People Share Dark Secrets About Working For The Ultra-Wealthy

Some say that being filthy rich isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Sometimes, it's just filthy.

Getting to a certain tax bracket isn't always about hard work.

Sometimes it's about dark secrets and underhanded play.

Working for the wealthy can expose people to a lot of shock and awe.

The sacrifices, the drama, the sinister behaviors, they're never-ending.

It's all a Netflix movie.

Redditor clitical-rolls wanted to hear all of the HOT tea about the underbelly of working for the super rich, so they asked:

"People who have worked for the ultrawealthy, what are some of their deepest, darkest secrets?"

Look at ME!

"There are a few, but having a nude painting of yourself in the foyer of the guest house was one. I couldn’t believe it. Lol."

- Goldenpeanut88

Nice Guys

"I did a week's worth of work on the ranch of the guy who invented a famous sex toy. Man was loaded. He had a giant house with a Spanish fountain out front, a spa/gym/office with a huge Roman-style pool and statuary, an attached walled garden with a stone Buddha statue and an Indian tiger tower, a massive barn, and his own disco/club. It was quite the compound."

"His dark secret was that he was kinda boring and down to earth for what he’s famous for. Every day, he’d drive a UTV around and look at the birds. His wife was quite nice too, though maybe a little out of touch. She complained about how hard it was to buy legitimate antiques (the aforementioned statues, etc) because countries were cracking down on exporting cultural relics."

"They treated me well. Would come around to check and see if I had enough water. Would come chat with me for a bit each day. Honestly, pretty nice people."

- smirtington

Tuscon

"I did a personal IT service for an incredibly wealthy guy in Tucson. House overlooking the city from the foothills, 8ft single pane windows, etc. He had a ranch of at least 40k acres in Texas, and most of his $ was from oil. His biggest secret was that he knew most people only liked him for his wealth, including his present wife, 2 kids, and 2 step kids, and they’d cut ties in a heartbeat if it disappeared."

- ratherBwarm

Eat the Rich Crowd...

"Worked for 3-4 billionaires. Was in Construction Management and did multi-year remodels of some homes and some new builds. I’ve been on their jets, yachts, visited 3 of their 9 homes, drove their cars, helped move Picassos across the 30,000 sqft house… you name it."

"My biggest takeaways are..."

"1.) That many of them have no real understanding of how the real world works..."

"2.) It’s often a lonely, fearful, and sad life."

"They stress over who is trying to take advantage of them. My wealthiest client ever drove a Prius because she was afraid of being targeted. They paid to have 24/7 security at the house cause they fear the 'eat the rich crowd' and live in paranoia. Their kids have nothing to aspire to, no dreams, and any accomplishments are mere expectations."

"I got out of it cause the stress was unbearable when pulling a rabbit out of your @ss becomes what you’re known for and the expectations are that you will always be able to do that. They throw money at your bosses, and your boss agrees to the impossible, and then you have to get it done."

- Bkdavis38

The Oligarch

"Had to entertain an oligarch for an afternoon once, but had no idea he was a legit oligarch with destroy-the-world amounts of wealth."

"The only secret I gleaned was that you never know who somebody is. He dressed, acted, and enjoyed in all the ways a normal person on a budget would. I didn’t get the impression that was an act for me but he definitely appreciated that I didn’t know or give a f**k who he was."

"I took him to a dive bar and for tacos after. My boss said the oligarch reported a great time and made sure I got the recognition."

- sonofchocula

Penny Pincher

"They are unusually cheap, or most I've worked for are. I'm in wine sales and cellar management, and I had a client who had over ten million dollars in First Growth Bordeaux and Grand Crus Burgundy, and he served $20 Pinot and bubbles (Cava) at his Xmas party for his best friends and celebrities."

"He died with a ten-million-dollar cellar."

- investinlove

  Excited Happy New Year GIF  Giphy  

Keep it all...

"A surprising number of them are hoarders. Like... mansion-level filth hidden behind marble gates. Rich doesn’t mean clean."

- blissdoll_

"Seriously, this is no joke. A friend was a private chef in Malibu to a super-wealthy family, and they not only left their messes and garbage everywhere, but they wouldn’t even close the cabinets and drawers that they opened. The housekeeper said they wouldn’t flush the toilets after using them either. So gross."

