Money can buy you almost anything. But it’s only when you become truly rich that you begin to realize the breadth and depth of the products and services you can spend your cash on. Entire swathes of jobs exist solely to service the ultra-wealthy.
In a captivating thread on AskReddit, people shared the industries that revolve entirely around catering to the whims of the rich. We’ve collected some of their most intriguing insights to share with you. Scroll down below to take a peek at what life as one of the elite looks like.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the intriguing thread, and they were kind enough to share their thoughts on wealth and other priorities with us. You'll find our full interview with them below!
#1
This is a sort of related story.
When I worked at Home Depot, two men came in looking for a jigsaw. The one guy looked like he probably had money, but had worked his way up the blue collar ladder to get there. The other guy, really had money, Rolex watch, expensive suit, shoes that cost more than I made in a month, etc. it seemed to me like they had been friends for a long time or maybe they were brothers. And guy one was taking guy two out shopping for a tool as a new, lets me show you how regular people do things, type of experience.
They came and asked me about the different jigsaws, guy one didn't really need my help, but all this was new to guy two. So he let it play out and was kind of coaching guy two. It was interesting to watch, almost like a father teaching a young kid how to shop, and get help from the employee.
Anyway at the end of all this guy two pick the jigsaw he wants, and says. "Okay, I'll take this one, can you wrap it up and have it taken out to my car?"
I look at him for a second, and then look at his friend, who is trying not to laugh, he says "no, no, no, that's not how it works, we just take it off the shelf and go to the register and buy it." He takes one and hands it to him, then says, "let me show you how to pay for this up front" and they walk away.
What's super crazy is about 10 minutes later they come back and I ask them if there is anything else they need, and the rich guy reaches into is pocket and pull out a money clip, peels off a twenty and starts to hand it to me, saying "thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it"
His buddy is like "dude no, he probably can't take a tip, that's not how this works" and looks at me with a bit of awkward panic on his face. I said, no, I'm not allowed to take tips, but if you want, you can put that twenty in a donation jar somewhere. And I was happy to help"
It was one of the weirdest interactions I ever had at Home Depot.
Image credits: could_use_a_snack
Bored Panda asked the author for their thoughts about the most important things to focus on in life, aside from finances.
"I think the two things that everybody should try harder to focus on are to learn more and to try to live with more compassion for everybody. We're all just out here doing our best, and everything you learn (whether it seems relevant at the time or not) helps you do even better," they told us.
"And if we remember that even people who might hurt us are trying their hardest, based on how they understand the world and what they know to do about it, we can make it less about fighting with one another and more about figuring out how to play better together."
#2
I learned recently that there is a mattress that costs $600k and there is a person whose is to come over and fluff the horse hair filling of the mattress for the lifespan of the mattress. So I guess mattress fluffer.
Image credits: lukethedog
#3
Luxury villa rentals....think Airbnb for the wealthy. I worked in the space for 5 yrs.
These mansions are owned by the ultra wealthy and rented to the ultra wealthy. 500k/wk for a Christmas villa rentals. Private islands for 60k a night.
And, full concierge service for the guests. Want unlimited jetskis, no problem. Stocked fridge with booze and food on arrival, check. Want to butcher a goat on the beach according to your religious practices....no problem.
Image credits: jhachko
We were also curious about the inspiration behind the interesting thread. "I asked the question because I thought that generating a conversation about how much of our society is dedicated exclusively to this small group of people and how different their world is, would be useful," the redditor opened up Bored Panda.
"I think that people resonated with it because it's something that they see every day and live alongside, and I think that people are thinking about these things more than they have before."
There are lots of services focused on elite luxury and vast wealth that you might not even realize are there. That is, until you stumble upon them by accident or finally make it big and start splurging.
“The wealthy have long been the ones to enjoy luxurious lifestyles and exclusive services that cater to their specific needs. However, there are many expensive services for the wealthy that most people don’t even know exist,” trial attorney Andrew Pickett, the founder of Andrew Pickett Law, told GOBankingRates.
One of these services is having access to fractional ownership of experiences, such as private jet travel, rare collectibles, and luxury vacations. Another is hiring experts to manage and curate your wine collections.
