Mayweather Jr. vs Buffett
Jul 7th, 2011 by Carlos
I read this quote from Floyd Mayweather Jr. the other day that got me thinking about, of all things, Warren Buffett:
My ultimate goal is for my son and my daughter to never work again.
I thought that was interesting because people often use this phrase as a way to say “I want to make a whole lot of money.” But the way Mayweather used it in this interview sounded like he actually meant it. He doesn’t want his children to work because it reflects on how much success he’s had.
And right away I thought of Warren Buffett and the way he handled his relationship with his kids. In his authorized biography, The Snowball, there is story after story of Buffett being stingy with his money—especially with his kids.
One of his worst nightmares was to raise kids that felt entitled to the money he had worked hard to earn. So he made sure they didn’t get a cent of his money (though he did lend his one son money to buy a farm…at a competitive rate) unless it was absolutely essential.
Contrast that with Floyd Mayweather’s quote and it’s striking how different these two men think about how money and family overlap. What must it be like to grow up with a lot of money and a father that sees it as a badge of honor that you don’t have to work?
What must it be like to grow up with very little help despite your father being one of the wealthiest people in the world?
