“So much abuse”: 16 people who worked for the ultrawealthy reveal their darkest secrets

One Redditor drew thousands of stories by asking those who have worked for the ultra-wealthy to spill their deepest secrets. Most people who aren’t in the big club are eager for a chance to peek through the gate, whether out of simple curiosity or a hope that they’re suffering for their greed.

Those in the latter camp will be pleased to see some answers suggesting that the one percent are lonely, scared, addicted, depressed, and generally miserable. Others report that a lot of them are pretty regular people who are allowed to lean into their personality traits as much as they want, for better or worse.

A lot of answers aren’t so much secrets as things we’ve all observed. Yes, many are spoiled and entitled brats who think throwing money around can solve their every problem. Others, however, have truly dark secrets hidden under all that wealth. Crime, abuse, and bigotry make their appearances, if the Reddit commenters are to be believed.

Redistribution of wealth might help the rich, in addition to the rest of us. This much money can’t be good for a person, and especially for kids. These 16 examples demonstrate this well.

1. Nobody loves them, and they know it

“I did a personal IT service for a incredible wealthy guy in Tucson. House overlooking the city from the foothills, 8ft single pane windows, etc. He had a ranch of at least 40k acres in Texas, and most of his $ was from oil.”

“His biggest secret was that he knew most people only liked him for his wealth, including his present wife, 2 kids and 2 step kids, and they’d cut ties in a heartbeat if it disappeared.” —u/ratherBwarm

2. They’re cheap

“They are unusually cheap, or most I’ve worked for are. I’m in wine sales and cellar management, and I had a client who had over ten million dollars in First Growth Bordeaux and Grand Crus Burgundy, and he served $20 Pinot and bubbles (Cava) at his Xmas party for his best friends and celebrities.”

“He died with a ten million dollar cellar.” —u/investinlove

3. They’re more extreme in other ways

“I have flown private jets for various wealthy individuals. People you would likely never know, they don’t exist in the public sphere in the way someone like Bezos does.”

“They don’t always have some deep dark thing that is unique to wealth. They’re human, and the things, the emotions, the tenancies they exhibit are the same across the entire human spectrum. I’ve come away seeing wealth just makes you more of what you are. If you’re mean, you’re more mean. If you’re nice, you’re more nice.” —u/MavenAloft

4. They’re hoarding more than money

“A surprising number of them are hoarders. Like… mansion-level filth hidden behind marble gates. Rich doesn’t mean clean.” —u/blissdoll_

5. One wife isn’t enough

“He was ‘divorced’ and ‘married’ a second wife. He never divorced, and the second wife is a mistress that he parades around as his wife.”

“Actual wife doesn’t give a shit as long as they’re still rich, but won’t let his second batch of kids inherit their joint assets, so he had to buy his second wife some income properties for security. She’ll be okay though. He bought her 100 mil worth of income properties.” —u/SleepoDisa

6. They’re big spoiled tantrum-throwing babies

“They are petty and will throw you under the bus in a millisecond if it will even slightly benefit them. While I worked there I was screamed at, had things thrown at me, I saw grown men throw huge tantrums. They do it because they know they will get something out of it. Your work had to be beyond perfection because they would purposely try to find faults to exploit.” —u/Artwaste

7. They’re terrified of us

“They stress over who is trying to take advantage of them. My wealthiest client ever drove a Prius because she was afraid of being targeted. They paid to have 24/7 security at the house cause they fear the ‘eat the rich crowd’ and live in paranoia.” —u/Bkdavis38

8. They have no idea how much regular people struggle

“That they are painfully detached from regular struggles and genuinely seem to think that their success is tied to meritocracy even when born into extreme wealth and when it is earned they will not accept luck played a factor.” —u/teachmeyourstory

9. They’re miserable and on drugs

“This is 50 years ago, worked for dozens of the most wealthy, think 100 M and up crowd.”

“Very consistently joyless, entitled, arrogant and cheap, often overlaid with substance abuse issues.” —u/ever-inquisitive

10. Their kids are also miserable

“Their child committed suicide. On Father’s Day. And it was a CLEAR statement of why they were doing it on THAT day from people who were close enough. But the death was very much hidden and written off as an ‘accident’ and portrayed as something other than what it was.”

“It wasn’t an accident. It was a tortured souls last outcry to their horrible, abusive father who was a piece of sh*t as an employer so I can only imagine the horror he was as a parent.” —u/MonsoonMermaid

11. They think money can fix literally any problem

“Have not worked for any, but my stepfather is one.”

“He believes that money can solve everything, which to no surprise, it does not. He has this idea that he can just pay people to either shut up or ignore issues. Including family. He has constant arguments with my mom that often involve him completely ignoring the problem and giving her some rather large gift thinking that it will solve the issue.” —u/LankyEntrepreneur267

12. Seriously, they’re abusing their kids

“I attended a private boarding school with many ultrawealthy students.”

“Just… so much abuse of EVERY kind. Beat. Starved. Locked out. Tortured. SA’d.” —u/kifferella

13. Those kids may be growing into people who are not okay

“I worked as a PA for a billionaire. He was delusional. But his wife was something else. She would have breakdowns and start screaming and crying in her office which was glass so the whole floor could see and hear her. It could be over something as simple as her lunch being late or wrong.” —u/Electronic-Run-145

14. They use those charitable foundations to hide crimes

“Routing all sorts of favors, money laundering, and bribes thru various 501(c)3s and family foundations and making sure they are photographed at their ‘charitable’ events so everyone sees their ‘philanthropy.’” —u/Bakingtime

15. They’re ruining thousands of lives

“I remember eating a $32 hamburger, listening to a man brag about influencing elections in developing nations to support his commercial interests. He spoke so casually – like he was sharing old college stories.”

“He shared missteps he had made in his political schemes that had caused civil wars, and lamented on the tens of thousands of lives that his errors had indirectly taken. Drunk, at a bar on a mountain, he talked through literal crimes with the tone of someone who had f*cked up at their day job.” —u/Floral_Fiasco

16. They’re hypocrites

“What am I most shocked by? The hypocrisy (most popular example – support fervent gun control & open boarders but often make use of armed guards, gated communities etc….)”

“Also shocked about the anti Semitic attitude I saw between liberal-Jewish people and more orthodox/conservative Jewish people.” —u/Is-ANY-thingOK02467

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