Richer than Billionaires
Here we are in the spring of 2025…in an era where extreme wealth has become a hall of mirrors—distorting truth, unraveling values, and undoing the fabric of a once-great nation.
In the highest offices of power, billionaires play with democracy like it’s a toy, insulated by privilege, delusion, and a hunger that devours but can never be satisfied. And yet—this moment offers an unexpected gift: a call to remember what cannot be taken from us.
In stark contrast to the chaos, another invitation waits quietly.
On April 1st, 2020, lion tracker and wildlife activist Boyd Varty moved to a treehouse overlooking the Sand River at the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa to live alone for 40 days and 40 nights. He meditated, contemplated, read, practiced yoga and spent hours in the African wilderness practicing the ancient art of animal tracking. During that time, he released brief daily recordings, sharing his insights that emerged in that sacred space of solitude.
On one particularly compelling recording, he shared his self-inquiry about abundance, success and wealth. What is real wealth? He then proceeds with his “Real Wealth” list:
Being unrushed
Stillness
Having time to explore
Clean air
Autonomy
Feeling creatively engaged
Freedom from crushing obligations
Quality presence with yourself and others
Days you actually look forward to
That’s just a partial list of course. Boyd goes on to say that imagining the life we want to create requires a deep grounding into our own personal definitions of success and wealth, otherwise, it is easy to be pulled off course.
Unhinged from Values
In America, we’re watching what the mega-wealthy do when they are pulled off course. Untethered from basic human (and humane) values, their wealth—and by extension, their institutions and power—are wielding egregious harm. It’s made me think a lot lately about success, the wealth that comes with it, and in particular the psychological impact of wealth on many of those who are the ultra-wealthy––the billionaires. If they have so much, then why do so many of them persist in creating so much harm as if they are wretchedly miserable?
Much research has been done on the connection between wealth and happiness. The “plateau theory”, now debunked, posited that happiness stops increasing with an annual income beyond around $75,000. After that, the theory suggested, people start to become unhappy again. What research is finding, however, is that happiness and wellbeing, as it relates to wealth, is a much more complicated matter.
The secret ingredient to happiness when one is ultra wealthy? Values. According to research, keeping on track with one’s values is what really ensures happiness and wellbeing for the rich and ultra-rich. But not just any values—these need to be principles rooted in wholeness and interconnection—values like kindness, integrity, trust and compassion. Yet, as wealth increases—particularly when it grows at an extremely rapid rate, and especially if it happens to relatively young individuals, such as what we find in the move-fast-and-break-things tech industry—values are easily unhinged or worse, they’ve not even been established yet. Can we really expect a 28-year-old who suddenly comes into billions to be grounded in a moral compass that took a lifetime to form?
The Psychosis of Extreme Wealth
In the rarefied air of extreme wealth, the erosion of principle happens quickly and for several reasons:
Their unchecked power creates an echo chamber of self-affirming realities. One is surrounded by sycophants and courtiers who laugh at one’s bad jokes, never question one’s decisions, and never ever challenge.
The ability to buy media outlets and other powerful online organizations means not only wielding unchecked power but falling prey to the algorithmic brainwashing that happens when immersed inside these virtual spaces (billionaires are not immune to the same brainwashing that happens to all humans).
The power to wield large sweeping actions that impact millions very quickly, in a very impersonal way, renders one immune to experiencing the deeply personal consequences you are having on others.
One is rarely, if ever, told “no”.
One can buy “love”, community, family, a seat at the table, land, cities, countries and an entire government.
They become a celebrity. The public then confuses celebrity with significance, and bestows unearned virtues upon them.
Excess of everything, including drugs, experimentation, and high-risk activities.
As a result, some billionaires can become dangerous people. They not only lose the scaffolding to integrity but slip into mental illness. Psychologists have labeled the personalities of many billionaires as a “dark triad” of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Studies show that billionaires are more likely to show behavior tendencies towards “emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressiveness” and that they possess a greater likelihood of engaging in various unethical behaviors.
