Throwaway for obvious reasons, apologies.

FWIW, I kno(e)w four billionaires through my work (one deceased, one I lost contact with), and their life is not at all like described here, though they could afford that and more they keep a pretty low profile and you likely have never heard of them, and likely never will. But the 'controlling interest in a company you've likely heard about' is a common factor for three of those four.

The people that throw money around as if there is no tomorrow are typically the ones that have an unhealthy urge to be recognized as wealthy, the really wealthy people are relatively quiet about it in comparison.

That may of course be a reflection of the group of people that person connected to, I can see how there are very different circles of wealthy people just as there are different circles of people that are not wealthy.

Billionaires are just like the rest us when it comes to variety of personalities and motivations. The wealth just lets them indulge more in the extremes (like complete privacy or flamboyant fame).

Hmmm that's a very interesting reddit comment. Thanks for sharing! I guess my comment was a bit too imprecise. Of course you can always afford additional luxuries, and money still remains a big factor in relative pecking order questions (which become more important the more super-rich friends you have!). But power over personal staff, even if it travels with you in your private jet and occupies half of the hotel when you arrive is not the same as power over tens to hundreds of thousands of employees. Also, that private staff is a net loss while the company is making you money.

This is an amazing discussion of wealth in the linked reddit comment.

Shows how easy it is to underestimate how different lives we all live, depending on our experiences and outlook - even in the same country. Money is probably just one big parameter, but there are surely many others.

Insane. I'm not sure if it's real or not based on the users post history but it's just hard to think about.