>>Beverly Hills recorded the highest-priced sale in its history Thursday at $70 million for an 8-bedroom, 15-bath home in Trousdale Estates.
I've often wondered what Notch intends to do with his Minecraft millions. Looks like he's "loading up the truck and movin to Beverly, Hills that is". Sounds like a nice house, kind of an odd bedroom to bath ratio though.
The bedroom/bathroom metric is probably a sub-optimal frame of reference for size when you have a mansion with a dedicated candy room, and thus lots of large non-bedroom rooms. The room/bathroom metric is probably a little closer less skewed. Opulent none the less.
From what I've seen about it online, it's designed from the ground up to be optimized for entertaining. In other words, a party house. In that case having plenty of bathrooms makes more sense!
> John Aaroe said, “I have been in this market for over 30 years and have never seen the level of growth that the luxury market has experienced in the past year, with no end in sight.”
Well yes but they continue to be doing even better than they have been for a long time thus growing the luxury property market at rates not seen since perhaps the roaring 20s.
Despite all the focus on the losers in the rising inequality, it is equally true that is easier (in very relative terms) than ever before for basically anybody in the world to amass huge wealth. Basically you're getting a lot of new rich people who don't have all the rich people toys in their family already and they need to stock up quickly.
Always assume a real estate agent in engaging in hyperbole, but...
In the last year or so I've seen a lot of houses in Hollywood Hills / Beverly Hills purchased, demolished, and rebuilt from the ground up. Needless to say, that's quite an expensive endeavor. Compared to a few years ago when houses in the same area sat on the market forever, it seems like things have taken a turn for the better.
Good for him. I also enjoy the fact that he's bought something which I can imagine would be relatively straightforward to recreate in the game which got him there.
People saying it's a "tasteless piece of real estate" seem misguided. It's a lovely building, architecturally. I don't think the furnishings do it justice (it's all too plush and nouveau) but it's a really lovely design.
When you're a billionaire, you can buy a $70M house and do all the things you're thinking of. There's no downside to buying this if you have that much money - more than you could reasonably spend in several lifetimes.
> i wish he would invest it in something more interesting
Something I learned the hard way: it's super hard to even politely suggest that there are better ways for people to spend their money without coming across as churlish. Be happy for the triumph of the nerd!
I know this is primarily a forum for American capitalists, but am I the only person here who would feel utterly ashamed of myself for spending 70 million dollars on a house? I'd feel outright embarrassed to admit it to any of my friends. The good you could do with that sort of money... And then to just blow it on a house.
I think it is difficult to imagine what it would actually be like to have that kind of money, the Minecraft success is such a ridiculous outlier. He pretty much went from being an average swede with little savings to having more money than everyone. At this point, he can give away millions of dollars every month and still end up having more money than he started with.
In theory I agree with you in your sentiment, but I have a hard time truly imagining my life with that kind of money.
I'd be careful if I were him. His income is gone as far as I know. Unless he does some smart investing with the current cash reserve he could be broke in ~10 years.
Just an interesting observation; Minecraft was sold for 2.5B $, let's assume Notch got 1.5B $ out of it. Buying that house alone cost him 5% of his entire wealth.
The house is an asset. It's a relatively expensive asset to hold (because of risk and maintenance), but it's not all that likely to depreciate by $10 million any time soon, never mind the full value.
He can always get a regular programming job again, I doubt he'd have a hard time finding work if he needed it. But yes, once the money starts rolling, they can probably roll pretty fast... just ask MC Hammer. :)
This is an investment. He didn't throw a $70 million party, he bought an asset he can sell in the future and which he presumably thinks will increase in value over time.
And anybody who just became a billionaire is not going to stick that money into a savings account, they will get hooked up with a very good financial advisor who will help them to grow their wealth. Say he has $1 billion, a decent but not great return on that would be 8% a year. That's $80 million! He could buy one of these every year, spend $5 million and still have $5 million left over. And that's exactly how he should and presumably will manage his wealth. You don't spend your wealth, you grow it and spend some of the income it produces. Which is precisely what any rookie financial advisor would teach him on day 1.
He could be broke in 10 minutes, if he turned all his money into $100 bills and burned them, or invested it all in some company that immediately went bankrupt.
But obviously he wouldn't do those things, because they would be stupid. And if he doesn't do stupid things, how is he going to be broke even in 10 years? If his current net wealth is $1B then he'd need to spend $100M every year even assuming zero investment gains. Again, it's not like spending $100M in a year is difficult if you are actively trying to go from being rich to being poor, but it's not the sort of thing that happens by accident.
For me that is what makes such uses of wealth so shocking. Doesn't notch have a better idea just how much 70m is and what it could do for other people.
I agree but there is a cut off point maybe? I'm also not from the US and I could buy a house 100x more expensive (and thus bigger) than I have now but I (nor my wife) have never felt the urge to do that. Then again, I also don't understand, if you don't have to work, why you would want to spend your money or live in a populated area. I live deep in the mountains and would not want to live in/close to a city ever again even if you'd pay me. So maybe i'm just weird.