This cold out-of-touch reality was demonstrated recently when billionaire Howard Lutnick, Trump’s Secretary of Commerce (one of 13 billionaires Trump appointed to head various government agencies) blithely suggested that Americans would not be upset to miss a Social Security check, comparing their experience to that of his 94 year-old mother-in-law, who would “not complain”. Records show that said mother-in-law, Geri Lambert, lives with Lutnick and his wife Allison, at his Manhattan Upper East Side townhouse (valued over $100M). She is unlikely to be relying on Social Security for rent or mortgage payments.
Research on what happens to the brains of those who obtain extreme wealth reveals that wealth can cloud moral judgment and distort empathy and compassion. Evidence also suggests that wealthy people are disproportionately affected by addiction, accompanied by a deep sense of privilege and entitlement. (There are exceptions—Warren Buffet and Melinda Gates come to mind).
I often work with wealthy and ultra-wealthy individuals, and I’ve come to see that privilege carries its own quiet costs. Many struggle with guilt, shame, isolation, mistrust, a constant drive to prove their worth, and a deep, aching loneliness. Part of my work is to help them reconnect to what matters—to align with the inner compass of their own principles, so they can live lives of meaning and purpose.
But I admit I have no compassion for those who wield their wealth and power with cruelty, destruction, and delusion. Yes, these individuals have faced challenges and trauma, as we all have. And like all of us, they have the power to choose who they become. Again and again, some have chosen power over integrity, and greed over conscience. They’ve chosen the dark side.
It begs the question—why would anyone, with so much, still choose harm? What kind of inner emptiness fuels that level of disconnection? There is a strange aspect of success, that built into it, is a fear of losing it all. And so, a ravenous empty ghost lives inside the bodies of billionaires. And nothing will ever be enough to outrun that fear. That’s called paranoia. Such paranoia not only turns some billionaires against other humans, but against their very own children and families.
Untethered Madness
On April 25, 2025, The Atlantic featured a story about James Murdock, the second son of Rupert. Growing Up Murdock outlines Jame’s ordeal living inside the dynastic dysfunction of the Murdock family that comes straight off the screenplay pages of Succession. Betrayal, abandonment, attacks, scapegoating, and sabotage are all part of the Murdock family legacy.
Rupert, an Australian media mogul, who owns News Corp, which includes publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, and Fox Corporation, which owns Fox News and other television networks, systematically undermined his four children throughout their entire lives to serve his dynastic ambitions.
As James watched his father pivot freely from one political ideology to another especially during Trump’s first 2016 campaign, he discovered that his father had no ideology at all. As the article goes on:
He’d thought his father was a devoted free-marketeer, an internationalist who supported American global power, and a believer in immigration as a source of industry and ingenuity. His brand of conservatism seemed miles apart from Trump’s—and indeed, for the first few months of the campaign, Rupert was openly scornful of the candidate…But once it became clear that Trump’s appeal to Rupert’s audience was enduring, Rupert pivoted.
…The Fox News prime-time lineup became a four-hour Trump commercial. Rupert’s beloved New York Post ran covers celebrating Trump’s shredding of liberal pieties. There was no intellectually consistent way to reconcile the about-face. It was, James realized, just power and profit and mischief all the way down.
James observed that certain tabloids adopt a contrarian stance merely to provoke, taking pleasure in antagonizing others. He noted that, at its most extreme, this behavior can evolve into something harmful, intimidating, and manipulative. When confronted, these cynics would reply, “Trump’s a clown; you can’t take him seriously; he won’t make it to the Presidency anyway so what the harm.” Meanwhile profits would soar via the race to the bottom of people’s reptilian brains.
He compared these tabloids to Paul von Hindenburg, the German president who in 1933 unintentionally enabled Hitler to rise to power by appointing him as Chancellor of Germany. Despite his deep personal reservations about Hitler and his policies, Hindenburg was persuaded by advisors who believed they could control Hitler and use his popularity to stabilize the government. Hitler was an idiot, they reasoned, he could do no real harm.
“I underestimated the ability of a profit motive to make people do terrible things—to make companies do terrible things,” James told The Atlantic writer.
Which brings us to the cadre of billionaires who saw in Trump a convenient tool—one they believe they can manipulate to preserve their influence, grow their wealth, and serve their narrow interests. But a rabid lion, once unleashed, rarely returns to being a kitten.
