Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable

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10-02-2010, 11:40 AM
Bangyai

Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable

Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable

Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder is giving away every penny of his £3 million fortune after realising his riches were making him unhappy.

By Henry Samuel in Paris
Published: 8:16PM GMT 08 Feb 2010

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https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2010/02/361.jpg Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder is giving away his fortune

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2010/02/362.jpg He is in the process of selling his luxury 3,455 sq ft villa with lake, sauna and spectacular mountain views over the Alps, valued at £1.4 million.

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2010/02/363.jpg He will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck

Mr Rabeder, 47, a businessman from Telfs is in the process of selling his luxury 3,455 sq ft villa with lake, sauna and spectacular mountain views over the Alps, valued at £1.4 million.
Also for sale is his beautiful old stone farmhouse in Provence with its 17 hectares overlooking the arrière-pays, on the market for £613,000. Already gone is his collection of six gliders valued at £350,000, and a luxury Audi A8, worth around £44,000.

Mr Rabeder has also sold the interior furnishings and accessories business – from vases to artificial flowers – that made his fortune.
"My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come."
Instead, he will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck.
His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these.
"For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness," he said. "I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years," said Mr Rabeder.
But over time, he had another, conflicting feeling.
"More and more I heard the words: 'Stop what you are doing now – all this luxury and consumerism – and start your real life'," he said. "I had the feeling I was working as a slave for things that I did not wish for or need.
I have the feeling that there are lot of people doing the same thing."
However, for many years he said he was simply not "brave" enough to give up all the trappings of his comfortable existence.
The tipping point came while he was on a three-week holiday with his wife to islands of Hawaii.
"It was the biggest shock in my life, when I realised how horrible, soulless and without feeling the five star lifestyle is," he said. "In those three weeks, we spent all the money you could possibly spend. But in all that time, we had the feeling we hadn't met a single real person – that we were all just actors. The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real."
He had similar feelings of guilt while on gliding trips in South America and Africa. "I increasingly got the sensation that there is a connection between our wealth and their poverty," he said.
Suddenly, he realised that "if I don't do it now I won't do it for the rest of my life".
Mr Rabeder decided to raffle his Alpine home, selling 21,999 lottery tickets priced at just £87 each. The Provence house in the village of Cruis is on sale at the local estate agent.
All the money will go into his microcredit charity, which offers small loans to Latin America and builds development aid strategies to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
Since selling his belongings, Mr Rabeder said he felt "free, the opposite of heavy".
But he said he did not judge those who chose to keep their wealth. "I do not have the right to give any other person advice. I was just listening to the voice of my heart and soul."

Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable - Telegraph
10-02-2010, 11:43 AM
Bangyai

Well, if his wife should pass away and he visits Thailand I'd give him a week before he ends up crying into a beer glass at Nana Plaza. I only wish he'd heard of the Bangyai Benevolent Fund ......... a very worthy charity .
10-02-2010, 11:48 AM
Belepheron

Good for him, his money his choice how to dispose of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bangyai

The tipping point came while he was on a three-week holiday with his wife to islands of Hawaii. "It was the biggest shock in my life, when I realised how horrible, soulless and without feeling the five star lifestyle is," he said. "In those three weeks, we spent all the money you could possibly spend. But in all that time, we had the feeling we hadn't met a single real person – that we were all just actors. The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real."

However this bit I find odd. If he wanted to live among real people and not the plastic mannequins of the five star life then why didn't he leave the money at home and book a backpacking trip?
10-02-2010, 11:48 AM
Chairman Mao

Bet his kids are kinda pissed. :)

Hopefully during later life he or his family won't require expensive life saving medical care.
10-02-2010, 11:52 AM
Davis Knowlton

Bet the wife is pissed too.
10-02-2010, 12:08 PM
filch

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bangyai

"I increasingly got the sensation that there is a connection between our wealth and their poverty," he said.

I like this quote.
10-02-2010, 12:08 PM
Marmite the Dog

He seems to be making a lot of money out of giving stuff away...
10-02-2010, 12:11 PM
harrybarracuda

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bangyai
"I increasingly got the sensation that there is a connection between our wealth and their poverty," he said.

I like this quote.

Obviously he is responsible for poverty in Africa and South America, which has nothing to do with overpopulation, corruption, cronyism, etc.

It's always the fault of those that create and earn the wealth, not those that steal and squander it.

:kma:
10-02-2010, 12:28 PM
Nawty

Nice house
10-02-2010, 12:56 PM
Davis Knowlton

That really is a great house. I just don't think I could give that away.
10-02-2010, 01:04 PM
Wallalai

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nawty

Nice house

And a really nice place where you can breath fresh air.
10-02-2010, 01:24 PM
Cenovis

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chairman Mao

Bet his kids are kinda pissed. :)

Hopefully during later life he or his family won't require expensive life saving medical care.