Bah, that kind of money should be spent. Would you rather he sit on it or bought stocks and T-bills? Before you say he should spend it charitably, I honestly don't think it is easy to donate tens, or hundreds, of millions of dollars in a way where you could be sure it would be put to proper use, unless, or even if, you made it your full time job.
Besides, I'm fairly sure Notch will put part of those billions towards worthy causes.
I freaking love everything about the story of Notch and Minecraft, including this. I want to live in a world where a geek can sit in his bedroom and create some cool shit, that enables him buy a $70 million mansion in Beverly Hills.
Don't correlate creating games with money. He was really lucky; there were other very similar games on the scene at that time, his just happened to stick.
The observation should really be: creating anything interesting gives you potential to be wealthy.
There are certain aspects about Notch's rise to fame and fortune that make his story more inspiring to me than practically any other celebrity. He got wealthy doing what he loved, he never bullied anyone or got into any kind of real drama, he didn't need to build an oppressive empire, his product was something that enabled and inspired people in itself, and when it wasn't fun anymore he just quit and is (from the looks of it) currently enjoying life.
It's immensely comforting to know that this is possible, unlikely and unconventional as it may be. I'd much like to see more Notches out there making it big, as compared to the flood of Steve Jobs-wannabe assholes who are on a perpetual mission of conquest and destruction.
I would imagine the biggest opportunity of "unexpected wealth" is that you have the benefit of knowing better. As in that you don't have to value the same things as society at large and can go on and do things that really matter. Seems like he's wasting that opportunity.
> As in that you don't have to value the same things as society at large
He's not from a rich background, is not well-connected, is not a business person, is not stunningly young or good looking, is not being sponsored by a media conglomerate - he is just a nerdy nice guy. I'm having trouble seeing the conformity you ascribe to him. In fact, he started out by being different.
> can go on and do things that really matter. Seems like he's wasting that opportunity.
It's depressing but interesting that big-time CEOs who are unpleasant in every way imaginable are somehow beyond reproach as long as they make a big show of donating a bit to charity here and there, but when someone who's not "a captain of industry" or a line-manufactured superstar buys something extravagant, people's propriety alarm bells start going off.
You also seem to imply that his wealth is somehow random and undeserved, and that he should retroactively work on deserving it - as if Minecraft didn't have an enormously positive impact on many people (including children) already.
I don't really follow your reasoning, we probably have quite different outlooks on the subject.
No he doesn't come from a rich background. That's the point. A lot of people that end of rich come from a background where vanity is very important. They then have to spend a large part of their life trying to achieve that goal. That's why I don't care about "captains of industry". I don't expect any better, they've already "sold their soul".
I don't necessarily dislike people like that, because it can be very hard to opt-out of that life. The classic case is where you father works to much and neglects your mother, which self medicates a bit to much and in turn neglects you. So the only thing you know is trying to be your father to rationalize your sense of abandonment.
When people who doesn't have that background become rich and can do whatever they want, but instead opts-in to those values I think it's sad. Maybe he has personal problems of his own, or he just don't care anymore or whatever, I'm not going to be first in line to celebrate the guy. Because buying the most expensive house in the most vain place in the world is just not something I value.
It seems your definition of "it is possible" seems to be "he got immensely rich". Being rich is a comparison: you are only rich compared to poorer people. So, by definition, only very few people can "make it": you only value the mansion that he bought if nobody else has it. Or, seen from another perspective: 99.9% of human beings are incredibly rich (compared to 99% of the middle ages inhabitants), but who cares? We all feel poor.
So, if we all "make it" and buy 70$ million dollars homes with bay view (an impossibility in itself), we will nevertheless all be poor.
I think, when you have the kind of money that Notch now does, your time becomes by far your most precious asset. Saving the hassle of interior decoration probably makes it well worth it for him.
Tangentially, it is probably a lot of pressure to be that rich. Must be easy to feel that you are not making the most of it, when at any given moment you could be doing whatever ridiculously expensive thing you can imagine, rather than sitting in a dentist's chair or being stuck in traffic somewhere.
Right, but surely if he wanted to, he could hire someone to do it his way for $5 million. He probably just likes the way the furniture fits the house or something like that.
What cracked me up is if you watch the video advertising the home on the website (http://1181hillcrest.com/video.html) the guy's contact email address is a Gmail address.
If you're offering a home at $85,000,000 (the original list price) and you even create a website for the property, at least spring the extra $12/year for your own domain name.
Except it's not just $12/year for the domain name but also all the hassle of having to administrate it or dealing with someone who administrates it for you. Gmail does have a big convenience bonus.
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[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 137 ms ] threadI've often wondered what Notch intends to do with his Minecraft millions. Looks like he's "loading up the truck and movin to Beverly, Hills that is". Sounds like a nice house, kind of an odd bedroom to bath ratio though.
The bedroom/bathroom metric is probably a sub-optimal frame of reference for size when you have a mansion with a dedicated candy room, and thus lots of large non-bedroom rooms. The room/bathroom metric is probably a little closer less skewed. Opulent none the less.