#4
I know someone who designs the IT and security systems for mega yachts. Not those piddly 100-foot yachts, the $300 Million+ yachts. I found out that one of the contracts he won was like a $10 Million contract. I'm in IT so I had to ask how that much IT can go into yacht. He said it's not the quantity, but the quality. For example, the electronic door strike for card access isnt the off-the-shelf model. It's custom made with 316 stainless steel that gets milled by hand and fitted perfectly to a door that's made out of mahogany.
Image credits: BaconReceptacle
#5
Family office - an entire department that's catered to handling all finance, logistics, investment management and many other things to 1 specific family, or to a specific high net-worth individual. Especially for Old Money.
Image credits: SeaSeaweed3384
#6
Those people who are paid to travel with luggage ahead of a person/family and unpack everything/set up the accomodation before the guests arrive.
Image credits: ClumsyOracle
Meanwhile, the ultra-wealthy also contract art authentication services, not just art advisors, to verify how legitimate certain works of art are.
Other luxury services, according to GOBankingRates, include:
- Private medical concierge services, which include entire personal healthcare teams
- Crypto asset estate planning
- Tailoring and fashion design professionals who create and adjust personalized garments
- Experiential travel planning that focuses on personalized, designed trips that match your wants
#7
Concierge Medicine. They get picked up in a chauffeured car (provided by the health system) and taken to the hospital. Front line to get labs and tests, results ready as soon as it is read (which takes priority of everyone else). They meet with the doctor the same day to go over the results. Meanwhile, you get a catered lunch while you wait... but not with the poors. You get to wait in your very own waiting room.
I hate our healthcare system. And I am a nurse!
Image credits: headhurt21
#8
My dad used to work on cranes, and one time he, he crew, and his crane were shipped out to an island for a couple of days to move an old-growth tree a couple hundred feet to improve the oceanfront view of a private residence.
Not *remove* the tree - literally move and replant it.
So probably that.
Image credits: smokeydevil
#9
There are services that fill bookshelves with books in personal libraries/offices. You can curate the books by color/subject matter. Probably not a rich rich person type thing, but still a pretty niche service that a normal person would never even know exists.
Image credits: agroPokemons
If you ever hit the jackpot or land your dream, high-paying job, what do you hope to spend your immense wealth on? Even though financial stability is vital for everyone, putting riches aside for a moment, what do you think everyone should focus on in life, no matter their tax bracket?
We’d like to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share them in the comments!
#10
I've done some catering and personal chef work for some very wealthy people. They had their own personal stylist/tailor who made their clothes. They had a tailored chef coat made for me. It wasnt just suits and dresses. They made their whole wardrobe.
Image credits: instant_ramen_chef
#11
I would say that pretty much every single industry branch you know has its own „for rich only“ alternate dimension.
a friend of mine works for a conpany that repairs coffee machines… not any machine. one brand. not a brand you can normally buy: a brand of coffee machines that are made only for certain private airplanes.
company is like 50 people. the whole company exists to repair and maintain a coffee machine of a single brand in the airplanes of the ultra rich.
he travels a lot.
Image credits: howardhus
#12
Healthcare has entire different divisions for different classes. I work for a large Hospital network, and one of the bigger campuses has private offices, waiting areas, bathrooms, and even hotel rooms for certain clientele. They're pretty cleverly hidden, too. We've even been told that if we see body guards or Secret Service, that we mind our own business.
Image credits: DerpsAndRags
#13
I once dated a woman who worked for a high-end florist, and the majority of her job was driving all over the city/suburbs to visit very wealthy people's homes and tend their fancy orchids.
She dealt with other flowers too, but she was known as an orchid specialist and all these rich people had her on retainer for that reason.
Fun trivia: I remember she said it was becoming trendy among her clients to install a urinal in the master bathroom.
Image credits: Pale-Championship946
#14
I don’t know if this qualifies as “very rich” as many people I know who use this are middle and even working class, but horse masseuse is a thing.
I pay a woman to give my horse a massage once a month- $65.
He’s a working competition horse and he rides much better after his massages, but also she can identify areas he is extra sore or needs more stretching or that there may be an underlying soft tissue injury I was unaware of.
