It seems to us that wealth is always associated with luxury. Most people, rising to a high level of wealth, really start spending the money they earn, sometimes they even do it too actively. However, history knows many cases when rich people were extremely stingy. Living according to the principle “a penny saves the ruble”, they saved up their fortune, not squandering it over trifles, and sometimes even denying themselves the essentials.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
It is known that the great master became famous during his lifetime. Taking advantage of the well-deserved fame and receiving gigantic royalties for his work at that time, he, however, did not spend money at all to somehow improve his life. Michelangelo constantly complained about the high prices in the shop, during trips he ordered one bed for three for himself and two assistants, in the last years of his life he saved on clothes and shoes, did not even have the necessary furniture. However, after death, a huge chest of gold was found in the house. Contemporaries noted the extreme stinginess of the master and laughed at him: they said that it was for this reason that his statues were always half-naked or completely naked.
Michelangelo in a portrait of Daniele da Volterra (c. 1544)
Nevertheless, according to Giorgio Vasari, the author of the famous Biographies, the opinion of Michelangelo's parsimony was superficial: “Many accuse him of miserliness. How wrong they are … I was often with him, and saw how many ideas, drawings and drawings I gave to my colleagues, how many times I gave invaluable advice on painting and architecture, without demanding any payment in return … Would you call such a person a curmudgeon and a miser, who extended a helping hand to the poor and, without saying a word to anyone, gave a dowry to the girls, generously paid for the work of his assistants and servants."
Henrietta Greene - The Wall Street Witch
Promotional video:
It is not for nothing that this lady has earned such a sonorous nickname from her contemporaries. She is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the meanest person in the world. Moreover, in 1916 she is considered the richest woman in the world! Born into a fairly wealthy family and knowing real luxury since childhood, Henrietta, having become independent, probably did not spend a single penny of extra money. Her husband, also a millionaire, put his finances completely at her disposal. A family with several children lived practically below the poverty line: they rented cheap furnished rooms, did not use heating or hot water.
Henrietta Howland Green.
There were many legends about the stinginess of this woman. They say that she never washed her hands, instructed the servant to wash only the dirtiest parts of the dress, which, by the way, she covered up "to the holes," and then only bought a new one, bought broken biscuits from the local shop, which was cheaper, and never missed an opportunity get a free bone for her dog, warmed up food on the heating radiator in the office and was ready to look for a lost dime in the carriage for half a night.
The most terrible example of stinginess was the attitude of a multimillionaire towards her own children. When her little son Ned broke his leg, Henrietta, out of economy, turned not to private doctors, but for several days tried to attach him to a clinic for the poor, as a result of which the boy's leg was amputated. The daughter, having a congenital foot defect, suffered this shortcoming all her life, knowing that her mother would not give money for the operation. By the way, after the death of "The Witch", the children spent most of the huge inheritance they received on charity.
John Paul Getty
This is another millionaire who has become an example of the canon miser. With the largest fortune in the world in 1966 ($ 1.2 billion), he always wore crumpled suits, saving on the iron. In his own mansion, he installed paid city phones so that the servants and households did not ruin him with long conversations. However, the most famous is the story of his grandson. In 1973, a 16-year-old was kidnapped and demanded a ransom of $ 17 million for him.
John Paul Getty.
The grandfather refused to pay, explaining it this way: "I have fourteen grandchildren, if I pay one penny today, then I will have fourteen kidnapped grandchildren." His heart did not soften even after receiving the severed ear of the hostage. As a result of a long bargaining, the kidnappers reduced the requirements to 3 million, and then Getty Sr. allocated only 2.2 of them. He lent the rest of the money to his son at 4% per annum. This story became the basis for Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World.
John Rockefeller
The name of this person has become a household name, meaning unprecedented wealth and prosperity. This is true, because it was Rockefeller who became the first official dollar billionaire in human history. All his life, he noted that he owes his reasonable attitude to money to his father's upbringing: “He often bargained with me and bought various services from me. He taught me how to buy and sell. My father just “coached” me to get rich!”. Already at the age of seven, little Johnny began to earn money. He raised turkeys for sale and hired to dig potatoes from neighbors. He put everything he earned in a porcelain piggy bank and kept accounting in a small notebook, which he then kept all his life. Already at the age of 13, he lent money to a friend at 7.5% per annum.
John Davison Rockefeller.
His wife also turned out to be a tight-fisted woman, brought up in strict rules, as a result of which family expenses never exceeded the necessary amounts. Only after the death of Laura (and they lived together for 60 years), one of the richest people on earth learned to wear expensive suits. He raised five offspring following the example of his father. Each of the children had a booklet for recording expenses and income. There were strict principles of bonuses and fines in the family - rewards for work, discipline, for refusal from life's benefits (for example, a day without sweets) and monetary punishment for sins, which were considered lateness or pranks. Children rarely bought new outfits - they donned clothes for the elders.
It should be noted, of course, that, having earned a huge fortune, John Rockefeller spent a significant part of it on charity. This man is also remembered as the greatest philanthropist of his time. Thanks to him, the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Institute of Medicine, the General Education Council, and the Rockefeller Foundation were founded. In total, he donated about half a billion dollars to good endeavors, and his son continued this activity.
