The Best of Days, The Worst of Days
Do rich people become blasé about money?
I ask because I was reading this article about big-time CEOs and the profit or loss they make each day depending on the value of their company’s shares. For example, yesterday:
Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon.com Inc made around $25 million, with a percentage gain of 0.35% in share value, while Lawrence Ellison of Oracle lost $118 million as Oracle’s share value plummeted by a whopping, er, 0.44%.
I can’t even imagine the surge of adrenaline such gains/losses must elicit. I get excited when I find a $5 note behind the couch, so I think I’d fall into a coma with daily net worth fluctuations involving 8-9 figures.
Do you think they cope by just not really caring because, in the words of Scarlett O’Hara, tomorrow is another day [of market fickleness]?
But this is how it runs in my head, which is usually somewhat removed from true events:
Mr Bezos, bursting through the front door: “Honey guess what? I made $25 million today! Woohoo! [Throws suitcase and laptop in the air.] Screw work tomorrow, I’m taking you and the kids on a space trip!”
Meanwhile, Mr Ellison sits hunched over a rickety wooden table, his head illuminated by a single dusty lampshade swaying above. He swigs back the remaining drops from a bottle of Jim Beam. A black Labrador sits obediently beside him, his head on Mr Ellison’s lap. “Data, I’m ruined I tell you! How can I show my face in Boardroom 6 tomorrow?” Data blinks.
Posted
on
Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
under