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40 Rich People “Norms” That Are Anything But, As Shared By People Who Have Inside Info On The 1%
For most, the biggest financial decision of the week is whether to splurge on the name-brand cheese. For the super-rich, it’s whether or not to fly to Switzerland to get the cheese from the source. It's a completely different universe, a place where the problems are, shall we say, different.
Netizens asked people to share the most baffling habits of the wealthy, and the answers are a jaw-dropping look at the secret rulebook for the 1%. From their bizarre relationship with food to the things they consider "normal," these are the habits of a species that operates on a completely different plane of existence.
More info: Reddit
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#1
Forgetting that paper money has different values. I landscaped for a wealthy family (billionaires) and he was a nice enough guy. Always tipped us on our weekly visit. He tipped us equally in his eyes, we all got five monies each. He would peel off five bills from a wad of cash in his pocket and we all got the same. You might get $5 you might get $500, just luck of the draw. During the holidays we all got ten monies each. We had a gentleman’s agreement whenever we worked his property that the guy who got the biggest tip bought lunch.
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#2
One of my friends was friends with a son of some Malaysian Oil Company exec. They had air conditioning on the front lawn.
#3
A friend of mine is an electrician, and was working on an insanely wealthy old woman's home in the mountains near Boulder, CO. Her bedroom is a special depressurization chamber that mimics the oxygen conditions of being at sea level.
EDIT: it's technically a pressurization chamber, not a de-pressurization chamber like I originally wrote.
If you want to see the modern face of baffling wealth, you need to visit the corner of the internet known as "RichTok." This is where you'll find influencers like Becca Bloom, the self-proclaimed "Queen of RichTok," whose entire brand is showcasing a level of casual opulence that melts the normal human brain.
She has recently come under fire for one of her viral videos, which featured a Christmas gift haul from her husband that included over $40,000 in couture fashion. For most people, that's a down payment on a house. For her, it's a Tuesday. Becca has made a name by performing a lifestyle so extravagant that it becomes a form of surreal entertainment for the rest of us.
#4
I worked landscaping for rich folks in the Denver, CO area and I heard of a family that built a miniature town in a sunken location and flooded it with water so they could scuba dive through it.
#5
I went to a very expensive jewelry store (think $20k-100k for a single necklace) just to look at sparkly things. Right away they let me try on this $50k bracelet. Even offered to give me a few to wear around the area to see how I liked them on me and in the sun. I got given espresso martinis. I even told them I could never afford anything here and they said it was alright and still treated me with great kindness
EDIT: if there's any billionaires reading this, I wouldn't be opposed to being bought the $100k serpenti necklace :) /s.
#6
I worked(doing AV stuff)in a customers home that had a kind of operations manager running his house. Her job was basically to schedule and make sure the maintenance of the home was kept, from housekeeping/landscaping/pool guy, to us, coming to replace a tv in his home gym. She sorta flexed by telling us that she was instructed that if something for the house cost less than 5k, to not bother him and just cut a check for it.
On our way home from the job I googled the guy to discover he had made something like 53 million that year(it was during the summer)but was also due some fat bonus by the end of the year, indicating that wasn’t all he was gonna make. Stupid wealthy.
The reason these habits seem so alien is that they are born from a reality that is fundamentally different from our own. According to the anti-poverty organization Oxfam, the statistics on wealth inequality are staggering. Their research consistently shows that the world's richest 1% hold a wildly disproportionate amount of global wealth, often more than the bottom 50-70% of the population combined.
When you have that much of a financial cushion, the basic rules of cause and effect that govern most people's lives simply cease to apply. The result is a mindset where a problem isn't solved with a budget, but by simply throwing an unimaginable amount of money at it until it goes away.
#7
I was involved with coordinating a New York press tour for Bill Gates back in the day. Every moment of his time was scheduled down to the minute (because his time was so valuable). In addition to his personal security, we hired some police/military/special services guys to coordinate Bill’s travel route.
I’ve never moved through Manhattan so fast! We went through back doors and walkways that avoided the general public in buildings and took us right to his interview locations. Every step was mapped out and someone was always there waiting for us, just to open an unmarked door that would lead to yet another shortcut. Our unmarked black SUV was always waiting with the engine running and we were quickly whisked from place to place.
That’s the day that I learned the most valuable thing to a billionaire isn’t more money, it’s time.
#8
I was briefly (and casually) acquainted with a guy who got dropped off at the place we were at in a helicopter.
