COATBRIDGE comic book tycoon Mark Millar has revealed he is embarrassed by his wealth and wants to use it to help others rather than splash out on luxuries.
The prolific writer and movie producer thinks multi-millionaires who hoard their money are "obscene" and insisted he was not comfortable living a lavish lifestyle.
Millar, 50, sold his comic book empire Millarworld to Netflix for almost £25 million in 2017.
After the deal was signed, he and his wife Lucy set up a charitable foundation to use his fortune to help the Townhead area, where he grew up.
Millar said he had met super rich people in Hollywood who were deeply unhappy despite putting their wealth on display and encouraged them to give some of it away.
He said: "If you've got more than you need then you spread it around a little bit. It's just common decency.
"I grew up in a Labour household and being a Catholic as well so it's a basic Christian ideal.
"To me it seems quite obscene to hoard your cash. We have got a lovely lifestyle and everything, I can't deny it, but I've always been slightly embarrassed by it.
"I always try to keep our lifestyle relatively modest looking, I've never wanted to wear a solid gold suit or anything.
"I do see that. I see it in Hollywood quite a lot and I see it with music people.
"I think it comes from insecurity where you maybe feel you shouldn't be here so you want to display all your wealth on your hands and things like that to show you've got dough.
"And I don't think it makes you happy. Whenever you meet these guys, you do feel there's something missing. I've met like billionaires, people who invest in films, who are super unhappy.
"I think it's because they don't really know what's missing in their lives and what's missing is giving back to somebody else.
"It sounds so crass but you do get a genuine joy in giving some to somebody else. I would recommend that to anyone who suddenly finds themselves with some cash."
Millar was speaking in an online seminar with the Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation, a charity which works to train business leaders.
He added: He said: "Townhead is a really magical place to me.
"It's where I spent the first 19 years of my life so I try and do a bunch of cool things there whenever we can.
"My next plan is to do a premiere there for one of our Netflix shows which I'm really excited about.
"I'm just praying that when the show launches that Covid will allow people to get together for a premiere.
"These things are always in Leicester Square or outside the Chinese theatre in Los Angeles and I loved the idea of it being in Townhead.
"I said to the actors 'We will probably go to 6 o'clock Mass on the Saturday night and then afterwards we will all wander up and we'll have the premiere in the chapel hall'.
"The actors told me that it sounds so insane that they are totally up for it."
