As Fabrice Grinda, a French technology entrepreneur with an estimated net worth of $100 million, approached his 40th birthday he started to feel that the trappings of his success were weighing him down. He ditched his homes and his McLaren, and whittled down his belongings to that which filled a suitcase so he could work on the move and stay with friends and family.
The 20-something guy, who ticked the on-paper boxes, is aiming for his first million by the time he reaches 30. ‘How will you spend it?’ I asked. His priorities were a world cruise for his parents; a (second-hand) car; spending some time with friends and family; and reinvesting the rest. He wanted to know how I’d spend £1m. ‘On a small flat in west London,’ I replied. ‘A million doesn’t buy much.’
I remember Eric, the Scandinavian date who admitted he didn’t know what he wanted, once saying earnestly that he earnt more money than he knew how to spend. How unimaginative, I thought. There’s always a charity. And me.
Meanwhile, Trustafarian strives to be well off (most would say he already is), but often has to downgrade his restaurant and holiday destination choices to fit in with his friends.
Fabrice was reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s words, ‘Fish and visitors stink in three days’; Eric recently got in touch out of the blue asking, ‘How are you holding up?’ (Does he think I’m pining for him…); and Trustafarian revealed, ‘I know I can’t rely on anyone else to make me happy so I hope I get there.’ But as Virginia Woolf said, ‘Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends’. I guess we’re all searching for something, knowing that experiences and friends help us in our journey.