Apparently, he had to have his helicopter pick him up at some random airport farther away, because the one runway at the nearby airport large enough to support his plane was closed due to a fuel spill.
The closest I’ve come to that, was the time I got stuck renting a Nissan Juke because my flight got canceled.
#9
The Starkey School of Household Management, colloquially called “Butler Bootcamp.” It’s really a training facility for both personal service (butling/housekeeping/assistantship) and the more business managerial aspects of running a wealthy person’s life/estate. I used to live down the street and did a bit of a dive into their curriculum and alumni, and it’s fascinating. .
We hear numbers like "million" and "billion" thrown around so often that they start to lose their meaning. But the gap between them is the key to understanding the rich-person mindset. MADX.digital founder Toni Koraza reminds us of an important fact: a million seconds is about 12 days. A billion seconds is nearly 32 years.
This is the difference we're talking about. A millionaire might fly first class, but a billionaire might own the airline. This is a difference in quantity, but more so, it’s a difference in kind. It's a level of wealth that is so vast, it's essentially a superpower that allows you to operate outside the normal constraints of society.
#10
Orchid daycare. You send your non blooming orchid in to be taken care of until it blooms again, and exchange it for a blooming one so you always have blooming orchids in your house.
#11
Father in Law works in construction with decades of experience under his belt, been contracted to work with basically a local billionaire and has worked with him for a number of years.
One year, while my FIL was out hunting, a massive flood shuts down highways in my area and he can’t make it home. It was awful, acres and acres of farm land was destroyed.
Local lodges clear out room for travellers stuck, FIL decides to give up his room and just use his camping gear in the bush.
He’s was supposed to work for this rich guy the following day but obviously he can’t make it in so he gives him a call telling him the situation.
Story goes the rich guy is straight up saying “where are you.” And within a few hours a helicopter comes in to extract him out of the area. All the other travellers saw the helicopter come by and thought it was general rescue so they started lining up with their suit cases. Little did they know that the one helicopter was there to ONLY get my FIL out, out of no where basically a dirty bushman (my FIL) comes out of the woods and he hops into the helicopter.
That’s some real money right there. Basically “To hell with the rest of ya, this man has got some work to do” .
#12
It's more common knowledge now, but if your yacht is big enough you also need a support vessel. And if your family is wealthy enough you have a family office who takes care of just about anything because a single PA doesn't cut it.
The online threads dedicated to exposing these bizarre habits are part of a much larger cultural trend: the comeback of the slogan "Eat the Rich." Deutsche Welle explains that this old revolutionary phrase has been resurrected by a generation that is deeply frustrated with extreme wealth inequality and the out-of-touch behavior it produces.
It's not a literal call for cannibalism; it's a darkly humorous expression of the feeling that the super-rich are living in a completely separate world, with no understanding of the struggles of ordinary people. It's the feeling that bubbles up when you hear stories about someone treating a private jet like an Uber or complaining about the upkeep on their fifth home.
#13
I know a man who makes very good money managing a yacht for a very wealthy man. The boat is docked in Jamaica most of the time. The owner uses it about 4 weeks a year but its staffed year round. The man I know lives on it with his wife. But they are free to do whatever they want 48 weeks a year.
#14
I know a billionaire who wanted swans swimming in the pond outside his home, but was disappointed when their feathers molted and they looked scruffy. He uses a swan rental service that rotates out the swans periodically so that they always look pristine.
#15
I wanted a new area rug. I went to a high-end rug store and was pleasantly surprised that the smallest rug they had was in my price range. I couldn’t decide between two patterns. The sales rep said, “Why don’t you just take them both home and see which one you like better?” My flabbers were gasted. I didn’t even have to put down a deposit. Rich people get a level of service that poor people cannot even imagine.
At the end of the day, the most baffling "rich people habits" are not just about the money. Things get weird with the irreversible way that extreme wealth warps a person's perception of reality. The stories shared online paint a picture of a world where "summer" is a verb, where a broken phone is simply replaced instead of repaired, and where the biggest problem is figuring out where to park the helicopter.
It’s a fascinating, infuriating, and hilarious peek into a universe that is operating on a completely different set of rules. The wealth gap bridge is far from being under construction, so for now, all that’s left to do is shake our heads at the absurdity and get back to clipping coupons.
#16
Staff/servant issues, fear of kidnapping, yacht and aircraft positioning and maintenance, a constant worry that your social status and relationships are really just a reflection of your financial status.
