahead of a person/family and unpack everything/set up the accomodation before the guests arrive.
I just want to travel - can unpack my own suitcase.
Load More Replies...Knew a woman who was making over $100K 30 years back who looked after a few rich people's places at a ski resort. She would check on the properties and when given notice that they were coming to ski, she would stock the fridge and booze cabinet, fuel up the car and have her staff do a before and after cleaning.
So how did she get this job exactly? Inquiring minds want to know.
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I once dated a woman who worked for a high-end florist, and the majority of her job was driving all over the city/suburbs to visit very wealthy people's homes and tend their fancy orchids.
She dealt with other flowers too, but she was known as an orchid specialist and all these rich people had her on retainer for that reason.
Fun trivia: I remember she said it was becoming trendy among her clients to install a urinal in the master bathroom.
It's not just *rich* people... (Not that Adrian Chiles is remotely short of cash): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/21/urinal-in-my-flat-changed-my-life-so-why-are-people-appalled
When I was a kid I thought my aunt's bidet was either a bathtub for her terrier, or a drinking fountain somewhat similar to the ancient ones at my elementary school. My little brain couldn't make the connection or think about it logically until I was almost 10. Still shudder every time I see a bidet and flashback to using it as a drinking fountain.
There are services that fill bookshelves with books in personal libraries/offices. You can curate the books by color/subject matter. Probably not a rich rich person type thing, but still a pretty niche service that a normal person would never even know exists.
This goes back for at least a century and a half. Victorian gentlemen building a new house would include a library, and have someone fill the shelves with books sold by the yard, for decor rather than reading.
And that no normal person should ever need. How pathetic, 'You can curate the books by color'.
For a bit certain 'wanna be' upscale restaurants used to have real books as decorations. (Maybe Marie Callender was one of them?) Being a a reader, I always looked at the titles and occasionally pulled a book down. They usually ranged from 1920-1950s, and were certainly nothing that I could imagine anyone wanting to read. I often wondered how they got that many c**p books.
Once upon a time that used to be Reader's Digest, didn't it? A book every fortnight, a "classic" in hardback with a fake leather-like cover and rather unimpressive splotchy print inside. I know because mom subscribed back in the 80s so I'd have "proper" books to read. But, come on, what is an eight year boy old going to get from Jane Eyre, other than "boarding school sucks" and "romance 🤮"? It was pleasantly gothic in it's imagery, however, so that was nice. But Steinbeck...oh good grief.
As a girl, I appreciated the Steinbeck and thought Jane Eyre sucked. Go figure. The classics were at least a 'real' book! It took me a bit till I twigged that the library versions were so much better reading than the Reader's Digest condensed books. They were abridged, and not always very well. My very young self was outraged! Although it did introduce me to books I wouldn't have read otherwise. I was only allowed to go to the library once a week and usually ran out of my selections, so had to read the RD condensed cover to cover.
Load More Replies...There was an article about this in "The Guardian" 2 months ago: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/22/look-how-well-read-i-am-how-books-by-the-metre-add-final-touch-to-home-or-image
If you ever hit the jackpot or land your dream, high-paying job, what do you hope to spend your immense wealth on? Even though financial stability is vital for everyone, putting riches aside for a moment, what do you think everyone should focus on in life, no matter their tax bracket?
We’d like to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share them in the comments!
Family office - an entire department that's catered to handling all finance, logistics, investment management and many other things to 1 specific family, or to a specific high net-worth individual. Especially for Old Money.
This is not bad, since they are paying other people for handling their finances.
Yes, and its pretty common too. Atleast in India (my country) where disparity is high.
Load More Replies...I just read The Inheritance Games (fiction) and in it the rich family has a dedicated law firm that has the family as their only client.
Makes sense. I chatted up a young guy the other day who was on track to inheirit 50m from his family (they owned and developed properties, won't say what country). He was taking business classes to prepare, but he'd want good people around him, and could afford to pay them.
I don’t know if this qualifies as “very rich” as many people I know who use this are middle and even working class, but horse masseuse is a thing.
I pay a woman to give my horse a massage once a month- $65.
He’s a working competition horse and he rides much better after his massages, but also she can identify areas he is extra sore or needs more stretching or that there may be an underlying soft tissue injury I was unaware of.