- in_a_cloud

INFLUENCER

"Worked in the tech investor/ startup space. Ended up at WEF in Davos for one year."

"I remember eating a $32 hamburger, listening to a man brag about influencing elections in developing nations to support his commercial interests. He spoke so casually, like he was sharing old college stories. He shared missteps he had made in his political schemes that had caused civil wars, and lamented the tens of thousands of lives that his errors had indirectly taken. Drunk, at a bar on a mountain, he talked through literal crimes with the tone of someone who had f**ked up at their day job."

"I remember that he believed it was his duty to 'influence', that whatever underlying meritocracy granted him enough power to buy elections also required him to guide the poor, silly populations underneath him."

"He left me with the check for his beer."

- Floral_Fiasco

Relationships

"He was 'divorced' and 'married' a second wife. He never divorced, and his second wife is a mistress whom he parades around as his wife."

"Actual wife doesn't give a s**t as long as they're still rich, but won't let his second batch of kids inherit their joint assets, so he had to buy his second wife some income properties for security. She'll be okay, though. He bought her 100 mil worth of income properties."

- SleepoDisa

10B+

"Changed out some home security stuff for a very wealthy older couple. Like 10B+. The wife was incredibly kind, and if encountered in the wild, she would be totally normal appearing. It was the little things in their home that blew me away. Handcrafted everything. They even sent me and my guys home with a bunch of stuff from their garden."

- jordanr01

Class Warfare

"My dad cleans houses, ranging from the tiniest studio apartment to houses with their own security guard and driveway in SoCal. The biggest houses have the cheapest and most judgmental people. I once went to a house where their master closet was bigger than our house (1800sqft). The owner was the nastiest person I’ve ever met. Middle-class people were the best. They always tipped and gave free food to my parents."

- Appropriate_Sky_6571

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The Worst

"This was 50 years ago, I worked for dozens of the most wealthy, think 100 M and up crowd."

"Very consistently joyless, entitled, arrogant, and cheap, often overlaid with substance abuse issues. With notable exceptions."

"One of the richest, a multiple billionaire, would occasionally come out and work with me. I was doing landscaping, maintenance, whatever. He asked me to help plant some strawberries, worked with me the whole time, and described high finance, how to shift risk to the other guy while retaining control and the lion's share of the profit. Easy going, super nice guy."

- ever-inquisitive

Money = Nothing

"The more money they have, the more problems they create by not paying you. Sign a contract, get a guarantee with clawback, and wait. Rich people are rich because they don’t prefer to spend money, and they know they can outlitigate the little guy to avoid paying for it. CYA."

"Money = nothing if you don’t get it up front. The wealthier they are, the more you should protect yourself against them up front. Billionaire client? Do a 70 up front and a 30 back end, and know who they trust to sign off, so if they aren’t around, you can get THAT guy if they are off jet setting and unavailable. Best advice I can give."

- waitingonothing

Drama

"I have flown private jets for various wealthy individuals. People you would likely never know, they don’t exist in the public sphere in the way someone like Bezos does."

"They don’t always have some deep, dark thing that is unique to wealth. They’re human, and the things, the emotions, the tenancies they exhibit are the same across the entire human spectrum. I’ve come away seeing that wealth just makes you more of what you are. If you’re mean, you’re more mean. If you’re nice, you’re nicer."

"They still have problems, and some of that is tied to their wealth, which is family drama, having access to the wealth, and raising children to be humble or entitled."

"They are more insulated from legal or political consequences."

- MavenAloft

Not Kelly...

"In my past work, I met and spent time with celebrities, mostly singers. The old school people were the best. People like Ricky Skaggs and Merl Haggard were just people who sang for a living and were happy that people enjoyed their work. So many 'New' talent ( Terri Clark, Taylor S) are supreme snobs. Dolly will sit and talk like you’re in the office waiting for your appointment. Kelly Clarkson, you can have."

- Truecrimeauthor

  Nbc GIF by The Voice  Giphy  

Drama, drama, drama...

I swear, if I were that rich, there would be no drama.

I wouldn't allow it.

I'd pay for peace.

And why do they always have to be so cheap?

Poor people are so much more giving.

Maybe that's why we're poor... we give away too much.

They keep everything, especially money.

I wouldn't love the constant need for security.

That's no fun.

And that is something these people need more of... FUN!

Anyone else work for the rich?