#18
I work in the luxury travel industry. There are lots of good stuff here that you’ve never heard of.
Invite-only luxury travel collections, like Exclusive Resorts. Think of it like a country club, but for travel. You pay a membership fee upfront (packages range between $100k - $250k). Once you are a member, you have access to a huge network of ultra-luxury rental properties around the world with basically guaranteed availability.
Want a penthouse apartment in Monaco for the Formula 1 weekend? Ski-in chalet in Aspen over Christmas / NY week? Luxury apartment near the Super Bowl/ world Cup Final? Your personal travel concierge will take care of that.
Other services are things like travel Nannie’s for your kids.
Some exclusive operators are things like White Desert that can fly you on a private jet to an ice runway at their camp in Antarctica, and then (optionally) onwards to the South Pole. Starts around $110k per person.
You can charter a luxury polar expedition ship for about $2M-$5M for a 10-day expedition around Svalbard or Antarctica.
Also, helicopter charter on-demand. Own a mega yacht with a heli-pad, but don’t want the hassle of helicopter ownership? However, you do want full helicopter service on your yacht just for the 3-5 times a year that you are on it? There are companies that will match you up with a helicopter/ pilot / crew on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
#19
Poor people haven’t heard of uber wealthy people.
I used to bartend at this nice seafood place. It was a nice place, but not over the top. This dude used to come in once a week during lunch and have a kettle of clams and some calamari. We talked about all kinds of stuff but nothing important.
One day he tells me he just got back from the Baja 500 in Mexico. I asked if it was cool, he said it was. Told me about driving the course and whatnot. I laughed and said I thought he just went to watch. He said he owned a team and had been doing it for years. I commented that was cool and sounds expensive. He says, “Do you know who I am?” I said, yeah, you’re Gary.” He said check out my last name as he handed me his credit card to pay. It didn’t mean anything to me, so I said I didn’t get it. He told me it’s the same last name as the college sports arena in town. I chuckled. I said yeah, sure. Turns out his dad was a cable guru and he is some kind of crazy billionaire.
#20
My uncle is worth about 600 million euros. He has an art foundation that supports artists and curates an art collection, which he loans to museums.
The rent he doesn’t collect on that loaned art is deductible as a gift and he receives subsidies to support his foundation.
Most of the collection sits in museum depots, saving him storage fees.
Because he’s the ceo of this foundation, he gets a management fee, so no income tax.
Best part? His castle functions as a private art gallery, so whatever isn’t on loan just hangs on his wall at home.
He literally lives in a museum.
#21
12 years back my wife’s uncle was working for a UAE Sheikh to set up some telecom towers and travelled to Dubai. They were few guys with him who were given desert safari experience along with other colleagues.
While coming back to their hotel in Dubai they were dropped off in spanking new Porsche 911 turbos individually (7/8 of them). The Sheikh had come to visit them next day. While in the meeting one of uncle’s colleague praised the 911 to the Sheikh, next moment the Sheikh said ‘take it with you to your country, it’s yours’
The car was home delivered to his colleague in other country with all duties/taxes etc. paid.
Her uncle flabbergasted thought he should have praised it first.
#22
My uncle was a principal for an international private school.
Rich people hire educational agents to represents their kids.
They send those agents across the world to private school fairs and their job is to match the kid (who can be as young as 10) profile with the best school available that matches what the family wants.
Each agents have a portfolio of kids and they get a commission from the schools when they match a kid with them.
Lol.
#23
I happen to know one billionaire. He is not famous, but he loves famous people, especially athletes. He's had all kinds of people over to stay at his vacation home(s) including guys like Tom Brady and Steph Curry. So yeah, maybe people don't realize it, but if you have enough money you can be casual friends with anyone you want, even if you're not famous yourself.
#24
A spare exotic car to drive while the other is in the shop. I was repairing a garagedoor for a gentleman whose hobby was XKE Jaguars. He had two in his garage and I complimented him on the cars saying the usual things you say about an XKE. Beautiful, I like the lines, I bet they're fast, V12 must sound wonderful etc. He said yeah when they work. The silver one was his baby, the red one was the spare when the other breaks down monthly.
#26
Recently I saw a video where a guy had a flower cutting room. Literally a room just for cutting their flowers. Also there was a smaller room described as “cozier” that was built because it felt better to spend time in. There were multiple much larger living rooms fully furnished that they never spent any time in.