I know the founder of Equissage. She trains equine masseuses. The horses who serve as models love their job. 😊
tbh, this makes complete sense. horses are athletic and probably have the same issues as humans
Woo, as far as horses and the rich--different world. Not only will they have multiple houses all around the world, but they have stables attached with very expensive horses--think in the 50-100k price range. These horses are kept in tip-top shape and in continual training just in case the owners happen to be passing through for a week or two and feel like a ride. They may or may not have a professional rider compete their horse for bragging rights.
I don't know about the rich, I certainly wasn't rich when I owned horses. Lived with my parents, worked full-time, gave up a lot to have a horse.
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I've done some catering and personal chef work for some very wealthy people. They had their own personal stylist/tailor who made their clothes. They had a tailored chef coat made for me. It wasnt just suits and dresses. They made their whole wardrobe.
Had one of these chefs who had gotten tired of it all. He took a job cooking at our bush camps. We ate very well.
I loved working catering jobs in the late 90s BEFORE Austin became an ExUrb of Los Angeles, back when the wealthy werent Elon style buttwipes
I would say that pretty much every single industry branch you know has its own „for rich only“ alternate dimension.
a friend of mine works for a conpany that repairs coffee machines… not any machine. one brand. not a brand you can normally buy: a brand of coffee machines that are made only for certain private airplanes.
company is like 50 people. the whole company exists to repair and maintain a coffee machine of a single brand in the airplanes of the ultra rich.
he travels a lot.
Services for the rich is a huge part of the US Economy, about 20 million jobs are directly tied to services for the top 1/10th of the 1%, and those jobs pay on average 30% above market rate for similar jobs, not to mention other things. This is huge part of the US Economy.
As a Door Dash driver, I had a regular customer, a young boy who loved Wendys. Lived in a HUGE house on a scrubby hill off Southwest Parkway in hidden richville. His dad owns hotels, and they trust people like me to not off the kid and raid the place. Nice kid, though.probably driving to Wendys in a Porsche by now.
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My partner is a master marine tech (yachts). It is mind blowing how much these people can spend without even thinking twice about it. Most owners enjoy their yacht once a year, for about a week, and still pay for a full time crew 365 247.
My cousin used to work as crew on a private yacht. She hated it.
Load More Replies...also 3/4 of yachts are rented out when not in use by the owners, and these can be for up to 3-4 million per day rentals. Owners use it sparigly, but they rent them out through services to those who cant afford one, but rich enough to lease one for a weekend. That is what covers the cost of crew. And ofc you pay crew full time, this is their job, they live on the boat when not on their weeks off, even when in port.
Healthcare has entire different divisions for different classes. I work for a large Hospital network, and one of the bigger campuses has private offices, waiting areas, bathrooms, and even hotel rooms for certain clientele. They're pretty cleverly hidden, too. We've even been told that if we see body guards or Secret Service, that we mind our own business.
Anyone else remember the show Royal Pains? It was about a concierge medical service for rich summer people in the Hamptons.
Private jet chartering is a prime example. It’s basically a whole industry built around making sure the super wealthy can skip airports and fly whenever they want, with zero inconvenience. It’s wild how much infrastructure and manpower goes into serving just a tiny fraction of people.
Jet ownership yes, but chartering I do not associate with ultra wealthy.
Not even the super rich, the upper middle class today can afford charters if they want. A private 14 seat jet, New York to Paris, is cheaper than first class for 14 on the same distance depending on charter service. Upper Middle class who fly first class use this as well for privacy.
Sometimes marketed to the ultra-rich as e.g. “continuity of civilization”, "life-continuity insurance", or “resilient real estate”, things the press calls “survival bunkers,” “doomsday shelters,” or “apocalyptic retreats”, for times of civil unrest/breakdown, disease outbreaks, climate disasters, war etc..
Oh, no, don't open inwards! Yes you protect the hinges like that but you leave it susceptible to being rammed. If I was designing a place I'd want a door that closes flush into it's frame and has bolts that come out all the way around to hold it in place (think like on a submarine). This would lead into a sort of cloakroom, and then there would be a second, stronger, one inside. Don't pin your hopes on one single door. I'd also be looking at the possibility of pneumatic slide doors (like watertight doors on a cruise ship) that can be triggered to section off the entire place just in case it was breached. With a key that I carry being able to get the doors to open so I can still move around. If you're planning for the apocalypse, surviving the war will likely be easier than surviving the aftermath.
