Explainer: The weird hobbies of the mega rich
The Titan submarine’s story kept the world gripped this week, until the tragic announcement of loss of life put an end to the rescue missions. The story is not over yet, with many questions still to be asked about how the submersible was made, how safe it was, and how a dangerous space like that of deep ocean expeditions should perhaps be regulated differently.
The story ended in tragedy despite everyone’s hopes, but the nature of the expedition and its cost – $250,000 per person – also raised the topic of how people with a lot of money in their pockets end up having the most uncommon of hobbies.
Rich people, in particular billionaires, are for instance obsessed with space. Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both had their own privately funded experiences in space. Like Elon Musk with his company SpaceX, they turned their love for space into lucrative business too.
The men were all criticised, accused of being disconnected from normal life and of wasting money that could solve important issues on our planet, spending it instead on silly adventures. For other commentators, it was simply a matter of having so much money that even the entire Earth becomes boring.
And they won’t be the last ones – for all who can afford it, there will be future rides on Blue Origin’s (Bezos’ company) spacecraft at the cost of nearly $100m.
Another thing that the extremely rich seem to have in common is the desire to stop ageing and be forever young and fit. Billionaires are pouring millions into research to rejuvenate human cells. Researchers highlight it is about ensuring old people can live more pleasant lives and avoid painful medical conditions rather than increasing lifespan.
But it can quickly descend into weirder and less honourable universal aims – just look at multi-millionaire Bryan Johnson, who’s injecting himself with his teenage son’s blood in a bid to stay as young and fit as possible.
Another classic is exotic animals. The world-famous former professional boxer Mike Tyson at one point owned three tigers. Numerous photoshoots of Tyson with them stand for proof today. He has since expressed regret at owning them, saying you can never fully domesticate such an animal.
Justin Bieber got a capuchin monkey and then ended up tangled up in a legal row about it. The monkey had to stay back in Germany. The zoo where it now lives claims the monkey struggles to speak with others of its kin because Bieber was always trying to teach it to speak with humans.
And then the most recent one – the planned cage fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a fight on Twitter, and Zuckerberg replied on Instagram with a picture captioned “Send me location”. It’s weird as everything these two men do – but perhaps fighting has just become the latest addition to the hobbies list of the megarich.