I was talking to a friend yesterday, and I made a statement that "Billionaires aren't like us, but they want us to believe they are like us, and live like us". You wonder why I say so, or what I mean by that? Don't sweat it, I am willing to share this here with you.
Before you begin to ask questions, have you seen videos where Billionaires claim not to have fancy houses, or claim to not drive luxurious cars? If you have, then let me help you with solve that puzzle with a simple answer; "They pay PR agencies to do it" but why do they do this?
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Take the example of Sam Bankman-Fried, who claimed not to need a Lamborghini but was later revealed to have luxurious cars when his company, FTX, went public. During court hearings, it became clear that he had sold these cars because they didn't align with the modest image they wanted to portray to investors. FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried are not unique in putting up folksy images; many CEOs and company heads do the same. But why?
They do this because of a lot of reasons with one being the fact that people would trust them and give them what they want. Dressing like the regular person or showing their simple or geeky wardrobe is one way to show people that money hasn't changed them even when they have it in excess. What I will refer to as Poverty Peacocking which is what they need. People want to see a humble CEO, and since that is the fashion, CEOs are willing to give it to them. Leaders of companies and corporation are men who wear hoodies and turtlenecks instead of tailored suits.
It has been proven that when business leaders publicly give up flashy luxuries, it sends a message that they will be frugal running their business but the truth is these people do not actually give up their wealth. For instance, Warren Buffet drives an old car but then he is often driven around by a fleet of suburban cars long side a security team. While it looks like Zuckerberg where only one gray shirt, the reality is that he has a number of them, and they are custom made by Brunello Cucinelli. Also, all these men fly private even though they make us feel like they are not spending money at all.
Looking like the random dude out there is an effective sales tactics for business leaders. It was in the news one time that Warren Buffett's wife grumbled about how expensive a 4 dollar coffee was at Sun Valley conference, which is the conference for Billionaires. The only news that came out of that conference was the 4 dollar coffee and nothing more. We didn't know what was discussed in the conference but what they were going to sell to us was already cooked.
This strategy of spending money to appear poor helps billionaires maintain control over their workers. It becomes challenging for employees to request a salary increase when the business owner is seemingly cutting down on expenses to keep the business afloat. If these billionaires showcased their luxury lives, employee demands would likely escalate.