I lived in a pretty isolated area up north. We would very occasionally find a very well made "cabin" (if i could call them that) off the beaten track. Asked around and there was an older Scandinavian fellow who would be hired by the rich to build these places as their escape to place.
The ultra wealthy recently hired a futurist to tell them how to keep oppressing the poor after the apocalypse. I kid you not.
Peeka_Mimi: the one good thing about a hypothetical collapse of modern civilization is that the useless parasites known as "the ultra rich" couldn't survive long - being useless at all practical tasks, they need workers, and the workers would be much more likely to eat them than work for them by the time the parasites emerge from their protected lairs. 🤣
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My therapist’s wife is an interior designer for yachts. Every single thing she deals with (upholstery, furniture, fixtures, etc) comes from companies that specialize in high end materials and furnishings specifically for luxury yachts. It’s like looking through a window into another world seeing her office….
Some of the floors are so expensive you have to wear no shoes or special slippers on them. I learnt this doing a lot of topless waitress jobs on them back in the day. Had to wear bootie covers over stríppêr heels on the inside part 😂
PeepPeep the duck: of all the questions I've got, I'm going with "How do you find out about the job of being a topless waitress on an ultra-luxury yacht?" followed by "Do I even want to know the answer?" 🤣
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Space tourism.
Very few people have actually made it into space. I'm not counting the recent jaunts by Bezos and Branson as they didn't even clear aurora height.
I catered/bartended at Horseshoe Bay a few times met JIM LOVELL, he signed my 1st edition of Lost Moon.
I live in Las Vegas now, and it feels like the entire city only serves the very wealthy now.
I just came back home to the Gold Coast, it’s the same 😂 it is actually kinda sad that alllll workers in hospitality and counter retail are all so young and kids, it used to be a mix of adults and kids (I was one). They don’t even wanna pay wages for adults anymore
Luxury watches. And I’m not taking about Rolex, that’s for upper middle class folks who are breaking into the watch game.
Brands like Patek Philippe, FP Journe, A. Lange & Sohne, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, etc.
Most people have likely never heard of them but most of their entry level watches can cost more than an average persons yearly mortgage.
I see there's a Casio available from Amazon at £13. Mine is similar, perhaps 30 years old and still working well. Digital display, so I don't even need to learn how to tell the time! There are radio-controlled watches that would never need to be adjusted: I don't believe a mechanical Swiss watch would keep such perfect time. Crazy world.
The brands listed here, with the exception of Patek Philippe, are chump change in the world of high end luxury watches. Patek is the only one with two models that go for over $10M, and they don't break the top 5 in the industry. With the most expensive Chopard watch you could buy 80 pieces of the most expensive Vacheron or Audemars, 30 FPs or 10 of the most expensive Langes. And you would need 2 or 3 of those Chopard "201-carats" to buy any of the top two Graff Diamond models.
It gives me so much peace to know I dont know so many words/ names in your comment :)
Load More Replies...I bet they make sure to brag about the amount they paid for their sad little trinkets whenever they get a chance. Mid-life crisis strapped to their body so they can gaze at it lovingly and feel reassured that they are important
I mean, come on. People don't spend $10 million+++ on a fancy bracelet unless they're incredibly insecure
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Tours to the Titanic.
Good job AI. That's not the Titanic, it's much darker down there, and colder, and that bloke would be crushed to soup long before he made it to the ship's final resting depth.
The man in the foreground doesn't look like he's 2.4 miles underwater.
Submarine in the background doesn't have four smokestacks.
Load More Replies...I doubt the guy in this picture is *diving" near the Titanic. Isn't it very far down in the ocean?
That's a WWII sub. If you're going to use AI images at least use ones related to the subject.
Private chef, chefs that go to people's houses to cook for them.
Actually, in India cooks that go to people’s homes are very, very common. Not really a sign of being rich.
Though, there are so many people in India, you can find someone to do the smallest job ever. For example, I know a lady you can pay to come to your house and help you wear your saree.
