Harry Mount

Why I feel sorry for the super-rich

  • From Spectator Life
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Be honest. Aren’t you a teeny-weeny bit jealous of the super-rich?

Are you a little annoyed by the new Sunday Times Rich List – which showed the top ten richest people in the country now have £182 billion between them, more than three times what they had in 2010? Don’t your hackles rise on seeing the masters of the universe pad around Davos in their identikit blue suits and tieless white shirts?

Well, stop worrying and thank God you aren’t a billionaire. The Super-Rich World Problems are endless.

Bucketloads of money should inoculate the rich against anxiety. In fact, money only heightens the worries, particularly about their two principal bugbears: staff and taxes. They make for the most popular topics of billionaire conversation: how your staff are letting you down; and how to pay less money to the government. Watching paint dry suddenly has its own fascinations.

If you think it’s boring dealing with the admin for your tiny flat, try looking after the house in Mayfair, the shooting lodge in Scotland, the villa in Tuscany, the condo in Miami…

Of course, there are staff galore – and staff to deal with those staff.

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