The vibes have been very "eat the rich" lately for many reasons. And, of course, even with those vibes in the air every day, we read new things about the out-of-touch things the ultra-wealthy spend their money on — from them buying islands or large plots of lands to build Doomsday bunkers on to lavish weddings that cost over a $100 million.
It was with that in mind that I combed through Reddit to find threads about the wild ways rich people unintentionally flaunted their wealth. I actually came across two posts (one from seven years ago and one from nine years ago) that were just full of "OMG, these rich people truly have money to burn" comments.
Both the posts went viral with thousands of comments. Below are some of the top and best comments from them:
1. "Family I know bought the $3 million house next door so they could knock it down for a tennis court"
2. "My dad's boss was the billionaire CEO of a Fortune 500 company. We were invited to his private July 4 party at his home in Corona del Mar, where Robin Williams was hired to entertain. He also had his own fireworks barge anchored in the water just beyond the house — the fireworks alone cost more than $300K."
3. "I was hired to work as a housekeeper for this 20something-year-old gentleman — from a millionaire family who owned a penthouse on Park Avenue — after he broke his leg in a skiing accident and needed help with daily upkeep and cleaning. When his clothes needed to be washed or the dishes cleaned, instead of me cleaning them, I was instructed to throw them away and take the credit cards and just buy new ones. I was yelled at because I didn't spend ENOUGH on the dishes."
4. "I worked for a gal who had a speaker go out in her Ferrari and she refused to drive any further under those circumstances so she pulled over to wait for one of her house staff to bring her the Porsche. True story."
5. "During college I worked at a place selling very high-end patio furniture in the richest D.C. suburb. One day a Washington Commanders player comes in and buys a custom patio furniture set for his deck and pool area, total cost for 10 pieces was over $24,000. He paid cash and I set up delivery for six weeks later because the furniture had to be made at the manufacturer."
"Three weeks later he was cut by the team. I called when the order came in and he said, 'Oh, I'm in the Caribbean now. I think I'm selling that house, think I'm going to retire...you like the furniture?' Me: 'Yeah.' Him, 'You can have it, thanks for being a fan.' Now it's 14 years later and I still have that furniture and the fanciest patio setup in my middle class neighborhood!"
6. "I have a regular day job, but I also teach English as a second language to Gulf nationals, in particular, Saudi families. I receive a lot of gifts, but one boy I tutored came from a family who owns some of the most expensive racing camels in the Gulf. The father buys and sells these animals that are over six figures. When the son graduated, the father allowed me to choose a camel that would be mine, and designated as not for sale. I have a racing camel in Saudi Arabia that lives probably in better conditions than I do."
7. "Guy from my town bought a helicopter. He later had a falling out with his neighbor so decided to call his pilot at 4 a.m, and have the helicopter hover over his neighbor's house all night to annoy him."
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8. "I met the CEO of the company I work for and I complimented his watch. The first thing he did is take it off a day let me wear it. Come to find out after doing a little research, the watch he was wearing was a Patek Philippe that cost $1.75 million. That watch alone cost more than every asset in my family for the past four generations."
9. "I went to a birthday party in the third grade in which every girl in the grade was invited. So, about 80 girls were picked up in limos, taken to Build-A-Bear where we could choose any bear, then we all got manicures and pedicures, we went to Red Robin for dinner, and chauffeured back to her mansion for a sleepover. I will never attend a party that fancy ever again."
10. "This girl in high school had to fill up her $100,000 Mercedes for the first time, so she decided to fill it up with diesel. Couple weeks later she had a replacement Mercedes."
—[deleted]
11. "Young girl, about five years of age, was getting ready to go into New York City to visit her grandmother from the NJ suburbs. She was at her aunt's house and did not have a pair of shoes that she liked. She called their chauffeur, told him which pair of shoes she wanted. The dude got the shoes and drove some 20 miles to deliver them and she told him he got the wrong ones and he was an idiot. No one in the family thought this was inappropriate."
12. "I'm a flight attendant on private jets. In 2013, I once had a passenger charter a flight to Japan after one of the world's largest tunas was caught, so that he could have some of it. He had already been planning to go to Japan that month but decided to leave early for the tuna. On our return leg he ordered $30K worth of food (mostly sushi) for our flight to Europe, he was the only passenger and never had a bite."
13. "My last job before college was dealing with what they call the 1% now. We had a call from a customer who had spent a five-figure sum for items for her house, and realized the house she had it sent to was not the house she wanted to decorate with the stuff. After being informed the order was already in transit she just reordered everything and had it rush delivered to the house she wanted it for. She was totally cool with it. I always picture the basement of her one house having the duplicates sitting there, worth far more than what I made at that job in a year."
14. "A woman on a Delta flight in first class, loudly complaining to her seat mate that she had to 'fly commercial' because her family's private jet was being repaired."
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15. "They bought a new yacht because the wife didn't like the beds."
16. "I once won a VIP ticket for a Moscow nightclub. Don't ask. I saw three kids test their $100K watches for waterproofness by emptying $4K bottles of champagne over them. One of the watches wasn't and they found that fact very funny."
17. "Back when the recession hit, one of my very best friend's family was very distraught, because they had to sell one of their three private jets."
18. "I worked for a wealthy man and he once had me fly on a private jet to the other side of the country to pick up six boxes of perfect heirloom strawberries that cost a $100 per six pack. They were placed in Chinese silk-lined hand-molded box so each strawberry wouldn't be jostled during the trip. He ate three and gave me the rest for my trouble. Not gunna lie, it was the most amazing strawberry I have ever had. They probably cost him $25K when it was all said and done between the flights and my wage."
19. "I was invited to a graduation party, hosted by a very wealthy couple whose daughter had just graduated from Yale. Her father came out, in front of the guests, displaying Rolex and Cartier watches and asking which one of the two expensive watches the group thought would be 'the more appropriate for the occasion.' Everyone just looked at each other, silently, not quite sure what to say."
—[deleted]
20. "The parents of this girl that went to my high school got her some average, probably $10K car for her 16th birthday as a joke. She gets all upset because it isn't what she wanted. Her parents then go, 'Just kidding! This is the actual car we got you!' and give her some $70K Range Rover. She got to keep them both."
—[deleted]
21. "One of my students gets dropped off to school in a helicopter."
—[deleted]
22. "My husband wrote a movie (long story) with a friend of his who is a full-time writer in Hollywood. Friend went to the house of a famous producer to pitch their script. He called my husband and said, 'They have a Picasso!' Husband is like, 'Wow, very cool.' Friend says, 'The Picasso is in their garage.'"
23. And lastly, "My rich friend has had to respray his car multiple times because a pet peacock on his property keeps seeing his reflection in it and attacking it like crazy."