Load More Replies...My friend Janis cooks for a gay couple and their kids a few times a week, does whatever she wants
I don’t know if this is actually for the rich or seems like it should be but there’s a company in my town that fills your car up with gas at your house. You pay I believe a monthly subscription and then you get your gas pumped right into your car in your driveway.
I recently watched and helped when I figured it out she was struggling, the cutest little rich girl in Robina who couldn’t for the life of her figure out how to fill her convertible Mercedes. She looked barely out of high school. I’m guessing her parents would have this service 😂 (lots of gated mansion places in Gold Coast).
A guy I went to high school with is a paparazi in LA now... he's the one that got PARIS HILTON gas when she ran out, and he has the video to prove it. She paid in Benjamins
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There's several companies that do bespoke $10,000+ cell-phones, usually made of exotic metals and gemstones, and USUALLY with a private concierge service on speed dial...
need to order a 1961 Bollinger La Grande Annee Brut at 4 in the morning to go with your hookers and blow??
They got you.
need to figure out what markets are open in the middle of the night when you are one step away from insider trading and have to set up a shady tax shelter in a non extradition country? Yup, probably have some swiss banker on speed dial.
Cryonics. Basically an entire industry built around charging rich people rent to be popsicles.
Excuse me while I just...oh did I accidentally hit the defrost button? My bad.
Trusts. I was curious about UK law school curricula and noted that a dedicated Trusts class is part of the base curricula in the UK. And that sort of told me all I needed to know about old money. Every lawyer is taught to defend it.
Philanthropy. It exists primarily for tax evasion and reputation laundering. Much cheaper to spend $100K giving a gift to a charity than it is to spend millions on imagine consultants etc.
In my country, the donation used to come off of the gros income; therefore, we didn't pay tax after our donations. It was abolished sometimes around 2010. Now I give donations from my taxed net income.
"Passive investing firms" like blackrock. Their only goal is make money and hog power.
Making money for millions of private investors, mainly. That's their market, not ultra-rich.
The AI industry.
Making the broad masses of people fall under mass surveillance, making the working class losing their only leverage against their rich overlords (i.e. their capacity for work), mass-produced slop, and automated plagiarism against all art.
Top notch Golf clubs. I wish the best golf spots were accessible for all people. It really is a beautiful game on beautiful properties.
Properties are beautiful indeed, Ican not say the same about the game. :))
Especially when there are men with rifles hiding in the bushes.
Load More Replies...Waste of water and the herbicides & fertilizers are an environmental nightmare. Unless you need a plot to bury the ex wife just to get a tax deduction.
I met a guy who owns a bunch of race cars. He moves them around the US to different tracks and he runs races for the super rich who jet in, race, have a party, then leave. He takes care of everything with the cars. He makes serious dough doing this, but nothing close to what his customers have.
There are a bunch of services doing this on any major track, and a few that tour from track to track doing "Track days": it's not for the ultra-rich, it's achievable for any motivated upper middle class and definitely possible for anyone with a good income. Participating in a track day with a company such as Kateyama (for pro drivers) or Puresport (for amateurs) would cost about 500€ for a GT3 experience, 3000€ for a Formula 3 or other feeder series, and about 8000€ for an actual Formula 1 (possibly 10 or 20 years old, but still)
Jrog: I don't know about your country, but "upper middle class" types here in the UK don't need to save up to spend €8000 on a treat. That's "motivated upper working class" type of "saving for a treat" if you see what I mean.
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Corporations. They exist to service the rich. Employees, customers, MBA, etc. are there to churn out cash for the rich. Think about that next time you are working late.
You need to investigate who actually own 'corporations'. The vast majority are owned by small private investors, and funds set up to manage investments and pensions for millions of investors. For example, the biggest shareholder of Exxon-Mobile owns less than 1%, and is an investment fund for millions of people. The idea that only rich people own 'corporations' is untrue, and this is easily verified as most shareholders are publicly listed.
I can say with all confidence, I will never have to employ any of these people.
I think the horse masseuse is cool, though. All I need is a horse...
Load More Replies...Trump showed his weiner to some reporters somewhere.LBJ did it too
Load More Replies...I can say with all confidence, I will never have to employ any of these people.
I think the horse masseuse is cool, though. All I need is a horse...
Load More Replies...Trump showed his weiner to some reporters somewhere.LBJ did it too
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