How Billionaires Spend Their Cash
When individuals accumulate a massive amount of wealth, normal people wonder how they like to spend their hard earned money. Many of the world's billionaires have pretty expensive hobbies and like to splurge on outrageous purchases that normal citizens of the world could never even dream of. But when you are as rich as Bill Gates, Richard Branson, or Mark Cuban, you end up doing whatever it is you want.
Charities
Billionaires are known for being generous, socially-conscious people. Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Facebook, is one of the world's youngest billionaires, and has pledged most of his wealth to charity. In the past, he has donated $100 million towards Newark Public Schools, and has donated to the open social network, Diaspora. Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft and with his immense wealth, he has developed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with his lovely wife. The foundation has spent billions of dollars on programs such as HIV research, financial services for the poor, and agricultural development. Bill Gates has also pledged most of his wealth to charity. Lots of billionaires make sure they spend their cash on others and not just their families and themselves.
Assets and Properties
It is expected that billionaires would buy luxury homes, but the astronomical costs of the properties they purchase still make the jaw drop. Sean Parker, Co-Founder of Napster and Facebook's first president, bought a six floor $20 million townhouse in NYC. While most people could never dream of such a luxurious home in one of the best cities in the world, no one could imagine Mukesh Ambani's, 27-story skyscraper home that cost about $2 billion. Richard Branson, the genius behind Virgin Group, bought his own island, Necker Island, for a few hundred thousand dollars. Gordon Getty, of Getty Oil, purchased a Napa Valley winery with part of his fortune. Yachts have also been a popular splurge among the uber-rich. One of India's billionaires owns four yachts! Googlers, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, own yachts, too. Page bought his for $45 million, and Schmidt bought his for $72 million.
Awesome, Odd and Outrageous Purchases
While many people may dream of one day giving away a million dollars to fight world hunger and owning their own personal island, only actual billionaires would think of and actually purchase crazy things like a $42 million clock. Jeff Bezos of Amazon has spent some of his cash building a 10,000-year clock inside a cave in Texas. Another outrageous purchase, fit for a billionaire, was one of Sean Parker's most lavish meals, which cost $13,000. Richard Branson has been known for doing some of the most impressive things any human being has ever done, and one of those things includes making a galactic spaceship, which cost $200 million. One way billionaire Bill Gates spent some of his cash was by buying Leonardo Da Vinci's Journal for $30.8 million. One Russian billionaire also bought a piece of history with his purchase of Hitler's Mercedes. Other billionaires bought professional sports teams. Investor and entrepreneur, Mark Cuban, bought a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, bought the Portland Trail Blazers for $65 million.
