Telling the Merely Rich from the Mega Rich: PaperCity‘s Guide to True Uber Wealth Indicators — 15 Clear Signs of the Super Rich’s Secret Lives
BY Shelby Hodge // 10.29.18Telling the rich from the super rich is a skill of its own. As The Great Gatsby or Leo both know.
We know that Texas is loaded with millionaires and the state has its share of billionaires. But aside from spotting the obvious American Express Centurion Card (the black one) and the Maserati parked at Bisou in Houston or Circo in Dallas, the really really rich actually are trés different from you and me. At least their lives are.
Having enjoyed a peek or two into the world of how the other .1 percent lives, we share a few things that draw the line between comfortable, rich and ridiculously rich, things that separate, if you will, the disposable income wheat from the chaff.
You know you are uber wealthy when:
* You have so many pairs of shoes and designer handbags that a duo of ladies is required to dust them once a week. Yes, dust your shoes and handbags.
* You are so well known in the jewelry shops of Capri, that you receive armloads of flowers from local merchants as soon as your yacht drops anchor in the Med.
* The Bentley Bentayga, owned not leased, is your casual buzz around town car.
* You buy a Cadillac Escalade for your housekeeper to run errands in. You, of course, buy only imported wheels for your personal use.
*You and your spouse live at home alone, yet the garage houses four or more vehicles.
* Your bedsheets are Porthault or Frette and they are ironed before going on the beds. Yes, you have ladies to dust your shoes and iron your sheets, and a special machine for the latter.
* Your walk-in closet is larger than most one-bedroom apartments and has closets within the closet. One for hats. One for Hermès bags. One for bejeweled Judith Leiber minaudières.
* On chef’s night off, you order Cristal, white truffles and caviar at DaMarco, Tony’s or BCN.
* You fly (private, of course) to New York for standing appointments with your hairdresser.
* Your ranch has its own landing strip, long enough at the least for a CJ4. (Apologies, but King Air prop planes are for those of lesser means and smaller ranches.)
* Before you move into your new house, you have it instantly and completely landscaped with mature trees and plants. No waiting for saplings in your backyard. Hello, River Oaks/Highland Park.
* You have nightly turndown service at your mansion, your ranch, your mountain house and on your yacht. In this stratosphere of wealth, service is everything.
* You own a major sports team, outright or a sizable portion thereof.
* You have a ginormous generator for when those winter ice storms or autumn hurricanes disrupt the power for lesser mortals.
* And, as our favorite Tatler cover in 1989 proposed, you are “Too Rich to Walk.”