[bilqis]

He comes from emerald wealth in South Africa for christ sake. Maybe he cleaned manure, but not out of dire need

[bryanlarsen]

Given that the mine was worth 40,000 pounds and stopped producing in 1989 it wasn't exactly a great source of wealth.

[monocasa]

It's more that he came from such wealth that his family could acquire a nontrivial share in an emerald mine on what amounted to a whim.

> Standing with the cash in his hand, Errol was made another offer he couldn't refuse: Would he like to buy half an emerald mine for half of his new riches?

> "I said, 'Oh, all right'. So I became a half owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years."

https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/how-elon-musks-fami...

[bryanlarsen]

Anybody who considers 80,000 pounds to be riches is not very wealthy.

[monocasa]

It's 80,000 pounds dropped on a whim, not that they simply had 80k total. That is wealthy.

[bryanlarsen]

It's not on a whim, it's how Errol lived his entire life. Chasing "Get Rich Quick" schemes is not typically a sign of wealth.

[monocasa]

The ability to move non trivial amounts of capital on a whim is the very definition of wealth.

> Chasing "Get Rich Quick" schemes is not typically a sign of wealth.

I've found it to be pretty common. The amount of dumb money seeking 'easy' ways to multiply flowing around silicon valley kind of defines the place.