This is a house for entertaining. The ratio makes sense.
Hyperbole, or truth? and why?
http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequal...
Start from:
If all were almost equal the top 0.1% would be doing more or less as well as everyone else.
Then take the limit for almost -> exactly
In the last year or so I've seen a lot of houses in Hollywood Hills / Beverly Hills purchased, demolished, and rebuilt from the ground up. Needless to say, that's quite an expensive endeavor. Compared to a few years ago when houses in the same area sat on the market forever, it seems like things have taken a turn for the better.
http://www.estately.com/listings/info/2210-astral-drive
Also amusing to see a nerd outbid entertainment megacouple JayZ/Beyonce.
People saying it's a "tasteless piece of real estate" seem misguided. It's a lovely building, architecturally. I don't think the furnishings do it justice (it's all too plush and nouveau) but it's a really lovely design.
A slightly more modest but spacious house on the outskirts of the city is more my style.
I mean imagine how many other cool things you could do with that money instead of having sit in some house.
Well regardless it's his money and he can do whatever he wants with it although i wish he would invest it in something more interesting.
Something I learned the hard way: it's super hard to even politely suggest that there are better ways for people to spend their money without coming across as churlish. Be happy for the triumph of the nerd!
In theory I agree with you in your sentiment, but I have a hard time truly imagining my life with that kind of money.
Just an interesting observation; Minecraft was sold for 2.5B $, let's assume Notch got 1.5B $ out of it. Buying that house alone cost him 5% of his entire wealth.
This is an investment. He didn't throw a $70 million party, he bought an asset he can sell in the future and which he presumably thinks will increase in value over time.
And anybody who just became a billionaire is not going to stick that money into a savings account, they will get hooked up with a very good financial advisor who will help them to grow their wealth. Say he has $1 billion, a decent but not great return on that would be 8% a year. That's $80 million! He could buy one of these every year, spend $5 million and still have $5 million left over. And that's exactly how he should and presumably will manage his wealth. You don't spend your wealth, you grow it and spend some of the income it produces. Which is precisely what any rookie financial advisor would teach him on day 1.
He could be broke in 10 minutes, if he turned all his money into $100 bills and burned them, or invested it all in some company that immediately went bankrupt.
But obviously he wouldn't do those things, because they would be stupid. And if he doesn't do stupid things, how is he going to be broke even in 10 years? If his current net wealth is $1B then he'd need to spend $100M every year even assuming zero investment gains. Again, it's not like spending $100M in a year is difficult if you are actively trying to go from being rich to being poor, but it's not the sort of thing that happens by accident.
Besides, I'm fairly sure Notch will put part of those billions towards worthy causes.
The observation should really be: creating anything interesting gives you potential to be wealthy.
It's immensely comforting to know that this is possible, unlikely and unconventional as it may be. I'd much like to see more Notches out there making it big, as compared to the flood of Steve Jobs-wannabe assholes who are on a perpetual mission of conquest and destruction.
He's not from a rich background, is not well-connected, is not a business person, is not stunningly young or good looking, is not being sponsored by a media conglomerate - he is just a nerdy nice guy. I'm having trouble seeing the conformity you ascribe to him. In fact, he started out by being different.
> can go on and do things that really matter. Seems like he's wasting that opportunity.
It's depressing but interesting that big-time CEOs who are unpleasant in every way imaginable are somehow beyond reproach as long as they make a big show of donating a bit to charity here and there, but when someone who's not "a captain of industry" or a line-manufactured superstar buys something extravagant, people's propriety alarm bells start going off.
You also seem to imply that his wealth is somehow random and undeserved, and that he should retroactively work on deserving it - as if Minecraft didn't have an enormously positive impact on many people (including children) already.
No he doesn't come from a rich background. That's the point. A lot of people that end of rich come from a background where vanity is very important. They then have to spend a large part of their life trying to achieve that goal. That's why I don't care about "captains of industry". I don't expect any better, they've already "sold their soul".
I don't necessarily dislike people like that, because it can be very hard to opt-out of that life. The classic case is where you father works to much and neglects your mother, which self medicates a bit to much and in turn neglects you. So the only thing you know is trying to be your father to rationalize your sense of abandonment.
When people who doesn't have that background become rich and can do whatever they want, but instead opts-in to those values I think it's sad. Maybe he has personal problems of his own, or he just don't care anymore or whatever, I'm not going to be first in line to celebrate the guy. Because buying the most expensive house in the most vain place in the world is just not something I value.
Minecraft is still pretty cool though.
So, if we all "make it" and buy 70$ million dollars homes with bay view (an impossibility in itself), we will nevertheless all be poor.
Sorry to be negative, but we can not make it.
I know good furniture is expensive, but seems like a lot!
Tangentially, it is probably a lot of pressure to be that rich. Must be easy to feel that you are not making the most of it, when at any given moment you could be doing whatever ridiculously expensive thing you can imagine, rather than sitting in a dentist's chair or being stuck in traffic somewhere.
If you're offering a home at $85,000,000 (the original list price) and you even create a website for the property, at least spring the extra $12/year for your own domain name.