Image credits: kimtenisqueen
#15
My partner is a master marine tech (yachts). It is mind blowing how much these people can spend without even thinking twice about it. Most owners enjoy their yacht once a year, for about a week, and still pay for a full time crew 365 247.
Image credits: bjt1021
#16
Private jet chartering is a prime example. It’s basically a whole industry built around making sure the super wealthy can skip airports and fly whenever they want, with zero inconvenience. It’s wild how much infrastructure and manpower goes into serving just a tiny fraction of people.
Image credits: BaconBootylicious
#17
Space tourism.
Image credits: Senior-Donkey-2982
#18
I live in Las Vegas now, and it feels like the entire city only serves the very wealthy now.
Image credits: elusivenoesis
#19
Luxury watches. And I’m not taking about Rolex, that’s for upper middle class folks who are breaking into the watch game.
Brands like Patek Philippe, FP Journe, A. Lange & Sohne, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, etc.
Most people have likely never heard of them but most of their entry level watches can cost more than an average persons yearly mortgage.
Image credits: immaSandNi-woops
#20
Tours to the Titanic.
Image credits: Maximum-Double
#21
My therapist’s wife is an interior designer for yachts. Every single thing she deals with (upholstery, furniture, fixtures, etc) comes from companies that specialize in high end materials and furnishings specifically for luxury yachts. It’s like looking through a window into another world seeing her office….
Image credits: thefuzzyassassin1
#22
This is probably an obvious one but private jet sales.
Image credits: Dogwithaturtleshell
#23
Private chef, chefs that go to people's houses to cook for them.
Image credits: alaztar
#24
Sometimes marketed to the ultra-rich as e.g. “continuity of civilization”, "life-continuity insurance", or “resilient real estate”, things the press calls “survival bunkers,” “doomsday shelters,” or “apocalyptic retreats”, for times of civil unrest/breakdown, disease outbreaks, climate disasters, war etc..
Image credits: MellowTones
#25
Trusts. I was curious about UK law school curricula and noted that a dedicated Trusts class is part of the base curricula in the UK. And that sort of told me all I needed to know about old money. Every lawyer is taught to defend it.
Image credits: Ashmedai
#26
I don’t know if this is actually for the rich or seems like it should be but there’s a company in my town that fills your car up with gas at your house. You pay I believe a monthly subscription and then you get your gas pumped right into your car in your driveway.
Image credits: Snowfall1201
#27
Philanthropy. It exists primarily for tax evasion and reputation laundering. Much cheaper to spend $100K giving a gift to a charity than it is to spend millions on imagine consultants etc.
Image credits: boredwithwork1
#28
Yachts.
Image credits: Remarkable_Ninja_791
#29
Cryonics. Basically an entire industry built around charging rich people rent to be popsicles.
Image credits: Smart-Sympathy-3933
#30
There's several companies that do bespoke $10,000+ cell-phones, usually made of exotic metals and gemstones, and USUALLY with a private concierge service on speed dial...
need to order a 1961 Bollinger La Grande Annee Brut at 4 in the morning to go with your hookers and blow??
They got you.
need to figure out what markets are open in the middle of the night when you are one step away from insider trading and have to set up a shady tax shelter in a non extradition country? Yup, probably have some swiss banker on speed dial.
Image credits: TerracShadowson
#31
The AI industry.
Making the broad masses of people fall under mass surveillance, making the working class losing their only leverage against their rich overlords (i.e. their capacity for work), mass-produced slop, and automated plagiarism against all art.
Image credits: ZigguratBuilder2001
#32
"Passive investing firms" like blackrock. Their only goal is make money and hog power.
Image credits: ManAmongTheMushrooms
#33
Top notch Golf clubs. I wish the best golf spots were accessible for all people. It really is a beautiful game on beautiful properties.
Image credits: DaSmasher614
#34
I met a guy who owns a bunch of race cars. He moves them around the US to different tracks and he runs races for the super rich who jet in, race, have a party, then leave. He takes care of everything with the cars. He makes serious dough doing this, but nothing close to what his customers have.
Image credits: dcwhite98
#35
Corporations. They exist to service the rich. Employees, customers, MBA, etc. are there to churn out cash for the rich. Think about that next time you are working late.
Image credits: flintazBear
