Comments on: Those Bastards Nails It

By: Blah blah blah

Blah blah blah — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 02:19:34 +0000

Who gives a f’ck about it? Not I.

By: Real Estate

Real Estate — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 03:54:15 +0000

If youâ€™re flush with cash do you really sell a house given the real estate values down there?

What does this mean? He shouldn't sell the house because real esate values are going to keep going up for the foreseeable future?

By: EyeOnWiner

EyeOnWiner — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:52:41 +0000

"$2 Million [is] . . . (b) a pretty crappy consolation prize for having not really live a life."

I can definitely agree with you on that point.

"Iâ€™ve always suspected he didnâ€™t have much left before the Verisign deal. I remember him selling his house about a year and a half ago which is a big indicator. If youâ€™re flush with cash do you really sell a house given the real estate values down there?"

Valid point. I wasn't really considering that.

By: Clarification Wizard

Clarification Wizard — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:24:49 +0000

Well, I think I kind of got off my point which originally was that $2 Million at his age might seem like a lot but itâ€™s what most people would spend having a life (which Dave doesnâ€™t have). Every cruise Iâ€™ve taken with every girlfriend Iâ€™ve ever had has cost money but I wouldnâ€™t trade the experience for the money.

Though I donâ€™t have any myself yet, Iâ€™ve never met anyone who would trade their kids for the money they spent raising them. I guess what Iâ€™m saying is that Winer may have $2 Million but its (a) not THAT much money and (b) a pretty crappy consolation prize for having not really live a life.

Also, on the other assets, it feels kind of obnoxious to parse someoneâ€™s financial situation but for the record Iâ€™ve always suspected he didnâ€™t have much left before the Verisign deal. I remember him selling his house about a year and a half ago which is a big indicator. If youâ€™re flush with cash do you really sell a house given the real estate values down there? This was at the same time he was trying to pay for his OPML tour and I remember him posting rant after rant about not getting paid to speak at conferences.

Just speculation but that is what Iâ€™d always thought

By: EyeOnWiner

EyeOnWiner — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:17:46 +0000

Hypotheticals hardly count when it comes to averages.

A 50 year old WITH a wife and kids could easly have 2 million in cash if he just didn't spend his discretionary income and invested it instead.

The fact is, though, that $2million in cash (not to mention his other assets, a point you ignored in your reply) is hardly "average" and while it may not be much money by hollywood standards, it's certainly "mad cash" even in the upper-middle class.

By: Retire Forever With Winer

Retire Forever With Winer — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:43:40 +0000

“Mad cash”. Yes, it’s all relative. For any 45+ slob who has been permanently downsized in the “meritocracy” of the tech world via global labor arbitrage, it’d certainly be plenty of money to fugg off with. That’s what Winer does anyway (fugging off), with or without the cash. That’s his dharma. Technoslobs who pawn off domain names for 2mil or more enjoy Winer’s destiny but they are in the extreme minority. I think being a self-centered prick with no S.O. or family to support certainly has something to do with it.

By: Clarification Wizard

Clarification Wizard — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 05:08:36 +0000

Well yes, but I did specify "with no wife or kids". The cost of raising one child from birth to adulthood is around $250,000 for a middle class family and significantly more for higher incomes. Take those kids out of the picture and assume the person put that money in an investment portfolio and, with compounding, you'd easily have $2million.

Heck, if I play my cards right I'll have that much by age 35.

It isn't that its insignificant, it just isn't what I'd consider wealthy (which I assumed was the implication behind the "mad cash" statement)

By: EyeOnWiner

EyeOnWiner — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 02:26:40 +0000

Your average office worker does not have $2mil in cash at age 50. If such were true, we wouldn't have social security problems because nobody would need it.

They might have a net worth of more than $2mil, but having that much cash is another matter entirely.

By: Clarification Wizard

Clarification Wizard — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:19:21 +0000

For the record, At 50 years old with no wife or kids to speak of, $2Million is hardly mad cash. Your average office worker would have that much if not more.

Kudos to Winer for tricking Verisign into paying that much for essentially a domain name though (the site itself could be built in a month or so)

Heh...it never occured to me before, but there's a certain irony to Verisign overpaying for a domain name isn't there?

By: Endless Hubris With Winer

Endless Hubris With Winer — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 20:23:05 +0000

“So I decided that I could either sulk about it, or do the powerful thing. Of course I did the powerful thing.” -Winer’s Ego