Austria is a country with good social security, they actually like to spend there money for there citicen, not to send there soldiers on package tours around the world. Medical care is not a problem in Austria, at least not for people living there
10-02-2010, 01:48 PM
Belepheron

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

That really is a great house. I just don't think I could give that away.

We haven't seen his "small wooden hut" in the mountains yet though.:mid:
10-02-2010, 02:31 PM
sunsetter

bet he has worked out enough to live on comfy style for the rest of his life though

silly sod
10-02-2010, 02:37 PM
Cujo

lets see how happy he is broke and in a bedsit.
What a twat.
10-02-2010, 02:59 PM
Travelmate

Let see what he thinks in a month time.....
10-02-2010, 03:08 PM
AntRobertson

This is a remarkable coincidence because I'm not a millionaire and it makes me miserable.

I reckon me and Mr. Rabeder there might be able to help each other out. :)
10-02-2010, 03:27 PM
Scandinavian

What a dumb fuck this guy is. Move to Tibet and seek enlightenment ffs.
10-02-2010, 03:40 PM
teddy

He met a nice girl named Lek on his last visit to Pattaya and she told him ...
10-02-2010, 03:41 PM
Scottish Gary

Quote:

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bangyai
"I increasingly got the sensation that there is a connection between our wealth and their poverty," he said.

Obviously he is responsible for poverty in Africa and South America, which has nothing to do with overpopulation, corruption, cronyism, etc.

It's always the fault of those that create and earn the wealth, not those that steal and squander it.

:kma:

The legacy of colonialisation is the reason most Third World countrys cannot break the cycle of poverty.
When the west granted them independance the debt occurred by the occupation in the first place was transferred to the newly independant nation at huge rates of intertest. Hence they were basically paying for there own oppression. At the time of the earthquake Haiti were still using up a huge chunk of its budget to pay France for debts streaching back to 1804.
In the 60s, 70's and 80s western banks made terrible high risk loans with crippling rates of interest to corrupt African dictators who would do a runner with the money and then leave the country to pick up the pieces. So any new goverment that came in had to use up its budget to service suffocating debts to the detrement of schools,hospitals and other infastructure.

So at the end of the day the poor subsdidise the rich to get richer
10-02-2010, 04:31 PM
pattayardm

One of the most inspiring stories I've read in a long time. Good luck to the man. I know exactly how it feels to give up everything having done so myself - its really wonderful.
10-02-2010, 05:07 PM
Smug Farang Bore

Brewsters millions. Man had to spend 50 million in one day to get the rest of the fortune. Fly to Bangkok would have taken 30 mins. Job done.

What a tit.
10-02-2010, 07:48 PM
Belepheron

Just read that article again and all through it was I, I, I, I and I.

No comment from Frau "She-who-must-be-obeyed".

Presumably the letter from the divorce lawyer hasn't arrived yet.
11-02-2010, 11:32 AM
StrontiumDog

^ LOL

He's right about the fakery of the first class/5 star/"hiso" lifestyle thing though. It is totally unreal and simply designed to part you with as much cash as possible, all done with a painted smile and convenience. I've experienced enough of it to hate it. You do get left with an empty feeling. It's not the money you spend, it's the constant nagging thoughts that you're getting ripped off, because you can afford to be....no one gives a damn about you, they just want your money. As painlessly as possible.

Anyway, I predict he'll regret his decision. Brave but stupid. I hope he doesn't, but I bet he does.

I think his charity thing is great though.
11-02-2010, 12:27 PM
Agent_Smith

There are other choices other than super wealthy and super poor, could he not see a middle way?
11-02-2010, 12:46 PM
nikster

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

There are other choices other than super wealthy and super poor, could he not see a middle way?

It doesn't say anything about the guy turning up on street corners begging for food. I imagine he'll put a bit in a fund to provide him a nice pension - not much, but enough for basic necessities.

The wife isn't mentioned - I wonder how she feels about it, and what she can do if she objects. Probably nothing. As long as they're not divorced, I don't think she can get half his money. And she can't divorce him unless there's a good reason (I mean she can but if she just takes up and leaves she won't get any money either). Maybe she'll move on and marry the next rich guy.

It's a long established fact that happiness and the amount of money you have are unrelated, if you take away those who don't have food or shelter. E.g. if you have clothes, food, and shelter, you are statistically just as happy or unhappy as a millionaire.

Anyway - good on him. Find what makes you happy.

I'd love to hear Stan's opinion on this, if you're around... the middle aged gentleman who I met in Chiang Mai and who once gave $1M to an Osho temple.