They are hedge fund operators, cryptocurrency and AI promoters, casino owners, scions of and heirs to family fortunes, and others who have it all and want to keep it all. Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and Elon Musk top the charts, along with at least 25 others, who put a village idiot into power to do their bidding.
In a veritable Bonfire of the Vanities the rich and powerful engineer their own downfall through arrogance and entitlement, convinced they are untouchable. In our own modern retelling, billionaires have installed a leader who serves as both a mirror and a monster—Trump, the perfect avatar of their excess, paranoia, mental illness, and moral drift. Like Tom Wolfe’s characters, they believed they could control the fire. Instead, they’ve fueled an inferno.
We are truly at the party of all the Mad Hatters.
Claiming Our Own Real Wealth
And yet, in the face of all this—when institutions are crumbling, when fear tightens its grip—there is still agency. There is still a place of sovereignty within us that no regime, no billionaire, no unraveling of norms can touch.
I intended this essay to be about you, and me, and us. As these billionaires dismantle the basic foundations of constitutional democracy, wreaking havoc with global trade, foreign aid, the international economy and ultimately our bank accounts and our way of life, in the face of this unfolding insecurity how will we continue to maintain a sense of prosperity? I want to circle back to Boyd’s reflections on real wealth, as I have found it gives me solace. Returning to my own values and definitions of success, I found that most were aligned with things money could not buy, things that if times became woefully grim financially, I could still cultivate and enjoy in my life. This makes me feel more fearless.
Encouraged by Boyd, I made my own Real Wealth list:
Stillness
Solitude
Loving relationships
Nature
Beauty
Vitality
I’m reminded of the story of the Mexican fisherman. It goes like this…
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “only a little while.” The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”
“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”
“Millions – then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
For you, what’s the equivalent to the fisherman’s daily prosperity? Feeling secure in your own definition of abundance renders you more resilient within the current power-over tactics of those with far more wealth whose actions are threatening the financial stability of all of us.
Do you, like me, feel afraid? If so, I have a small but impactful antidote for you: make a Real Wealth list. After you’ve done that, ask yourself these questions: Are you, like the fisherman, living your days in ways that reflect and honor that wealth? In what ways can you connect more deeply and appreciate that prosperity? How can you experience even more “wealth” consistent with your values?
So do it now. Take five minutes. Make your Real Wealth list. Tape it to your fridge. Let it guide you when the world scares you into forgetting what matters.
Boyd emerged from the wild with a different kind of fortune. We can too. But we don’t need a treehouse or a lion’s roar—just a list, and the courage to live by it. In living in the abundance of your values, you are richer than any billionaire.
Resources
Research on money / happiness
Miles, F. 12Feb2020. What happened to ‘affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch? Fox News
Mooney, M.J. 27Apr2015. The worst parents ever. DMagazine.
Rampage, C. 28Feb2008. The Challenge of Prosperity: Affluence and Psychological Distress Among Adolescents. Clinical Science Insights Vol.4.
Miller, D. 11Jul2018. The Common Misconceptions About a Wealthy Upbringing. Psychology Today
Luthar, S.S. 5Nov2013. The Problem With Rich Kids. Psychology Today.
Kelleher, E. 13May2021. Why Wealthier Kids Are Time Poor And Depressed. Fatherly.
Renton, A. 20July2014. The damage boarding schools do. The Guardian.
Luthar SS. 17Aug2007. The culture of affluence: psychological costs of material wealth. Child Dev. 2003 Nov-Dec;74(6):1581-93
Whillans, A. 19Oct2020. The toxic money mindset that even millionaires have—and how to break out of it. CNBC Make It.
Eidelson, R. 25Oct2019. Psychology’s “Dark Triad” and the Billionaire Class. Psychology Today.
Gregoire, C. 6Jan2014. How Money Changes The Way We Think And Behave. Huffington Post.
Berger, Michele W 28Mar2023, Does money Buy Happiness? Here’s What the Research Says. Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania)
Thank you to Sarah Howell who shared Boyd’s recordings with me.
