If you found out your cousin was a billionaire (non-famous) and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, how would you react? Would you be mad he didn’t tell you?

  • dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    171·
    23 hours ago

    Why would I be mad? This makes no sense to me. How close am I to this “cousin” in this hypothetical?

    Also, there are only a few thousand billionaires in the world, even if not “famous” they are all probably on a list or “known” in some capacity - it’s hard not to be noted when you have the accumulated wealth hoard of a dragon.

    • PixelNomad@sopuli.xyzOP
      17·
      22 hours ago

      there are only a few thousand billionaires in the world, even if not “famous”

      Do you know what Knight Transportation is? Probably not, but it’s a trucking company worth $8 billion, and it is on the Fortune 500. Do you know who the CEO is? No, you don’t—and his net worth is not publicly disclosed. So even if they are online, unless you are really into corporations, CEO stocks, etc., I doubt you’d know.

      When I worked at a country club, I saw many high-net-worth individuals of all races—Black, Hispanic, Asian—and I can tell you that you wouldn’t be able to pick them out in a lineup.

      • dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        15·
        22 hours ago

        so … a CEO of a company that is valued in the billions of dollars - that CEO is not a billionaire, for context

        The CEO is a millionaire, though - a quick search shows his compensation is over $4 million

        I’m not saying every billionaire can be picked out in a lineup by a random member of the public, but just pointing out that no billionaire is escaping scrutiny or awareness of the public in some capacity (this is why I started with “even if not ‘famous’”).

        You also didn’t really disclose anything about what I asked - why would my cousin be under an obligation to disclose he’s a CEO of a trucking company and has a salary of over $4 million?

        I think it would depend on the kind of relationship I had with the cousin, and whether I felt he was lying or betraying me somehow by lying … but otherwise, no - I’m not seeing how a cousin has any obligation to disclose their net worth, their job, etc. to you.

        I think I knew one of my cousins was a kindergarten teacher, that they liked to play softball, etc. - but they didn’t tell me when they changed jobs and I never knew their net worth. If they became a CEO of a company I wouldn’t feel they had an obligation to tell me.