#27
A family I did some gardening work for had an Audi, range rover, and an Aston Martin in their garage. After a few months I was there and the garage was empty and a Ferrari was in the drive instead. I asked the guy I worked for if he had traded it in. He said no. The Ferrari had been in storage and needed a run around so he moved the Aston to storage instead.
#28
Riding on what another commenter posted...
TOY yachts for their main yacht
TOY yachts typically hold support staff, sometimes guests, and all the toys like jetskiis, and etc.
#29
Worked in high-end fundraising. Lots of rich people have seasonal residences. They rotate between 2-4 homes during the year on a set schedule. Like winter might be Scottsdale. Fall might be New York. Spring might be Switzerland. and Summer is Toronto. Extremely common. Locations vary, but they tended to keep a home where they had a business. A warm weather home. And many had a third that was a major hub for shopping and arts, like New York or Los Angeles or London or Paris. Four was less common, but we had some.
#30
Oh yeah, this is my area. I went to elite private schools (we weren't rich). The ultra wealthy I hung out with would be in the kitchen reminiscing as a family about the best Fish and Chips they ever had. That conversation would turn into a call to their pilot and a flight to Brighton beach the next day. Any conversation could end up with being in a different part of the world within 36 hours. I literally saw one family travel to France to pick up butter. Yes, BUTTER! Their private plane was like a car to them. They probably spent well over 100k in travel based solely on how good the butter was in France. Get on the plane at night and wake up in Europe....
I heard classmates complain about spending a week on a massive yacht in the Caribbean because it was "boring"...They couldn't go shopping in NY because they were stuck on a yacht. Their dad's response was that their plane would in the area and they could go shopping in NY whenever they wanted...So a vacation, inside of vacation, because their vacation wasn't exactly what they wanted.
#31
Independent watch brands
Majority knows of Rolex's, Omega, Tudor. They're good watches but it's essentially mass produced luxury watch.
Then you have the Patek's, AP's, JLC, FP Journe, GP and my personal favourite Vacheron Constatin that is not as known by the masses but is known by watch enthusiasts of different tax brackets.
Then you go deeper and start seeing independent watchmakers like Phillipe Dufour, Hajime Asaoka, voutilainen, Greubel Forsey just to name a few. These guys release pretty much limited editions.
#32
I went to an amazing Miami penthouse once that had multiple staircases brought in so the previous owner could pick which they liked best. It was insane.
Also went to Paloma Picasso’s house and she literally had a tile trim around the majority of the house made of tiles painted by her father. She also had a bathroom made of mirrors from a Russian palace, a lamp made of a globe used by popes for centuries, and a cot used by soldiers from the French Revolution used as decor. It was so understatedly extravagant my jaw was on the floor.
#33
Car Museums.
Have so many unique classic cars, that you don’t know what to do with them all?
Buy a building, call it a museum.
Now write it all off as a tax-deduction.
#34
I knew a guy who didn’t think in terms of legal/illegal, just in terms of how much something cost. We went to a restaurant and he parked in a “no parking” zone. I said “we can’t park here” and he said “yes we can it just costs $750”.
#35
Having your own foundation. It's really just a tax shelter and a place to employ the black sheep in your family.
#36
The billionaire social calendar. There are key events all over the world where you socialize with your billionaire buddies. Starts with St Barts for new years (there's a video of all the megayachts there this year). Davos, then fashion weeks, film festivals, yacht shows, art shows and sporting events.
#39
I studied abroad in China.
I went clubbing with some locals I met there and one guy who drove his gold wrapped Maserati to the club and proceeded to get REALLY drunk, so we took a cab home together. I met up with him the next night at a bar and asked him if he got his car.
He said "no I was too hungover today to go get it".
I told him the valet guy said if it wasn't picked up by the next day it would be towed.
He said "oh yeah, whatever, I'll just go buy a new one, it's not worth the hassle dealing with the tow company".
He laughed, I laughed, thinking he was joking.
I was talking to one of his friends later and told them about our conversation, to which is friend said
"Oh yeah, he's done that before, he'll have a new one by next week."
My jaw hit the floor. This guy was completely serious that he was too hassled to go pick up his impounded Maserati so he was just going to go buy a new one. The rich in China are RICH.
#40
Custom libraries.
For the absurdly rich who want a classic library with leather-bound books that simply aren’t available in leather binding, there are companies that will curate a collection based on your tastes, print out books on premium non-acidic paper, and bind them all to match, or fit a particular theme.
The service typically starts in the mid-6 figures.
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