A peek into the garages of the world's billionaires reveals... a 13-year-old Volvo?
Nate Chapnick over at ForbesAuto.com is either terribly resourceful or amazingly persistent, as he's gone to the trouble of ringing up DMVs around the U.S. in order to find out what car keys America's billionaires secret in their suit pockets.
Judging by a list that includes far more prosaic iron than one might think, perhaps being a plain-ol' millionaire is somehow a more liberating existence. Okay, so perhaps the aformentioned Volvo, a 1993 240 GL owned by Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad makes some sense. But c'mon: Paul Allen of Microsoft's got nothing better to trundle about in than a 1988 Mazda B-Series? Somehow we doubt he'd even let his maid roll curbside to snag the day's Wall Street Journal, let alone use the aging pickup as his daily driver.
Mind you, even though we're all for being thrifty and not throwing our billions on chrome-plated Lamborghinis (you'd never suspect that Autoblog editors command ten-figure salaries from a peek into our garages), we still can't wrap our heads around fellow Microsoftian Steven Ballmer's 1998 Lincoln Continental.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gunnar Heinrich 11:12AM (3/10/2006)
Hey that old 240 was one durable tank. Smart investment on Mr. Kamprad's part.
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
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J ron 11:14AM (3/10/2006)
Autoblog has editors?
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Puff Chippy 11:20AM (3/10/2006)
Many times people are rich because they don't throw their money away on overprice status cars, McMansions and b00b jobs for their posse. Maybe that's why so many pro athletes and entertainers with chrome lambo's die broke while the little old lady driving the '83 Buick leaves a multimillion dollar estate.
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LK 11:36AM (3/10/2006)
Having known a few people worth $100+ million, this isn't really a surprise at all - the two wealthiest people I know both drive late-model domestic pickups (one chevy, one ford). I think part of the reason is that once you get to a certain point you really don't care about image - you'd rather blend in with the crowd. Also, since they pretty much have every toy they could possibly want, the pickups give them a way to tow them around.
From personal experience, it seems that exotics are mainly bought by those concerned about image - sports stars, actors, things like that.
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Katz 11:44AM (3/10/2006)
They don't want to be disclosed.
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Ken 11:51AM (3/10/2006)
I would think if anything, if you are THAT rich, you would spend what is needed to keep you SAFE.
Sure, the Volvo is safe.
However, would you rather get t-boned at a intersection in a 1988 Mazda pickup...or a Lexus LS430? If you are a billionaire, the Lexus is literally FREE, and it would not turn a lot of heads.
If I was that rich, I would want to be SAFE - all the money in the world can't help you if you die in a wreck in your POS car.
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Steve S 11:52AM (3/10/2006)
And for a lot of people and I mean a lot a vehicle is just transportation, getting from A to B. As long as it runs fine and meets the drivers requirements that is all that is necessary. I agree that the exotics would gather too much attention, if I ever hit a large jackpot Id never get one. I might have 10 cars but they would all be under 50k, well maybe one M6 but thats about it.
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CJ 11:57AM (3/10/2006)
While its true many affluent people don't show their weatlh - you should see Warren Buffets offices - they also often times (usually) have cars registered under holding company names etc.
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Julio 12:00PM (3/10/2006)
Don't forget that most rich people don't put anything in their name and put it in their companies name for taxes or lawsuits. Have someone check the cars that their companies own and I'm sure you'll see a difference.
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Jason 12:01PM (3/10/2006)
"If you are a billionaire, the Lexus is literally FREE"
I see someone who doesn't know what "literally" means. Unless, of course, Lexus will actually give you a vehicle if you provide evidence of having a total worth in excess of $1,000,000,000 US dollars.
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Bill 12:02PM (3/10/2006)
Better to be filthy rich and not show it, than to look rich and be in debt.
Call me old-fashioned, but a few people still get rich because they earned it the hard way by managing their money well and not blowing it on stupid things.
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Brad 12:20PM (3/10/2006)
"I see someone who doesn't know what "literally" means"
Oh man, that's funny. I literally shit my pants.
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Robert 12:39PM (3/10/2006)
"Oh man, that's funny. I literally shit my pants."
You literally need a diaper.
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JZeke 12:39PM (3/10/2006)
We're all forgetting a simple fact of life when you're a billionaire:
You dont HAVE to drive anywhere.
Ikea's founder takes the bus, which im guessing is an anomaly... but I'll bet a penny the rest of them have drivers, pilots, and captains to shuffle them from yacht-home-office-dinner-palace etc.
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Justin 12:41PM (3/10/2006)
Volvo 240s are big pimpin. I know. I own one.
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Robert 12:43PM (3/10/2006)
Ingvar Kamprad doesn't need anything faster then a 240 Volvo. All of Sweden's rich have a mysterious German named Dietrich who offers to drive them around.
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CJ 12:51PM (3/10/2006)
The richest people in the world don't need to flaunt their wealth, it's the people in the next step down that do.
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Robert 12:55PM (3/10/2006)
"In fact, due to the 959s questionable emissions and unknown crash ratings, it took a federal law signed by President Clinton for Bill Gates to legally drive his 959 on American roads. Rumor has it that Bill Gates and Paul Allen employed Microsoft engineers to write a computer program that could simulate the 959s crashworthiness, which helped in the bills passage."
Now that's living like a billionaire. In the mean time Paul Allen was driving a 1988 Mazda B-series? I'm not buying it.
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Finished.Law.School 1:01PM (3/10/2006)
"Oh man, that's funny. I literally shit my pants."
That's literally disgusting. You are going to have to literally get a new pair of underwear and pants. You will also literally smell really bad until you clean it up.
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jon from vancouver 1:18PM (3/10/2006)
Nice to see that these guys are not as crazy as pro athletes and rap celebrities. I agree that other cars can be in family members names or their company for many reasons. But if you only need to drive from point A to B and don't want to make a splash every where you go, just get a regular car that's safe and nice. Not sure if I would be driving a Mazda pickup for safety though! :)
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