Tag Archives: greed

What’s an Extra Million Dollars or Two?

Lance Stephenson, guard for the Indiana Pacers, posing with a million dollars

Lance Stephenson, guard for the Indiana Pacers, posing with a million dollars

I listen to a lot of sports radio on my drive to work, and recently all the talk is about whether Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks will re-sign with them or leave. (Yes, I am a long suffering Knicks fan hoping Phil Jackson can turn this sinking ship around). They argue that Carmelo very likely will stay because the Knicks can offer him $22 million a year versus $17 million that other teams can offer him. So for $5 million dollars extra, there is no reason not to stay. Well, for most players, their stated goal is to WIN. If that is the ultimate goal, wouldn’t you want to go to a winning team. I’m not a naive sports fan thinking that ball players should take less money. Sports owners make even more money, so far be it for me to tell the player to take less money. But when your salary gets into the eight figures, does a few million more make that much of a difference? As Bud Fox said to Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, “How many yachts can you waterski behind?” Thanks to Joe from The Free Financial Advisor for mentioning that quote in a comment on my previous post. It’s so true.

It just puzzles me when it comes to that amount of money. Why is more money still the deciding factor?

Of course, the wealthy have a much higher standard of living that I could never comprehend. It takes money to maintain that lifestyle. And I’m sure many wealthy people have seen those who fall from grace and lose their fortunes. Many celebrities and athletes have quickly loss their fortune spending way way above their means: Mike Tyson, Vince Young and Evander Holyfield, just to list a few. Another prime example is Latrell Sprewell who has made $96 million in his NBA career, but is now broke. He infamously rejected a contract offer of $21 million for 3 years. He said, “I have a family to feed … If Glen Taylor [the owner] wants to see my family fed, he better cough up some money. Otherwise, you’re going to see these kids in one of those Sally Struthers commercials soon.” I’d like to see his monthly food budget to see why he can’t feed his family on $7 million a year!

For a million dollars, Beyonce performed five songs at a New Year’s Eve party for Mutassim Gaddafi, son and national security adviser to the now deceased Muammar Gaddafi, a brutal dictator and tyrant. The year before, Mariah Carey sang at a New Year’s Eve party thrown by Mutassim. Many other celebrities who are very famous and very wealthy have also performed for dictators. While many of them have apologized and donated the proceeds to charity, I’m not sure if they’re remorseful or if it was just a public relations move.

When you have millions of dollars, do you really need to compromise your morals for another million dollars?

Another instance where I just don’t get the actions of a wealthy person is with Martha Stewart. The sale of Imclone stock with the use of insider information allowed her to avoid a loss of about $45,000. Martha Stewart is worth millions, why risk getting embroiled in insider trading when a $45,000 loss is just a drop in the bucket for her? Similarly, Raj Rajaratnam, a founder of the hedge fund Galleon Group, was a billionaire so why get involved in insider trading. He will be spending 11 years in prison after his conviction.

When you have millions of dollars, do you need to risk going to prison for more money?

Many who have made millions and are rich and famous may also be arrogant. They don’t think that they can do anything wrong. It is likely that all that power goes to their heads and makes them feel invincible. Another reason is probably because they are mindless accumulators.

What other reasons may cause the very wealthy to continue try to make more money?