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by gumby 891 days ago
Why on earth would you want to let someone know that you had a big payout? It's none of anybody else's business how much money I have and if nobody knows you can walk downtown in peace, go to restaurants, hang out with your same friends, and still have lovely ski or yacht holidays in peace.

The Bay Area and Seattle have quite a few "unknown" billionares. For example if you had less than 5% of Microsoft when it IPOd you were not listed in the S-1, and if you hung on by the mid 90s you could have been worth 8-9 figures.

2 comments

> … if you hung on by the mid 90s you could have been worth 8-9 figures.

To not diversify a concentrated wealth of 8+ figures takes some serious diamond hands.

> Why on earth would you want to let someone know that you had a big payout?

One reason is that it can help attract talent & useful connections. If you're a known billionaire, I imagine it's pretty easy to get a meeting with anyone, which could lead to educational & enriching conversations that you otherwise wouldn't have access to.

I'm curious if there's information from ppl who've experienced this type of publicity, where they thoughtfully evaluate the pros & cons, and evaluate how they net out.