I read somewhere that basketball legend Michael Jordan regularly receives flack for tipping only 5% (whereas 10% is the minimum tip expectation among some service professionals). It led me to wonder whether being rich made people stingy or whether they became rich because of their essentially stingy nature in the first place. Apparently, there are a lot of people who fall into the penny-wise-pound-foolish category; or to put it more accurately, there are a lot of very wealthy people who are also very stingy.
Apparently, it was up to ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky to show Jordan how to tip a waitress. When Jordan gave a $5 tip, he topped that with a $100 tip, saying “That’s how we tip in Las Vegas, Michael.”
Perhaps Charlie Chaplain imagined himself to be as poor as some of the characters he portrayed. This in spite of being extremely wealthy. He was reputed to be so miserly with money that he famously never paid any tax if he could help it. He was known for not carrying money and would never foot the bill when out with friends. He borrowed movie set carpenters to build his own house to save money.
In 1937, The Nizam of Hyderabad was the richest man in the world, with a personal net worth of about $36 billion if calculated today. While he spent huge amounts on jewels and collected together incredible objects that are now a museum, he would refuse to replace a threadbare blanket, was known to borrow cigarettes, collect and reuse cigarette butts and knit his own socks!
John Paul Getty was, again, one of the richest men in the world in his time, he was famous for having put up a payphone in his home because he couldn’t stand visitors bumming free calls at his expense. He reused stationery, also hand-washed clothes to save on laundry money and trimmed frayed shirt cuffs rather than buy new shirts. The crowning glory, however, was when he refused to pay ransom for his kidnapped grandson on the grounds that paying for this would potentially cause all 14 of his grandchildren to be kidnapped. When he did pay the ransom after three months and one severed ear of his grandson, he paid only as much as he could claim in tax deductions. The rest of the ransom amount was ‘loaned’ to the hapless grandson who then had to repay his grandfather – with 4% interest.
He’s been among the richest people in the world but is known to be frugal. He hasn’t taken a raise in 25 years and still earns only one hundred thousand a year. He lives in a modest house and drives an unimpressive car. He has breakfast from MacDonald’s on his way to work every morning.
He may be among the most legendary of rock stars of all time, but this rolling stone isn’t known to be a big spender. He is famous for having fought with family over expenses and according to one report, he was known to bargain with a prostitute to get a better price.
She may be a world-famous musician with the most prestigious awards under her belt. However, Lady Gaga uses coupons for her shopping. She heads for the bargain racks when she shops for clothes.
He became the youngest ever billionaire in the world, but he is known to not leave tips and quibble with hotels about minor charges on his bills. As for my original question whether being rich made people stingy or whether they became rich because of their essentially stingy nature in the first place I still don’t know the answer. Clearly everyone loves a good bargain - whether rich or poor.
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